Toyota issues big and small recalls 06/03/2011
Toyota has announced two separate recalls, one involving more than 100,000 vehicles worldwide and the other, less than 50.
The big and tiny recall notices effect three popular models in total. The main recall is for the Toyota Prius, specifically models made between 2001 and 2003. Toyota has discovered that these vehicles, 106,000 in all, may develop a problem with the steering over time.
The company's engineers found that turning the wheel on these models hard to the left can reportedly cause the screws connecting the steering column to come loose. This only happens with repeated hard turns over a significant period of time. Toyota says that steering power will degrade over time and it will eventually become quite difficult to turn the car to the left. Fortunately, this isn't a sudden turn of events - drivers will feel it get more and more difficult over time.
The automaker will fix the issue free of charge by installing stronger screws that are reported to fix the issue completely.
The second recall is on a much smaller scale, as less than 50 vehicles are involved - specifically 34 Toyota Venzas and 16 Toyota Siennas, both from 2011. Toyota says that just 38 of these vehicles have a faulty driveshaft, but it will inspect all 50 to be sure.