Remember when Toyota recalled almost 800,000 vehicles last year because of some kind of rear suspension issues on their RAV4 SUV and Lexus HS sedan? Well, the company has done it again, literally: a story from Zacks Equity Research is quoting The New York Times on the Toyota Motor Corporation recalling 18,000 Lexus HS sedans and 760,000 Toyota RAV4s over… the rear suspension arm.
The official National Highway Traffic Safety Administration report says regarding the Toyota model cars that “the nuts for adjusting the rear wheel alignment are improperly tightened during service, the rear suspension arm (rear tire rod) may develop unwanted movement and rust leading to thread damage and eventual failure. Failure of the rear tire rod will cause an abrupt change in the vehicle’s alignment” that would cause a loss of control and possibly result in a crash.
The CS Monitor has the AP’s version out of Motor City, which says that repairs performed last year did not solve the safety problem. Vehicle owners are expected to be notified over a six-month period starting this month, and repairs by Toyota technicians are expected to be performed free of charge.
This slightly redundant recall may result in consumer confidence plummeting for Toyota, which is already deep into several recalls, including 369,000 hybrid recalls to fix an overheating problem, 169,000 Lexus IS350, IS350C and GS350 recalls to fix a defective engine bolt, and a 2009 global recall of 3.8 million cars that resulted from a wrongful death suit Toyota endured.
In the official letter sent to Toyota dealers, Toyota said “dealers [reported] that some vehicles experienced symptoms of the recalled condition after being inspected or repaired. Upon investigation, it was discovered that some inspections were not adequate and portions of the repair procedure may not have been performed correctly.”
[Image via a YouTube road test of the 2014 Toyota RAV4]