Toyota has announced a new round of recalls of up to 270,000 cars, including the luxury Lexus sedans, to fixed engine problems that may cause the vehicle to stall. This is the latest round of safety issues faced by Toyota in the last year. Unfortunately, for the driving consumer, this may not be the last of the recalls.
Toyota has publicly identified a potential defective engine part that may cause unstable idling and cause the engine to stall. Currently, Toyota is not able to ascertain exactly how many of these cars were sold in the United States, but they believe that the models affected by the problems include the IS 350, GS 350, GS 460, LS 460 and LS 600hL. In the latest report, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (the US government’s auto safety agency) had not been formally notified by Toyota about a recall.
Preliminary reports indicate that there may have been contaminated materials used for valve springs in the engine during the manufacturing process. These materials could cause abnormal noises, were rough idling, and in extreme cases, could cause the vehicle to stall. Toyota is still evaluating exactly which model years may have been adversely affected by this defect, and has indicated it will make an announcement to customers when a fix is determined. Obviously, a complete stall can occur in potentially dangerous situations, and each owner should promptly respond to a recall notice to rectify the defect.