Quick News About Toyota Problems

There’s a good chance the seatbelt tension sensor is going to fail in the 2008-2019 Land Cruiser.

And when it goes to the big scrapyard in the sky, multiple airbags that rely on information from that sensor will fail along with it. But more serious trouble arises when the knee airbags, front passenger airbags and passenger seat-mounted side airbags deactivate. Toyota will recall the issue, but because they don’t have fix in place they don’t plan on notifying owners until February 2019.

Maybe they’re buying time to come up with enough replacement sensors. The trouble is you might see an airbag warning light pop up while waiting around. The problem also affects the Lexus LX 570.

Toyota is going to recall about 70 C-HR SUVs to stop the rear wheels from falling off.

The automakers says the problem could result in “reduced brake performance or a potential loss of vehicle stability.” Ya don’t say.

The government hasn't released recall details and Toyota didn't say more, other than dealers will check the bearing bolts for the rear axle hubs and replace the hub bearing assemblies if loose bolts are discovered.

If the rear axle carrier sub-assemblies are loose, dealers will install new ones.

Poorly programmed control units have led to a Toyota airbag recall for 188,000 vehicles from the 2018-2019 model years.

The automaker says the airbag electronic control units weren't programmed correctly, causing problems when the vehicles are started and the airbag sensors are disabled.

Every airbag is attached to a control unit that monitors data from sensors and determines when the airbag should deploy. You can imagine how important it is that these control units are dialed in. Toyota forgot that whole part.

Toyota is recalling 2.4 million Prius and Prius v vehicles worldwide to fix a problem with the hybrid system’s “limp home” mode.

The Prius and Prius v are designed to enter limp mode, also called fail-safe mode, when the hybrid systems have faults. Toyota says the recall is necessary because the cars can fail to enter limp mode as intended when the hybrid systems have problems. Instead of limping home the cars will suddenly lose power and stall out. Toyota insists that power steering and braking will still work, but even with those systems on a stall at high speeds can be very dangerous.

If “limp home” problems sound familiar, you may be thinking of recalls made in 2014 and 2015 for similar problems. Toyota says previous recalls did not anticipate this new condition remedied with this recall. Geez. The fix is a simple software update. Let’s hope it’s the last one needed.

The threat of electrical fires has led Toyota to recall a million Prius cars worldwide

, with 192,000 of those vehicles in the United States. An exposed portion of one of the engine’s wiring harnesses is likely to wear down and short-circuit in the 2016-2018 model years. A short circuit can create a spark → a spark can create a flame → a flame can created a charred mass where your Prius once stood.…