Nearly 11 million Toyota vehicles have been recalled in the past 12 months, including Friday’s recall of about 1.3 million 2005-08 Toyota Corolla, Matrix and Pontiac Vibe vehicles sold in the United States for stalled engines.
The recall covers 1.13 million Corolla and Matrix vehicles and 161,754 Pontiac Vibe vehicles that were built by Toyota through a joint venture with General Motors in California. 200,000 vehicles will also be recalled in Canada.
In a statement, the Transportation Department said, “we are not closing our investigation at this point in order to ensure we have identified all the potential causes of this safety defect in the affected vehicles.”
Preliminary notices of the Vibe recall will be sent in September to owners and a recall schedule will follow in November. With exception of a “few stalling complaints,” General Motors is unaware of any injuries or accidents in Vibe vehicles covered by the recall. There have been three unconfirmed accidents and one minor injury related to this condition, according to Toyota. The NHTSA has said there are six reports of crashes. No deaths have been reported.
Toyota spokesman John Hanson said the recall was voluntary and wasn’t prompted by NHTSA. He said the company knew problems with the unit continue to be an issue — even though it didn’t believe it was a safety issue. In March, Toyota insisted there was no engine problem.
The recall came after Toyota conducted testing on 32 Engine Control Modules and said four malfunctioned after testing. Toyota had issued four separate bulletins to dealers to repair defective ECMs in the vehicles that are now being recalled. The cars with the 1ZZ-FE engine and two-wheel drive are being recalled. If the ECM fails, “the engine could stop while the vehicle is being driven,” and ”the check engine may illuminate, harsh shifting could result, or the engine may not start.”
NHTSA has reviewed more than 1,100 complaints over the issue, and Toyota has acknowledged 4,200 warranty claims. Toyota will now reimburse owners who paid for the repairs themselves, if their cars weren’t under warranty. The company faces at least a dozen lawsuits in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Minnesota, Florida and California over the stalling issue. In some of the lawsuits, dealerships identified the engine control unit as the cause of the stalling problems. Toyota has dismissed some claims, saying the car would still be able to be stopped safely.
