It’s hard to believe that it’s been over 3 years since Toyota’s recall debacle in which some drivers lost their lives. At issue was a stuck accelerator pedal that would cause the driver to lose control of the vehicle. All told, several million Toyotas were affected.
The company continues to feel the fallout from these issues – several class action lawsuits were filed against the automaker, including one where Toyota settled for $1 billion with U.S. owners who claim their vehicles plummeted in value after the big recalls in 2009-2010.
Sales took a big hit too, especially in the U.S.
And even though there has since been other recalls involving some power steering issues, they’ve been relatively minor. This time, Toyota is being extra cautious…
Caution is certainly prompting Toyota to recall over 907,000 Corollas (faulty airbags) and 385,000 Lexus IS models (faulty wipers). According to a company spokesman, the Japanese auto giant has received 18 confirmed cases of injury from faulty airbags in Corollas manufactured between December 2001 and May 2004.
At issue is a chip that controls the airbag. Electronic signals in the vehicle damage the chip, which causes the airbag to inadvertently inflate. Even though their purpose is to mitigate the impacts of a car accident, airbags do cause injury.
Slightly over 752,000 of the affected models were sold in the United States.
Affected owners will receive a notice directly from Toyota – they will be able to take their vehicle to their nearest where technicians will correct the chip so it blocks the kind of signals that cause the airbag to engage.
Over 270,000 Lexus IS models manufactured between May 2005 and October 2011 were also recalled by Toyota for faulty windshield wipers. In heavy snow, wipers on some of these vehicles do not engage, or get stuck.
As you know, having functioning wipers in a Colorado blizzard is critical to staying safe of the road.
If you have either one of these vehicles, take it to your nearest Toyota dealer immediately…
And if you’ve been injured by a defective airbag, or a defect is the cause of an accident, contact Denver auto accident lawyers at the Babcock Law Firm today for a free consultation.