Toyota is issuing a safety recall for 68,356 Lexus NX luxury crossovers in the United States due to an instrument cluster software fault that can cause critical warning indicators to go blank.
The safety campaign covers 2022-2024 Lexus NX 250, NX 350, NX 350h Hybrid and NX 450h+ Plug-in Hybrid vehicles equipped with a 7-inch digital combination meter display.
Note that while the current recall is for the U.S. only, we can expect a matching campaign in Canada, since Canadian models use identical Denso-supplied combination meter assemblies built on the same assembly lines. For the moment, though, mum’s the word on both Lexus Canada’s and Transport Canada’s websites.
The problem
According to documents filed with safety regulators south of the border, the issue stems from an initialization error during vehicle startup. Processing interference during the boot-up sequence can cause sections of the 7-inch display to initialize completely blank.
When this glitch occurs, drivers could fail to see mandated warning telltales like indicators for low engine oil pressure, high coolant temperature and electrical charging system faults. Even if a mechanical defect develops while driving, there could be no illuminated warning.
Without visible warnings for engine overheating or dropping oil pressure, drivers may continue operating the vehicle until severe mechanical failure or stalling occurs, which creates a real risk of an accident.
What’s more, the warning icons that can fail to light up are required by regulations, meaning that affected models fail to comply with safety standards governing vehicle controls and displays.
Toyota estimates the software glitch is present in the memory code across the entire affected population.
The solution
Lexus dealerships will update the combination meter software free of charge. Toyota noted that an over-the-air (OTA) software update may also become available for equipped models down the line. Owner notification letters are scheduled to be mailed beginning in December 2026.
As mentioned, we await official word on a Canadian recall.