Recalled Toyota and Lexus vehicles back in production, on dealer lots in October
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Toyota plans to resume production of the 2024 Toyota Grand Highlander and Lexus TX 350 in October following a recall that caused a large slump in sales as well as nearly a dozen buybacks.
The recall also includes hybrid Grand Highlanders and TXs. Under federal law, the automakers can’t sell the vehicles because of a noncompliance safety recall over the driver-side and passenger-side air bags in June.
The curtain shield air bags are designed to deploy from the side roof rails during certain crashes but may not deploy as intended if one or both of the driver’s side or passenger’s side windows are rolled down, according to an updated recall notice. If this occurs, the risk of injury increases and the vehicles may not meet a federal safety standard.
Toyota and Lexus dealers will replace the curtain shield air bags with improved ones, free of charge; however, there have been reports of unavailable parts. The remedy was announced in August, about two months after the recall.
According to an Automotive News interview with Kent Rice, Toyota Motor North America’s quality division group vice president, Toyota has redesigned the curtain shield air bags beginning with consumer-owned vehicles and those in dealer stock. Rice said consumers should begin receiving notifications in October to schedule their repair appointments.
In May, NHTSA conducted a random compliance audit of the Grand Highlander to determine whether it met Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, which the automaker failed, according to Rice.
With production paused, there are about 158,000 of the three-row vehicles that will need to be repaired, including about 4,000 in dealer inventories, Automotive News reported. In August, Toyota reported about 146,000 vehicles had been recalled, not all of which were sold in the U.S.
Other Toyota and Lexus vehicles are not equipped with the same curtain shield air bag assemblies, according to the recall notice.
“We make mistakes, right? It’s a difficult, complex business,” Rice told Automotive News. “But one thing I’m proud of is, despite the fact that this has been painful, that we have customers who are anxious and dealers who can’t sell vehicles because of the air bags, there’s never been any discussion or question of cost. It’s only about what do we need to do to get this right for the customer. This is our opportunity to put our values into action.”
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