New Toyota Recall Involves About 400,000 Vehicles

New Toyota Recall Involves About 400,000 Vehicles
By CHRISTOPHER JENSEN
Copyright by The New York Times
July 29, 2010, 10:24 AM
http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/29/new-toyota-recall-involves-about-400000-vehicles/?hpw


Toyota, the Japanese automaker, said Thursday that it was recalling almost 373,000 of its Avalon sedans made from 2000 to 2004 because of a steering problem that could cause a crash.

In addition the automaker said it was recalling about 39,000 2003-7 Lexus LX 470 sport utility vehicles for a different steering defect.

Avalon’s problem, Toyota said in a statement, involves “the improper casting” of part of the steering interlock system. It is possible that the casting could crack and eventually the lock bar could break.

The interlock system could be difficult to unlock when the vehicle is parked, Toyota said. But when the vehicle is moving, the problem could be more severe. The steering could lock up if the vehicle is “steered to the right with sufficient lateral acceleration,” Toyota said.

Toyota spokesman Brian Lyons said Toyota had six complaints in the United States of such a steering problems including unconfirmed reports of three minor accidents but no injuries.

The automaker has been investigating since October 2007, according to documents the automaker filed today with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration when it reported the recall.

The document says that Toyota received a complaint late in 2007 of a steering wheel locking up on a vehicle in Japan but “believed that this was an isolated case caused by mistakenly mixing a preproduction bar, which is routinely discarded, with the mass production bars.”

In December 2008, Toyota said that it found a cracked part in a vehicle in the United States but that it “believed that this was another isolated case caused by mixing a preproduction bar with the mass production bars.”

Toyota told highway safety agency that it was not until earlier this year — after more reports of problems and a new investigation — that the company confirmed there was a problem requiring a recall.

The length and timing of Toyota’s handling of the Avalon defect may interest highway safety officials. In May the safety agency began an investigation into whether Toyota improperly delayed a 2005 recall of almost one million 1989-1998 model Toyota trucks. Federal regulations require automakers to notify the safety agency within five days of learning of a defect. That investigation continues. Toyota has said it is cooperating.

The automaker said the problem with the Lexus LX 470 is that “the snap ring on the shaft may disengage when the vehicle experiences an unusually severe impact to the front wheels, such as striking a deep pothole. If the snap ring becomes disengaged and the steering wheel is then repeatedly turned to the full locked position, the steering shaft may disengage over time.” And that could cause the loss of steering.

Mr. Lyons said Lexus has one report of such a problem with the Lexus but no accidents.