Toyota recalls some hybrid RAV4, Lexus NX for stability control issue

TOYOTA Motor Philippines Corp. (TMP) has issued a recall or special service campaign on 132 officially sold Lexus NX and RAV4 hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) units due to an issue with their stability control system.

TMP said in an advisory released via the website of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) on May 2 that the special service campaign covers 40 Lexus NX HEV units from the production period of Nov. 17, 2021 to March 31, 2022 and 92 RAV4 HEV units from the production period of Dec. 1, 2021 to April 1, 2022.

“We will perform reprogramming on [the] Brake Actuator ECU. The remedy will be performed at no cost to our customers,” said Bernardino C. Arevalo, TMP first vice-president for customer service operations of the marketing division, in the advisory dated April 20.

According to the car manufacturer, the covered vehicles are equipped with a vehicle stability control (VSC) system that is operated by a skid control ECU with a specific software logic.

However, due to an incorrect programming of the skid control ECU software, the VSC will not return to the default “on” setting at any subsequent ignition cycle after a particular set of inputs from the driver.

TMP said the issue can happen if the driver manually turns off the VSC and the ignition is turned off and then turned back on while the brake pedal is still depressed.

The car manufacturer said the issue could increase the risk of a crash in certain driving conditions.

“If VSC does not return to the default ‘on’ setting because the precise operating inputs were carried out and the driver also does not recognize the warning light to manually reactivate the VSC system, then operating the vehicle with an inoperative VSC system could increase the risk of a crash in certain driving conditions,” the advisory said. —