Toyota Recalls RAV4 and Lexus HS 250h for Rear Suspension Defect

Plain-English summary

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing is recalling certain model year 2006 through 2011 RAV4 and 2010 Lexus HS 250h passenger vehicles. The recall covers vehicles manufactured from October 2005 through September 2010. The defect involves the rear suspension arm (rear tie rod), which may develop unwanted movement and rust if the nuts for adjusting rear wheel alignment are improperly tightened during service. This can lead to thread damage and eventual failure of the rear tie rod.

Failure of the rear tie rod will cause an abrupt change in the vehicle's alignment. This could result in a loss of vehicle control, increasing the risk of a crash. No specific dates for when the defect occurred or specific geographic distribution details are provided in the source text beyond the manufacturing dates.

Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the rear tie-rod nut for looseness and replace any suspect tie-rod found loose. Dealers will also affix instructions in multiple places to prevent improper servicing in the future. The recall began on November 30, 2012. Owners may contact Toyota at 1-800-331-4331 or Lexus at 1-800-255-3987. Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.

The recalled product

Product

TOYOTA, LEXUS RAV4, HS 250 HYBRID

Brand

TOYOTA

Manufacturer

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing

Category

Vehicle — SUV / Hybrid

Hazard

• loss-of-control
• structural-failure

Affected units

780,584

Is your product affected?

Check your packaging against the codes below. If any of them match, the product is part of this recall.

Distribution

Related recalls