The FINANCIAL – Toyota is amending a safety recall involving possible fuel pump failures that can cause engines to stall. Toyota is adding 1.2 million vehicles to a major recall in the U.S. and added vehicles bring the total to 1.8 million.
In January Toyota recalled nearly 700,000 vehicles in the U.S. for the same problems. Engine stalling can increase the risk of a crash, although the company wouldn’t say if there have been any. The automaker said Wednesday that about 118,000 vehicles in the January recall shouldn’t have been included. The vehicles include trucks, SUVs, minivans and cars across the model lineups of Toyota and its Lexus luxury vehicle brand. The company says owners of vehicles not involved in the January recall will be notified in early May about when to make a service appointment. Dealers will replace the fuel pump with an improved one, ABC News reported.
The models and model years that have vehicles included in this recall are certain:
- 2013-2015 Model Year Lexus LS 460;
- 2013-2014 Model Year Lexus GS 350;
- 2014 Model Year Toyota FJ Cruiser, Lexus IS-F;
- 2014-2015 Model Year Toyota 4Runner, Land Cruiser; Lexus GX 460, IS 350, LX 570;
- 2015 Model Year Lexus NX 200t, RC 350;
- 2017 Model Year Lexus IS 200t, RC 200t;
- 2017-2019 Model Year Toyota Sienna; Lexus RX 350;
- 2018 Model Year Lexus GS 300;
- 2018-2019 Model Year Toyota Avalon, Camry, Corolla, Highlander, Sequoia, Tacoma, Tundra; Lexus ES 350, GS 350, IS 300, IS 350, LC 500, LC 500h, LS 500, LS 500h, RC 300, RC 350, RX 350L.
The subject vehicles are equipped with a fuel pump which may stop operating. If this were to occur, warning lights and messages may be displayed on the instrument panel, and the engine may run rough. This can result in a vehicle stall, and the vehicle may be unable to be restarted. If a vehicle stall occurs while driving at higher speeds, this could increase the risk of a crash, Toyota wrote.
Toyota began a probe into the fuel pump issue in June. The automaker told the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in January it was aware of 66 field reports and 2,571 warranty claims that relate to fuel pump failures in the vehicles initially recalled. Owners have complained of rough engine running, engine not starting and loss of power while driving at low speeds. Toyota said the reports occurred more commonly in areas of the southern U.S. with warmer climates, Yahoo Finance reported.
For all involved vehicles, Toyota and Lexus dealers will replace the involved fuel pump with an improved one at no cost to customers. Owners of vehicles currently included in the recall, that were not included in the original recall population on January 13, 2020, will be notified by early May, according to Toyota.
Another major car recall took place in January of 2020, when Honda recalled 2.7 million cars with potentially faulty inflators that could cause airbags to rupture during a crash. The recall of 2.4 million cars in the US and 300,000 in Canada affects Honda and Acura vehicles from the model years 1996 through 2003. The inflators were made by Japanese manufacturer Takata but are different from those that led to the world’s biggest-ever auto safety recalls involving 42 million US vehicles, as reported by New York Post.
