On Wednesday, October 21st 2015, Toyota announced a global recall of 6.5-million vehicles due to a power-window glitch that presented a fire risk, this comes barely a week after the Japanese automaker launched its latest Aygo model.
Yesterday, Toyota South Africa confirmed that over 60,000 of its local vehicles are affected by the latest global recall. The automaker said 75% of these vehicles – affected models – has received service action at a Toyota dealers in SA.
This is the latest in a string of recalls by the Japanese company over the last five years.
2015
Earlier this year, Toyota and Nissan recalled about 6.5-million vehicles, owing to lethal air bags that were responsible for no fewer than eight deaths globally. Manufacturers of the bag, Takarta Corporation, said that manufacturing problems, and exposure to moisture in cars in humid regions, can cause the propellant to degrade. Which can make the propellant burn too strongly when the airbag is deployed, rupturing the inflator and sending metal fragments into the car’s interior and injuring the driver or passengers.
2014
In April, Toyota issued 5 recalls for about 6.4 million vehicles worldwide. The recalls were to fix a range of safety defects, including a faulty cable. “The spiral cable may become damaged when the steering wheel turns, causing a warning lamp to illuminate and the car’s air bag to deactivate.” The recalls affected 1.3 million vehicles in the United States, and in South Africa, models affected were the Toyota Yaris, Innova, the pre-facelift Hilux, and the Fortuner. It was recorded as one of the biggest recalls in automotive history.
In October, the Japanese automaker announced a recall of 1.75 million vehicles globally in a move to address three separate defects including a problem in the brake systems of select Crown Majesta, Noah and Voxy models that could hinder the brake’s performance.
2013
In January, Toyota recalled more than one million vehicles for airbag and windshield wiper issues. About 752,000 Corolla and Corolla Matrix cars sold in 2003 and 2004 had airbag control issues, and some 270,000 Lexus IS models sold between 2006 and early 2012 had windshield wipers that wouldn’t work during heavy snowfall.
In June, a Toyota issued a worldwide recall for nearly 242,000 Prius and Lexus gas-electric hybrid vehicles produced from June through October 2009. The automaker said it had received quite a number of complaints from drivers saying they needed to step heavily on the brake pedal than they usually would.
The recall involved a brake pressure accumulator, which could crack with fatigue and release nitrogen gas into the brake fluid, thereby reducing the effectiveness of the brakes.
In September, there were recalls for a total of 1.15 million vehicles. 780,000 Lexus and RAV4 were recalled for suspension issues leading to crashes linked to a previous recall in 2012 that failed to fix the problem. Another 369,000 vehicles were recalled for inverter and engine issues; hybrid cars had an inverter problem that could force it to a stop, and cars in North America and Japan had problems with a bolt in the engine.
Toyota issued a recall for 803,000 model-year 2012 and 2013 Toyota Camry, Avalon Hybrid, Camry Hybrid, Avalon, and Venza in the United States in October 2013. The company cited an electrical problem that could cause airbags to either fail from deploying in an accident, or to pop open inadvertently. Toyota said that the problem was from a water leak from the air conditioning condenser onto the airbag control module. The leak could also result in a short circuit that disables the power-steering system.
2012
Toyota made two recalls in March, a total of 680,000 vehicles in the United States. One recall was for faulty airbags in Toyota Tacoma trucks, the other was for faulty brake lights in Camry sedans and Toyota Venza crossover SUVs.
October 2012 saw a recall of 7.43 million vehicles worldwide, owing to an almost similar reason for the latest recall – a fire risk stemming from electric window mechanisms.
In November, the automakers recalled 2.77 million cars to fix motor pumps, and steering problems. 1.5 million of the recalled vehicles in Japan, 670, 000 were sold in the US, and an additional 496,000 in Europe.
2011
This year, Toyota topped the ‘most-recalled’ list for the third year in a row, having launched 13 campaigns affecting more than 3.5 million vehicles. In February, the automobile company issued a recall of 2.2 million vehicles to correct problems with the gas pedals and floor mats; the gas pedal could get stuck in the plastic pad part of the driver’s side floor mat, if the floor mat isn’t replaced properly after it’s removed.
In March, the company announced the recall of 22,000 pickup trucks, MY 2008 – 2011 midsize Tacoma and full-size Tundra, owing to tire issues. The tire pressure monitoring system may not be calibrated properly and won’t illuminate to warn drivers when tire inflation falls below minimum standards.
At the end of the year, Toyota also recalled 550,000 vehicles – 447,000 in the U.S, 38,000 in Japan, and 25,000 in Australia and New Zealand – worldwide. The recall concerned a steering problem caused by the misalignment of the inner and outer rings of the crankshaft pulley, which could lead to the power steering belt falling off the pulley, which can cause a sudden loss of power assist. Models affected were 2004-2005 Camry, Highlander, Sienna and Solara, Avalon, 2006 Highlander HV, 2004-2005 Lexus ES330 and RX330 and 2006 RX400h.
Between 2009 and 2010, Toyota recalled about 11.5 million vehicles in North America alone for different reasons, ranging from problematic floor mats to sticky accelerators.
The size or number of vehicle recalls is of little significance when compared to the damage done to the reputation of the company’s products. Toyota’s reputation has taken a hit over the years owing to large scale recalls. The company has faced damage lawsuits in the US over transparency with its recall woes; the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration once fined the company close to $32.5 million for failing to issue recalls in a timely manner.
Though Toyota claims the title, Japanese largest automaker isn’t the only company guilty of huge recalls. In 2000 and 2001, US tyre maker Firestone recalled 19.5 million tyres used on Ford SUVs after several accidents that claimed the lives of about 200 people.
Mitsubishi has also acknowledged deceit in hiding thousands of complaints from customers for decades to avoid costly recalls.
Will these recalls affect your car buying decisions? Are you still up for buying a Toyota, knowing your safety might be threatened by some electrical or mechanical defects?