Toyota recalls 2.1M vehicles
A customer walks inside the Toyota of Hollywood dealership in Los Angeles. (Feb. 8, 2011) Credit: Getty
Toyota Motor Corp. announced Thursday that it was recalling 2.1 million vehicles in the United States for problems related to unintended acceleration, a massive setback in the automaker's efforts to move beyond the highly publicized safety defects that prompted congressional hearings and led to staggered sales.
The Transportation Department said it had reviewed more than 400,000 pages of Toyota documents to determine whether the scope of the company's recalls for pedal entrapment was sufficient.
"As a result of the agency's review, [the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration] asked Toyota to recall these additional vehicles, and now that the company has done so, our investigation is closed," said NHTSA administrator David Strickland.
Toyota has now recalled more than 14 million vehicles globally to fix gas pedals and other safety problems since 2009. The safety fears erupted that year after a high-speed crash near San Diego killed a California highway patrol officer and three family members.
In its latest safety action, Toyota said more than half of the vehicles under the new recall were being added to a massive 2009 recall that fixed gas pedals getting trapped in the floor mat.
Toyota spokesman Brian Lyons said the additional pedal entrapment recalls were "based on our continued constructive dialogue with NHTSA. While our actions up to now have led to a substantial reduction in reports of acceleration concerns, we mutually agreed that Toyota would take these additional steps to help ensure that acceleration concerns are further reduced."
Affected models include the 4Runner, Lexus LX 570, Highlander and the RAV4, as well as the Lexus RX 330, RX 350, GS 300 and GS 350.
The company said owners of the recalled GS 300 and GS 350 vehicles will be notified of the recall in early March. Owners of the RX and Highlander vehicles will be notified in the "near future" and receive a second notification once replacement covers are available.
Owners of the recalled 4Runner, LX 570 and RAV4s will also receive an initial notification in the near future, followed by a second notification once the recall preparations are complete.
The company has posted detailed information at toyota.com/recall or lexus.com/recall. Owners can call Toyota toll-free at 800-331-4331 or Lexus at 800-255-3987.
