Two Toyota recalls announced for 235,000 cars and SUVs
Toyota announced Wednesday it was voluntarily recalling about 235,000 vehicles for two separate issues.
The first recall affects the Toyota Highlander Hybrid for 2006-10 and the Lexus RX400h hybrid for 2006-10. Toyota said a component of the hybrid system can overheat, causing several warning lights to turn on, and the vehicle to enter “limp home mode” with the hybrid system powering down.
In some cases the problem can cause the vehicles to shut down entirely.
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That recall affects about 133,000 Lexus and Toyota vehicles, the automaker said.
The second recall is for the 2006-11 Lexus IS350 sedan and convertible and the Lexus GS350. The cars use the same 3.5-liter V-6 engine, and Toyota says a bolt within the engine’s variable valve timing system can come loose.
This can cause an affected car to stop running. An early warning sign of the problem is an “abnormal noise” just after startup, Toyota said.
Neither of these issues has resulted in any accidents or injuries, said Cindy Knight, a Toyota spokeswoman. Toyota will notify owners of affected vehicles by mail in the coming weeks. Any necessary repairs will be done free of charge.
The news wasn’t all bad for Toyota on Wednesday. The automaker announced that its August sales were up 22.8% on an unadjusted basis from August 2012. Full coverage of August auto sales for Toyota and other major brands is available on Highway 1.
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