Car hire firms in the US affected by Toyota recall

Car hire firms in the US have been forced to remove some Toyota models from their fleets following a recall by the manufacturer.

The recall was made after Toyota detected a fault with the throttle pedal.

Companies including Avis, Budget, Hertz and Enterprise Holdings have all announced they would be returning the affected vehicles from their fleet.

Avis Budget said in a statement that they would be removing a total of 20,000 vehicles, adding that the problems is said to have arisen out of usage over time, and subsequently their fleets ahve some of the lowest mileage records compared with any other company, so they have reason to believe that the vehicles would not have posed a hazard to their car rental customers.

In spite of shedding such a large number of rental cars as a result of the recall, the Avis Budget Group said they would be able to fulfil all customer bookings and reservations.

Meanwhile, Enterprise stressed that customer safety is number one priority, and promised that any customer who is currently renting an affected model would be given an alternative car immediately.