Prius drivers who regularly have passengers in the rear seat might wish to pay special attention to a recall issued Wednesday that covers 211,000 vehicles worldwide.
Toyota has announced a safety recall of some of its 2023-2024 Prius and Prius HEV (Prius Prime) models sold in North America, Europe, Japan and Asia, according to Toyota.
About 55,000 of the worldwide 211,000 vehicles covered by the recall were sold in the United States.
According to Reuters, the recall will cost the company that made the switches at least $71 million, noting that 135,000 Prius hybrid cars in Japan are impacted by the recall.
Toyota will recall about 55,000 2023-24 Prius and Prius Prime models in the U.S. beginning in June. https://t.co/5mmzXqirH5
— Automotive News (@Automotive_News) April 17, 2024
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The problem is with the electronic rear door latches in the vehicles, according to Toyota.
Water can enter the latches and cause a short circuit, which means the doors would not be locked.
Unlocked doors create the potential for the doors to fly open while a vehicle is moving or if the vehicle is involved in an accident.
The issue could increase “risk of injury to occupants,” Toyota said in a statement.
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For now, there is no fix. Toyota is encouraging drivers to be certain that the Prius feature that automatically locks the doors when the vehicle shifts out of park is engaged.
Toyota has promised to replace the switches on both rear doors of the affected vehicles.
Prius owners will be contacted by Toyota by June with advice on what they should do to obtain free replacement switches.
Toyota suspends Prius production following major recall order | The Asahi Shimbun Asia & #Japan Watch https://t.co/iK6UvAbZUs
— Asahi Shimbun AJW (@AJWasahi) April 17, 2024
This is not the only recall impacting Toyota, according to USA Today.
Toyota recalled 381,000 of its Tacoma trucks from the 2022 and 2023 model years due to an axle issue that could impact stability and the performance of a truck’s brakes.
A brake issue affecting 280,600 Tundra, Tundra Hybrid and Lexus LX600 vehicles from the 2022 through 2024 model years and Sequoia Hybrid vehicles from the 2023 and 2024 model years was also announced earlier this year.
The problem was that the vehicles might move when put in neutral if the brakes were not applied.
