Toyota Recall October 2013 Includes Camry Hybrid, Avalon, Avalon Hybrid, and Venza

Toyota announced a voluntary recall of some of its vehicles. This is the third major recall that Toyota has issued in recent weeks. Last month, the company called back more than 780,000 vehicles in the US to address a suspension defect in its RAV4 and Lexus HS 250h models, after fears that an initial recall last year did not fix the problem.

TORRANCE, Calif., Oct. 17, 2013 – Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc., today announced it will conduct a voluntary safety recall of approximately 803,000 Model Year 2012-2013 Camry, Camry Hybrid, Avalon, Avalon Hybrid, and Venza vehicles due to a problem with the air conditioning condenser unit housing.

In the involved vehicles, water from the air conditioning condenser unit housing could leak onto the airbag control module and cause a short circuit, resulting in illumination of the airbag warning light. In some instances, the air bag(s) could become disabled or could inadvertently deploy.

In limited instances, the power steering assist function could also become inoperable if a communication line in the airbag control module is damaged. Loss of power steering assist results in increased steering effort.

To remedy this issue, Toyota dealers will apply sealant and install a cover to the air conditioning condenser unit housing seam located above the airbag control module.

Owners of the involved vehicles will be notified by first class mail to return their vehicles to a Toyota dealer for the repair.

Detailed information is available to customers at www.toyota.com/recall and by calling the Toyota Customer Experience Center at 1-800-331-4331.

Media Contacts:
Advanced Technology and Business Communications
Cindy Knight (310) 468-2170
John Hanson (310) 468-4718
Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. Media Line (310) 468-5297