Toyota Motors, a renowned automaker, has recently issued a recall for more than 135,000 Prius hybrid cars in Japan. This action comes as a response to a concerning problem identified with the rear door handles.
According to information disclosed by the transport ministry, the affected vehicles were manufactured between November 2022 and April 2024. Despite the flaw, there have been no reported accidents attributed to this issue thus far, which is a relief.
Safety Concern Identified
The main concern revolves around insufficient waterproofing in the electronic components of the rear doors. If these components are exposed to moisture, there’s a risk of them short-circuiting. This could potentially result in the rear doors opening unexpectedly while the vehicle is in motion.
In light of this safety risk, Toyota has taken proactive steps by halting production and suspending order placements from dealerships until the problem is resolved. This demonstrates their commitment to ensuring the safety of their customers.
While the recall primarily affects Prius cars in Japan, it’s uncertain whether similar actions will be taken for Prius models sold in other countries.
However, Toyota has revealed that a previously suspended assembly line, dedicated to quality checks on Prius cars, will resume production of Corolla compact cars soon.
Supplier Involvement
The root cause of the issue has been traced back to door switches supplied by Tokai Rika Co, one of Toyota’s suppliers.
As a result of the recall, Tokai Rika Co anticipates significant costs, amounting to approximately 11 billion yen. This underscores the financial impact of such recalls on both the automaker and its suppliers.
While recalls can be disruptive, they are essential for maintaining vehicle safety standards. Toyota’s swift action to address this issue reflects their commitment to customer safety and underscores the importance of thorough quality control measures in automotive manufacturing.
Last year Toyota initiated a recall of its BZ3 EV sedan in China. It recalled over 12K of the BZ3 EV sedans. Interestingly the issue for the recall was exactly the same as the issue with the Prius currently. Faulty door handles with gaps in the design that would let in water/humidity and cause the door to malfunction.
Back then we saw a lot of people laughing and saying that because Toyota used Chinese technology to make the BZ3, with all EV tech coming from BYD, this was bound to happen etc. etc.
*https://electrek.co/2023/07/20/toyota-recalling-12k-electric-bz3-sedans/
Now with this Prius recall for exactly the same issue, we get a clearer picture that not only was this an actual Toyota issue, currently and even back then; we learn that even the supplier involved was/is from Japan. Not only that, this time, the problem is worse because there is the added issue of a fire risk as well!
Toyota did not learn from its run-in with this same problem during the recall of 12K units of its BZ3 EV from a year back. Not only is the problem back, Toyota now recalling over 130K of its “Flagship Sales Success Hybrid” Prius for this issue and, on top of all that, the problem is now worse and more dangerous because of a fire risk.
Excellent learning curve…
@Ali Khan
That is odd, you are you babbling about a non-existent issue and learning curve, but then when have you ever been a sound reader? For your record, the issue is with water proofing on electronic components not the handle designs.
By the way, during Bz3 recall you raved really loudly on CSP platform about Toyota being incompetent to design an EV and taking help from BYD so, why then are you backtracking from your boastful claims? Anyway, in my opinion, you really must stay away from your kids for their sakes because they are also learning to become poor liars.
@khurram
Wow!!! Getting personal now are we? Well what more could I expect? Small minds and all that…
Both this article AND the one I linked do mention the issue with ‘rear door handles’. Where, oh where, does it mention “electronic components” generally?! 🤯🤣🤦♂️
As you so eloquently put it, Toyota does seem incompetent at EVs. Case in point, the Toyota BZ4X EV SUV. Toyota couldn’t make it work (meaning it had many issue from wheel nuts falling off to battery range issues to poor charging). So, yeah! Toyota DID get BYD to use their EV technology to make the Toyota BZ3 EV sedan. And again, yeah, the main issues in it were from those bits handle by Toyota itself. So again, yeah! Toyota does seem lacking when it comes to EVs. Where am I back tracking on that?! 🤔😕
And thank you for proving yet again that even such clear problems are “non existent” for Japanese brand fanboys of your calibre. If such “non existent issues” were found in some other brands, especially Chinese ones, we would never hear the end of it. 🤣
By the way, the last line is what we grown-ups call ‘sarcasm’. 😉
@Khurram
Just to clarify, the last line of my FIRST comment, which you seem to have taken to heart, is what is called sarcasm. 👍