Toyota recalls more than 380K vehicles over brakes issues
Toyota Motor is recalling 381,199 Toyota Tacoma trucks with model years 2022 and 2023 in the US over a brake performance issue that increases the risk of a crash.
The problem stems “welding debris left on the ends of the rear axle assembly during manufacturing,” which may lead to an axle shaft separation, Toyota said in a notice on Tuesday.
The auto manufacturer said that affected customers will be notified via mail by late April 2024.
Toyota declined to comment on how it learned of the defective brakes.
This recall is the third Toyota has announced in the past month.
On Feb. 23, the Japanese auto firm voluntarily recalled 280,000 of its pickup truck and SUV models over a safety issue where the transmission may not disengage entirely when in neutral, causing the vehicles to “creep forward.”
“This can allow some engine power to continue to be transferred to the wheels and can allow the vehicle to inadvertently creep forward at a low speed when it is on a flat surface and no brakes are applied, leading to an increased risk of a crash,” Toyota said in a separate notice.
The recall affects Toyota Tundra, Tundra Hybrid, Sequoia and the company’s luxury Lexus LX 600 vehicles in the US with 2022 to 2024 model years.
Owners of the vehicles in question are also set to be notified by late April if they are impacted by the recall.
In addition, some 19,000 Mirai and Lexus LS, LC and ES vehicles with 2023 and 2024 model years distributed in North America, Japan and Asia were recalled over “a software programming issue.”
Separately, some 4,000 Toyota Camry and Camry Hybrid vehicles are also being recalled over safety issues with the head restraints on rear fold-down seats that “increase the risk of injury during certain collisions.”
The latest recalls follow a warning late last year that a staggering 1.2 million Toyota vehicles’ airbags weren’t deploying as designed.
One million of the affected models — including 2020 through 2022 model years of Avalon, Camry, Corolla, RAV4, Lexus ES250, ES300H, ES350, RX350 Highlander and Sienna Hybrids — are in the US alone, the automaker said.
The company has a website where consumers can enter their license plate number and see if their vehicle is affected by any of the recent recalls.