Toyota recalls 200,000 Sienna minivans.
It’s been a tough couple years for Toyota, the maker being slammed by safety issues as well as production shortages caused by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan last March.
But just as the maker was hoping to get things back to normal — with factories pouring out the product and Toyota’s latest line-up landing on the top of the quality charts – it seems the maker will have to recall yet another 200,000 vehicles.
But the latest problem is the result of a typo rather than a specific defect with the 2011 and 2012 Toyota Sienna minivan line, reports the Detroit News.
Turns out the wrong tire and load information were printed on the placard that manufacturers place in the door jam. Follow those instructions, it turns out, and you could actually over-inflate the tires to the point where they might blow out, leading to a possible accident.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration advised Toyota of the problem last month, the maker now confirming that it will have to notify owners of the affected people-movers to come into dealer service bays to get the tire placard replaced.
The Toyota Sienna, notes Automotive News, is the nation’s best-selling minivan for the calendar-year-to-date, maintaining an 882-unit lead over the Dodge Caravan through the end of November, with sales of 99,865, up 11.6% over year-earlier levels.
Toyota recalled more than 10 million vehicles last year, most of them for so-called unintended acceleration problems — though the maker was eventually cleared by a federal study looking into allegations that the maker’s electronic engine controllers suffered unexplained glitches.