According to a report from Green Car Reports, Toyota announced it must recall its Rav-4 hybrid and Rav-4 sports utility vehicle models due to a manufacturing flaw in the front suspension. The company said that conditions during production by a supplier were “improper,” and, as a result, accelerating and braking could crack the lower control […]
Toyota hybrid recalled
According to a report from Green Car Reports, Toyota announced it must recall its Rav-4 hybrid and Rav-4 sports utility vehicle models due to a manufacturing flaw in the front suspension. The company said that conditions during production by a supplier were “improper,” and, as a result, accelerating and braking could crack the lower control arms of the front wheels. If the lower control arms broke while the car was in motion, the driver will lose control of the car and will most likely cause an accident. Anytime one car collides with another, there is the potential for the passengers to sustain life-threatening injuries or die prematurely as a result of the collision. According to GreenCarReports.com, just over 12,000 vehicles from model years 2019 and 2020 are implicated in this recall.
According to Green Car Reports, Toyota sold just over 448,000 Rav-4 models in the model year 2019. Approximately 93,000 of those cars were the hybrid version of the Rav-4. Just over 9,500 Rav-4 models must be recalled by Toyota due to the manufacturing problem. A little more than 2,000 Rav-4 hybrids are included in the recall.
Toyota said that the suspension problem only arises in vehicles that contain a part manufactured with a particular lot of steel that was made under less than adequate production conditions. The company did not specify the problem. Interestingly, Toyota said that about 1,000 of the recalled cars were sold in Puerto Rico. Moreover, the weakened steel affects only the Rav-4 hybrid and Rav-4 SUV models. It does not include any other Toyota or Lexus models such as Toyota’s Highlander hybrid or the Lexus NX hybrid. Neither of those vehicles was made with the weakened material.
Toyota anticipates that the recall will begin in the middle of July of 2020. Toyota did not indicate whether any accidents or injuries occur as a result of this product defect.
