Photo: Toyota
Toyota made a name for itself by offering both quality and reliability at reasonable prices. Be that as it may, the Japanese brand isn’t perfect.
Back in December 2020, the company received field reports of C-HR vehicles that failed to detect the preceding vehicle when using the JDM-exclusive Traffic Movement Notification feature. Service technicians discovered that the beam axis for the radar sensor was out of specification.
But more importantly, further investigation has revealed that radar sensors linked to the filed allegations were not initialized. Toyota subsequently contacted the supplier, Conti Temic microelectronic GmbH from Ingolstadt, to assist in the automaker’s investigation of the uninitialized radar sensor.
Fast forward to April 2021, and that’s when Toyota recovered a radar sensor from a Japanese market C-HR. Just like in the original field reports, that radar sensor wasn’t initialized due to an incomplete beam axis adjustment.
Many observations and much testing later, Toyota made the fateful decision to review the process for initializing the radar sensor. According to documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, “Toyota found that the time for the radar sensor to complete the initialization process (in some cases reinitialization is potentially required) may be more than the time allotted during the car’s production process.”
The automaker was able to replicate this scenario by turning the ignition off prematurely prior to completing the initialization process. Considering that an uninitialized radar sensor translates to safety features that don’t work as intended, the company finally decided to recall the subcompact crossover.
A grand total of 36,558 units are called back in the United States of America, C-HR vehicles produced between June 2020 and July 2021 for the 2021 model year. Known owners of the subject vehicles will be notified on April 11th, and service technicians have been instructed to properly initialize the radar sensor free of charge to the customer. Also known as a millimeter wave sensor, this piece of kit enables features that include adaptive cruise control, lane tracing assist, and the Pre-Collision System.
But more importantly, further investigation has revealed that radar sensors linked to the filed allegations were not initialized. Toyota subsequently contacted the supplier, Conti Temic microelectronic GmbH from Ingolstadt, to assist in the automaker’s investigation of the uninitialized radar sensor.
Fast forward to April 2021, and that’s when Toyota recovered a radar sensor from a Japanese market C-HR. Just like in the original field reports, that radar sensor wasn’t initialized due to an incomplete beam axis adjustment.
Many observations and much testing later, Toyota made the fateful decision to review the process for initializing the radar sensor. According to documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, “Toyota found that the time for the radar sensor to complete the initialization process (in some cases reinitialization is potentially required) may be more than the time allotted during the car’s production process.”
The automaker was able to replicate this scenario by turning the ignition off prematurely prior to completing the initialization process. Considering that an uninitialized radar sensor translates to safety features that don’t work as intended, the company finally decided to recall the subcompact crossover.
A grand total of 36,558 units are called back in the United States of America, C-HR vehicles produced between June 2020 and July 2021 for the 2021 model year. Known owners of the subject vehicles will be notified on April 11th, and service technicians have been instructed to properly initialize the radar sensor free of charge to the customer. Also known as a millimeter wave sensor, this piece of kit enables features that include adaptive cruise control, lane tracing assist, and the Pre-Collision System.
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