Photo: Toyota
It's almost the end of the year, and that is always a time when people and organizations think about what lies ahead. For Toyota, however, the last months of 2023 seem to be problematic, as it struggles to fix past mistakes it made with its vehicles.
Just over the past two months the Japanese carmaker announced a couple of large recalls. One of them, made public in September, involved 21,780 Tundra and Tundra Hybrid pickups, affected by a misleading modification label that might have had people load their vehicles beyond capacity.
Then, in October, we got word of a much more sizeable lot of vehicles, counting 751,000 units, being sent back to dealers. That time we were talking about Highlander SUVs that are at risk of losing body parts from the front bumper while on the go.
As if it's trying not to go a single month without issuing a recall, Toyota started November with an announcement that will affect no less than 1,854,000 owners of RAV4 SUVs.
That's how many vehicles of this type Toyota will have to take in over the next few months to fix an issue that could be immensely dangerous: fire.
More to the point, the carmaker somehow found out that some of the replacement 12-volt batteries have smaller dimensions than the ones normally used on the SUVs. It means that whenever a standard battery is replaced with these faulty ones, there is a risk that the hold-down clamps won't tighten correctly.
If this happens, the battery can move just so slightly, especially during more manly turns. That's not an issue in itself, but what comes next is: the battery's positive terminal may come in contact with the hold-down clamp. That may lead to a short, and that, as all of you know, almost always ends in a fire.
The models affected have been produced between 2013 and 2018. That means the affected vehicles are all part of the model's fourth generation, with the fifth one, which arrived in 2018, being safe from this issue.
Owners will begin receiving notifications by the end of the year, and the actual recall action will begin sometime in 2024 (Toyota says it is still in the process of identifying the proper fix for the problem).
It's likely though the fix will consist of Toyota dealers replacing the battery hold-down clamp, battery tray, and positive terminal cover. As usual in such cases, all of these upgrades will be performed at no extra cost for owners.
If you are an American RAV4 owner and you want to know if your SUV is affected by the problem you can do that by accessing the NHTSA website. Additionally, Toyota is willing to share what it knows if you call its Brand Engagement Center at 1-800-331-4331.
Then, in October, we got word of a much more sizeable lot of vehicles, counting 751,000 units, being sent back to dealers. That time we were talking about Highlander SUVs that are at risk of losing body parts from the front bumper while on the go.
As if it's trying not to go a single month without issuing a recall, Toyota started November with an announcement that will affect no less than 1,854,000 owners of RAV4 SUVs.
That's how many vehicles of this type Toyota will have to take in over the next few months to fix an issue that could be immensely dangerous: fire.
More to the point, the carmaker somehow found out that some of the replacement 12-volt batteries have smaller dimensions than the ones normally used on the SUVs. It means that whenever a standard battery is replaced with these faulty ones, there is a risk that the hold-down clamps won't tighten correctly.
If this happens, the battery can move just so slightly, especially during more manly turns. That's not an issue in itself, but what comes next is: the battery's positive terminal may come in contact with the hold-down clamp. That may lead to a short, and that, as all of you know, almost always ends in a fire.
The models affected have been produced between 2013 and 2018. That means the affected vehicles are all part of the model's fourth generation, with the fifth one, which arrived in 2018, being safe from this issue.
Owners will begin receiving notifications by the end of the year, and the actual recall action will begin sometime in 2024 (Toyota says it is still in the process of identifying the proper fix for the problem).
It's likely though the fix will consist of Toyota dealers replacing the battery hold-down clamp, battery tray, and positive terminal cover. As usual in such cases, all of these upgrades will be performed at no extra cost for owners.
If you are an American RAV4 owner and you want to know if your SUV is affected by the problem you can do that by accessing the NHTSA website. Additionally, Toyota is willing to share what it knows if you call its Brand Engagement Center at 1-800-331-4331.
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