D. Gilson is a writer and author of essays, poetry, and scholarship that explore the relationship between popular culture, literature, sexuality, and memoir. His latest book is Jesus Freak, with Will Stockton, part of Bloomsbury’s 33 1/3 Series. His other books include I Will Say This Exactly One Time and Crush. His first chapbook, Catch & Release, won the 2012 Robin Becker Prize from Seve...

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Jeffrey Johnson is a legal writer with a focus on personal injury. He has worked on personal injury and sovereign immunity litigation in addition to experience in family, estate, and criminal law. He earned a J.D. from the University of Baltimore and has worked in legal offices and non-profits in Maryland, Texas, and North Carolina. He has also earned an MFA in screenwriting from Chapman Univer...

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Reviewed by Jeffrey Johnson
Insurance Lawyer

UPDATED: Jan 19, 2021

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We keep wondering when the string of bad luck and clouds of misfortune will depart Toyota. It seemed as if no sooner than when they met their goal of becoming the world’s largest automaker the troubles started. And celebrating achieving that goal quickly passed, as they lost their top position to General Motors. Toyota even found themselves falling all the way down to the third position, behind Volkswagen.

That lack of sales success has continued throughout the year, as Toyota has lost marketshare with year over year monthly sales shortfalls occurring since February. And if the sales issues weren’t enough for the company, quality control issues with models continue to creep into the picture.

Perhaps creep isn’t the right word, since Toyota’s recalls seem more like a tsunami than just the usual course of business. In the last two years, Toyota has recalled more than 13 million vehicles in the United States. And today, the Japanese automaker announced yet another recall of over one half a million cars, 420,000 of which are in the U.S.

The cars under the latest recall include:

  • 2004 Toyota Avalons
  • 2004/2005 Toyota Camrys
  • 2004/2005 Toyota Highlanders
  • 2004/2005 Toyota Siennas
  • 2004/2005 Toyota Solaras (convertibles)
  • 2004/2005 Lexus ES330
  • 2004/2005 Lexus RX330
  • 2006 Lexus RX400h

 

And they’re being recalled over a potential issue with the power steering. The belt from the power steering pump can separate from a pulley, which will cause the power steering system to fail. Once that happens, the automobiles will become much harder to steer. All of the cars affected by the recall are powered by V6 engines.

Toyota suggests owners of affected vehicles that have questions or concerns to visit either the main Toyota recall site or their Lexus brand’s recall site. Owners can also make toll-free calls to either Toyota at (800) 331-4331 or Lexus at (800) 255-3987.