Toyota Recalls Lexus GS For Braking Issues, Sienna Minivans Over Spare Tire Concerns

(frankieleon)

Not to be outdone by General Motors’ recallpalooza, Toyota announced a pair of recalls this morning — for Sienna minivans and Lexus GS sedans — totaling nearly 400,000 vehicles in the U.S. alone.

The Lexus recall involves around 10,500 model-year 2013 Lexus GS 350 sedans. According to the carmaker, a manufacturing error in the brake pedal assembly could cause the brake system to activate without the driver pushing on the brake pedal, resulting in “unexpected moderate deceleration,” which is the opposite of the sudden unintended acceleration that resulted in a large recall a few years back.

Toyota says it knows of no accidents, injuries or fatalities related to this defect.

Owners of affected vehicles will be able to get their brake pedal support assemblies replaced for free at Lexus dealers

Those with questions can call the Lexus Customer Satisfaction Center at 1-800-255-3987.

The larger of the two recalls involves 370,000 Sienna Minivans from model years 2004 through 2011 and originally sold in or registered in cold climate states.

These vehicles have a spare tire carrier on the underside of the minivan. But Toyota says an issue with the splash protector on the tire carrier could result in water getting where it shouldn’t be. In cold-weather areas where the roads are frequently salted for months on end, that salty road water cold reach the spare tire carrier and corrode the carrier assembly cable, which could separate the spare tire from the vehicle.

The model-year 2004-2010 Sienna were already recalled back in 2010 for this same reason. The remedy at the time was to insert a splash protector and apply an anti-rust agent. However, Toyota says there is a possibility the protector could have slipped out of position or been lost during everyday operation of the vehicle, and that the anti-rust agent is not enough on its own to protect the carrier assembly cable.

Toyota dealers will replace the carrier assemblies in these vehicles free of charge. Owners with questions can call Toyota at 1-800-331-4331.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist