Toyota Recalling 430K Vehicles in US

Toyota has announced three new recall campaigns that apply to 430,500 vehicles in the US. 

Spare tires falling off of the 2004 through 2011 Toyota Sienna is the first issue. In cold climates where road salt is used, water can splash on the spare tire carrier which is mounted underneath the vehicle, and eventually cause it to rust. In extreme cases, the spare tire carrier assembly cable will become so rusted as to snap, causing the spare to fall off of the minivan. 370,000 Siennas are affected by this issue in the US.

Some of the affected Siennas have already been recalled for this issue. In that case, the remedy was the addition of a water-splash protector along with the application of an anti-rust agent, but neither fixed the issue completely.

The 2014 Toyota Highlander and Highlander Hybrid are the second affected vehicles, and are being called back for a fault with the front seat passenger detection system. The vehicle may not properly calculate the size of the front-seat passenger, causing the airbag to fire when it should not. In total, 50,000 Highlander models are affected.

The final recall involves the brakes fitted on the 2013 Lexus GS. A defective pedal load sensing switch can cause the brakes to activate while the car is in motion with no driver input and without lighting up the brake lights. Just 10,500 GS models are being brought back in.

In all three cases, Toyota dealers will fix the issue free of charge. For more info on the Sienna and Highlander recall, call 1-800-331-4331. If you want to know more about the Lexus GS recall, contact 1-800-255-3987.

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