Toyota has just issued a recall affecting a little over 1 million vehicles, due to a risk of fire that requires a visit to a dealer service centre to fix.
An incident was reported in Japan this past February, which led to an internal Toyota inquiry.
The problem relates to “an engine wire harness which is connected to the hybrid vehicle Power Control Unit. A portion of the wire harness could contact the cover at this connection and wear over time, causing an electrical short circuit, which can generate heat. If sufficient heat is generated, there is an increased risk of a vehicle fire”, according to a Toyota statement.
The 1 million number certainly is significant, but we should point out that only 7,200 of those are vehicles registered in Canada. The recall is a global one, and actually all of the models affected except for one are not even sold in Canada.
That exception is the Prius. The recall also touches on the C-HR, but only the hybrid version, not sold in North America.
The models falling under the recall were built between June 2015 and May 2018 (and are 2016 to 2018 models)
Some 554,000 of the recalled vehicles are in Japan, while another 219,000 are in Europe and another 217,000 in North America; the latter figure includes the Canadian total of 7,200.
Toyota says that its dealer service centres will carry out the needed repairs at no cost to owners.
“For all involved vehicles, Toyota dealers will check the engine wire harness assembly. If a wire core is exposed, the engine wire harness assembly will be replaced with a new one that includes a protective sleeve. If a wire core is not exposed, protective tape will be installed on the engine wire harness assembly.”
- Toyota statement