Toyota, Lexus Recall Issued Over Problems That Could Deactivate Airbags

Nearly 90,000 Toyota and Lexus vehicles have been recalled, due to problems with a wiring harness for the airbag sensors, which may deteriorate over time and cause airbags to fail to deploy in a crash, increasing the risk of injury for front seat passengers. 

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced the Toyota airbag recall after it was discovered that the seat belt tension sensor wire harness may break over time, causing the front passenger air bag, knee air bag and passenger seat-mounted airbag to fail to deploy in the event of a crash.

The airbag problems may impact certain Toyota and Lexus vehicles that are equipped with a front passenger occupant classification system which includes a seatbelt tension sensor to distinguish whether a child or an adult is occupying the seat.

The investigation’s findings indicate there is a possibility a portion of the belt tensioner wire harness could experience excessive stress from bending over time and break the wires entering the sensor housing. In this event, the airbag warning light and the passenger airbag “OFF” indicator may illuminate on the dashboard, and the airbags will not deploy in a crash.

The recall includes certain model year 2008 through 2019 Lexus LX570 manufactured from July 12, 2007 through December 5, 2018, and 2008 through 2019 Toyota Land Cruiser models built from June 5, 2007 through December 5, 2018.

The vehicles were manufactured by Toyota. They were distributed for sale throughout the U.S. to licensed dealers.

Toyota is currently still developing a repair remedy for the issue, and an interim notification letter is expected to be mailed in early February 2019. Once a remedy is developed and parts become available, Toyota will send a subsequent notification to customers informing them on how to set up a repair appointment at their local dealer.

Customers with additional questions or concerns are encouraged to contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371 or Lexus customer service at 1-800-255-3987.