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UPDATE: Toyota Will Recall 2.87 Million RAV4 Models For Rear Seats Issue

Toyota Motor Company has announced a recall campaign for the RAV4 model in the United States, soon extending it globally.
MY 2009 Toyota RAV4 1 photo
Photo: Toyota
The 1,124,000 vehicles that will be called back in the U.S. are RAV4 units of the 2006-2012 model years and MY 2012-2014 RAV4 EV models. Toyota is making this precautionary recall action to improve the safety of the second-row outboard seats on both sides of the vehicle.

Toyota engineers have discovered that there is a possibility that the webbing of the lap belts could become cut in the seat frame and separate. The described possibility would only appear in a very severe frontal crash, as Toyota representatives explained, and could only happen if the lap belt would come into contact with a portion of the metal seat cushion frame.

There have been no accidents or injuries caused by this particular situation. However, Toyota has decided to prevent any potential injuries that could be caused by any of the 1,124,000 vehicles targeted by this recall action in the U.S.

The fix will add resin covers to the metal seat cushion frame of the back seats. Owners of the involved vehicles will be notified by Toyota through first class mail. Naturally, the repair will come at no cost to the owners.

As usual, safety recall inquiry by individual VIN is available on the NHTSA website. Customers who own RAV4 vehicles of the specified model years can also contact Toyota’s Customer Service department.

This is not Toyota’s first recall campaign, and unquestionably not the most widespread. The Japanese brand has had its share of recall campaigns, and the recent Takata airbag fiasco has not done it much good. The MY 2004-2005 RAV is part of the Takata driver airbag inflator callback, and that will also be replaced at no charge by an authorized Toyota dealer.

The front passenger airbag inflator recall targets both Takata parts and components from other suppliers. The latter includes models like the Corolla, Corolla Matrix, Tundra, Sequoia, and the Lexus SC430.

UPDATE: As it happens, the total recall number is actually 2.87 million vehicles from all over the world. Over 625,000 vehicles in Europe are affected as well, along with 424,000 cars in China, 177,000 in Japan and hundreds of thousand of vehicles from other markets.
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About the author: Sebastian Toma
Sebastian Toma profile photo

Sebastian's love for cars began at a young age. Little did he know that a career would emerge from this passion (and that it would not, sadly, involve being a professional racecar driver). In over fourteen years, he got behind the wheel of several hundred vehicles and in the offices of the most important car publications in his homeland.
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