Toyota Recalls 2003 Sequoia for Traction Control System Defect
Toyota is recalling 2003 Sequoia vehicles because a steering sensor error may cause the stability control system to activate unexpectedly, slowing acceleration and increasing crash risk.
What this means for you
Our assessment, not the agency’s: severity 3/5 (High).
Real risk of harm even if no illness or injury has been reported yet. Stop using the product and follow the agency's guidance.
Our severity reasoning: The recall involves a vehicle stability control defect that increases the risk of a crash, fitting the rubric criterion for risk-of-harm products where injury has not yet been reported.
Plain-English summary
Toyota Motor North America, Inc. is recalling approximately 50,000 model year 2003 Sequoia passenger vehicles manufactured between April 1, 2002, and April 17, 2003. The recall addresses a defect in the traction control system where the center position of the steering angle sensor may not be stored correctly due to improper logic in the skid control ECU programming.
This defect can cause the Vehicle Stability Control (VSC) system to activate at low speeds for a few seconds during acceleration from a stopped position. If this occurs, the vehicle may not accelerate as quickly as the driver expects, which increases the risk of a crash.
Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will reflash the ECU to correct the issue. If the reflash cannot be completed on a specific vehicle, the ECU will be replaced with a new one. This service will be performed free of charge. The safety recall began on June 11, 2010. Owners may contact Toyota at 1-800-331-4331 or the NHTSA Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236.
The recalled product
- Product
- TOYOTA SEQUOIA
- Brand
- TOYOTA
- Manufacturer
- TOYOTA MOTOR NORTH AMERICA, INC.
- Category
- Vehicle — SUV
- Affected units
- 50,000
Is your product affected?
Check your packaging against the codes below. If any of them match, the product is part of this recall.
Model numbers (1)
- SEQUOIA
Distribution
Distributed nationwide across the United States.
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