You getting that deja vu feeling? Maybe it’s the inevitable curse that comes with being the world’s biggest automaker but barely a month seems to go by without Toyota issuing a recall – I looked through our list of posts for last year and counted up at least 10 stories about Toyota recalls. So it was thoughtful of Toyota and the NHTSA to bundle three new recalls into one neat package this week so we can get them all out of the way and get ready for the next round of unreliability.
First up in our list of recalls is a weak head restraint bracket fitted to 4,212 Camrys built for the 2023 and 2024 model years. The brackets holding the head restraints in the center and right-hand-side seats on the rear bench may have been incorrectly welded and might not hold up to a head thwacking the head restraint pad. Cue lots of sore necks and personal injury claims. Toyota’s remedy for that one is to replace the entire 60 percent side of the split backrest with a new part.
Next up is a non-functioning rearview camera that might not display an image on the center display due to faulty programming of the park-assist system’s ECU on cars fitted with Panoramic View Monitor. Vehicles affected include the 2023 Mirai and Lexus LS, 2023-2024 Lexus ES, and 2024 Lexus LC. This one’s a simple fix and doesn’t require new hardware, just a software update. Unfortunately, it’s not an over-air fix. Owners of the 18,616 vehicles thought to be faulty will have to head down to their dealerships for the work.
Related: Toyota Recalls 1.1 Million Cars Because Their Airbag Doesn’t Know Big From Small
And lastly, there’s official confirmation from the NHTSA about a recall we wrote about when Toyota announced it earlier in February. This one’s a much bigger recall, affecting almost 281,000 examples of the 2022-2024 Tundra and Lexus LX600, and 2023-2024 Sequoia. Those vehicles share a type of transmission whose internal design means engine power might continue to be transferred through to the wheels when the shifter is moved from Drive to Neutral.
The problem only shows up in unusual circumstances, like when the brakes aren’t being applied and the car is on level ground, and even then it’s not like the truck (or SUV) will launch itself forward in a drag-style start. But the fact it can intentionally creep at up to 4 mph (6 km/h) is enough for Toyota and Lexus to haul 280,663 vehicles back to dealers for a software tweak that’s claimed to fix the problem.
How long do you think Toyota will be able to go without issuing another recall? One month? Two months? Drop a comment below with your prediction.
