Toyota Announces Recall of 6.5 Million Vehicles Worldwide over Window Defect
Toyota Motor Corp. has ordered a recall of 6.5 million vehicles worldwide over a defect in the power window switch that could cause fire.
On Wednesday, Toyota announced that it will recall 6.5 million units globally, 2.7 million of which are in North America, 1.2 million are in Europe, and the remaining 600,000 are in Japan. The said power window switch issue affects the models Camry, Corolla, Matrix, RAV4, Highlander, Scion xB, Tundra, and Sequoia, according to the International Business Times.
This is the fourth time in six years that the Japanese firm has issued a recall of its vehicles over a glitch in the power window switch. The latest move also comes in the wake of a series of recalls made by several auto makers over faulty air bags manufactured by Takata Corp., the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports.
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"We have been taking various measures to prevent problems from recurring. But the recalled vehicles carry older components," WSJ quotes Seiko Kawai, a spokeswoman for power window switch supplier Tokai Rika.
The vehicles affected by the window switch problem are those manufactured from January 2005 to August 2006, and from August 2008 to June 2010 in Japan. Some of the vehicles included in the recall were manufactured outside of Japan from August 2005 to August 2006, and from January 2009 to December 2010, the report details.
In a statement, Toyota explained that inconsistent lubrication is the main cause of the problem with the power window switch. When the electrical contact points are not lubricated properly during manufacturing, debris can accumulate in those points and later on cause short circuit. This may then lead to overheating and melting of the switch assembly, and could potentially cause fire, the report explains.
Toyota said the process of checking the power window switch and applying heat-resistant grease to the problem areas will only take 45 minutes. If the switch still does not work properly, the dealers will have to replace the car's internal circuit board.
