Skip to footer

Toyota recall of RAV4s, Lexuses? Yes, but not yet.

Toyota recall will involve 760,000 RAV4s and 18,000 Lexus HS 250h vehicles because of the potential for rear-suspension arms to fail. But before the Toyota recall, the automaker has to figure out how to fix them.

|
David Zalubowski/AP/File
In this 2006 file photo, unsold 2007 RAV4 sports-utility vehicles are shown on the lot of a Toyota agency in Aurora, Colo. The potential failure of rear suspension arms in the RAV4 and the Lexus HS 250h will trigger a Toyota recall as soon as the company comes up with a remedy.

Toyota is going to recall some 778,000 vehicles sold in the United States because of a rear-suspension failure. But not just yet. First, it has to figure out how to fix the problem.

The challenge is rust. In at least four cases, corrosion has caused a rear-suspension arm to fail, putting a wheel severely out of alignment and causing the driver to lose control of their vehicle temporarily. No injuries or fatalities have been reported as a result. 

Toyota says it is working on a remedy and will notify owners by mail when it has one.

The Toyota recall involves:

  • Approximately 760,000 Toyota RAV4 models from 2006 to early 2011
  • Approximately 18,000 Lexus HS 250h from the 2010 model year

The problem involves suspension arms – or tie rods – at the rear of the vehicles. Earlier this summer, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began investigating the problem after receiving seven complaints about RAV4s from the 2006 through 2008 model years. In four cases, a tie rod failed while drivers were going 35 miles per hour or more, causing a temporary loss of control. 

Toyota's investigation suggests that the rust collects if nuts are incorrectly reinstalled after a rear-end alignment.

"If the nuts on the rear suspension arm are not tightened following the proper procedure and torque specification during a rear wheel alignment service, excessive play may occur at the threaded portion of the arm, followed by rust formation," the company says in a release. "If this were to occur, the threaded portion of the rear suspension arm may wear and cause the arm to separate."

So far, however, the automaker doesn't have a solution.

In the meantime, Lexus and RAV4 owners can find out if they're affected by the recall by visiting the Toyota recall website and punching in their vehicle identification number.

The automaker has not suggested that drivers involved in the recall should stop using their cars. But "if a driver hears an abnormal noise from the rear of the vehicle, the driver should contact any authorized Toyota dealer for diagnosis," says a Toyota spokeswoman in an e-mail.

Owners with any questions should call Toyota at 800-331-4331 or Lexus at 800-255-3987.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Toyota recall of RAV4s, Lexuses? Yes, but not yet.
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Business/In-Gear/2012/0802/Toyota-recall-of-RAV4s-Lexuses-Yes-but-not-yet
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe