Prius Recall Gets a Fancy Name: Customer Satisfaction Campaign

Before getting into this, let's make things clear, so the guys from Toyota's public relations department don't bombard us with angry emails: the Prius several hundred thousand models manufactured in between between August 2003 and May 2007 are NOT being recalled. Officially.

As we told you earlier today, the Japanese manufacturer announced that 378,000 Prius hybrids in the US and several other thousands worldwide, manufactured in between the above mentioned years, are affected by a coolant pump issue which may cause the engine of the hybrid to overheat and lose power.

Now, not being a safety issue, calling back the models for repairs can not be considered an actual recall. So Toyota's UK division came up with a name which makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside: Customer Satisfaction Campaign.

Of course, we reckon you Prius drivers who came face to face with the overheating problem are not at all satisfied even if, obviously, you are Toyota customers. To get satisfied (you know, pun not intended), you will need to check back with your local dealer.

The dealer, with a “get some satisfaction” smile on his face, will be replacing the water pump with a brand new and hopefully fully functional one, which doesn't let air bubbles enter the system. By the way, in the UK there are 15,500 with a hot temper.

This year, we became used to hearing about Toyota glitches. All these problems are either one cosmic coincidence, or some cleverly devised Volkswagen sabotage plan. Or maybe just someone, somewhere, is not doing his job right.