As if the car maker hasn’t had enough, Toyota Motor Corporation of Japan is having to deal with car recalls on a massive scale. This time it is not for throttle pedals that stick wide open but for faulty steering. According to the car maker, more than half a million cars sold worldwide have been found to be facing steering issues for which the company has decided to recall them. Out of the 550,000 cars recalled worldwide, the majority of them are from the United States of America.
Out of these 447,000 cars are from North America. Toyota has recently been through a lot of trouble in the US of A these included millions of dollars worth of law suits and fines. Seriously, this is not what the car maker would have expected come Christmas. Toyota Motor Corp. which was once the biggest car maker of the world lost its crown in the months following the past recall saga. Toyota was also hoping to bounce back with new offerings for its customers in the form of products like the new Toyota Camry.
Even the promotional campaign for the new car was aimed at improving the brands image in order to restore faith in the Japanese brand. United States has been a huge market for Toyota. Even other Japanese car makers depend on their business in the States. After the March 11, 2011 earthquake and the resulting tsunami that crippled the Japanese economy, all car makers from the small island nation have had a tough time dealing with lost production back home and supply shortages globally.
2005 Lexus ES330
Profits have plunged dramatically since then and the recent round of recalls aren’t going to help Toyota either. Along with cars from US of A, Toyota is also recalling vehicles in Japan, Australia, New Zealand. In Europe some 14,000 vehicles are being recalled along with 10,000 in the Middle East and 14,000 in parts of Asia other than Japan. In the United States alone, Toyota is recalling 283,200 vehicles. This includes the Toyota Camry (2004 and 2005 model year) Highlander, Sienna, Solara, 2006 Highlander HV and 2004 Avalon.
Similarly, cars from Toyota’s Lexus sub-brand are also among those affected. A total of 137,000 Lexus vehicles are being recalled which include 2004 and 2005 ES330 and RX330 and 2006 RX400h hybrid SUV. Toyota Motor Corp. has explained the problem with their cars in a press release and this is how it goes-
There is a possibility that the outer ring of the engine’s crankshaft pulley may become misaligned with the inner ring, causing noise or a warning signal to light up. If the problem isn’t corrected, the belt for the power steering pump may become detached from the pulley, making it suddenly more difficult to turn the driving wheel.
2004 Toyota Avalon
The notifications for the recall will be mailed by January 2012 and the issue will be addressed at the local dealership for no charge. Again, Toyota needs to produce the replacement parts for the all the affected vehicles which will take time and once the dealers receive the batches of parts, customers will be informed and asked to get their vehicles checked at the local Toyota/Lexus dealerships only after the replacement parts arrive. That said, as a safety measure, Toyota has appealed to the customers to get their cars inspected if they hear any abnormal noise emanating from the engine compartment.
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