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Toyota Recalls a Quarter of a Million Venza SUVs Over Airbag Wiring Issue

Every time the words “recall” and “airbag” are used in the same sentence, chills go down our spines. After all, they are linked to the biggest collective recall in the history of the world, with some 67 million airbags sent in for repairs in the U.S. alone, on account of what is known as the Takata disaster.
2009 Toyota Venza 1 photo
Photo: Toyota
Yet, like it or not, these words are still used together, even if they are not linked to Takata. Toyota just let them both slip as it announced a massive recall for 279,000 Venza SUVs.

All affected vehicles are fitted with a sensor in the driver-side front door whose wiring could fracture over time. The sensor is linked to the airbag system control unit, and if the wires don’t work properly it could become inoperable, a status which may be displayed by the airbag warning lamp.

When that happens, the side airbag and curtain shield airbag on the driver side may not deploy “in certain types of collisions, increasing the risk of injury,” says the Japanese carmaker.

Toyota says the affected Venzas have been produced and sold on the U.S. market between 2009 and 2015. By mid-June 2021, the carmaker will have informed Venza owners of the recall, and sent them to their local dealer to have the wiring looked at.

If the fault is found, the wire harness will be replaced with a new one, obviously at no cost for the affected owners.

The Venza is a mid-size crossover Toyota has been making for the American market since 2009. The moniker is only mildly successful, the 279,000 units now being recalled representing pretty much all of the examples sold between the said years.

For the 2021 model year, the Venza has returned, selling in three trim levels and only as a hybrid. The cheapest one is the LE, going from $32,750.
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About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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