Ah, fall: the time of year when you need neither the air conditioning nor the heat on in your car, but just need to roll the window down a few inches to feel that lovely autumn breeze. Unless you are one of the 6.5 million people in the world who own certain model Toyota and Scion cars, in which case rolling down that window might just smell like your driver’s side door catching fire.
Toyota announced the recall of 6.5 million vehicles worldwide, 2 million of which are in the United States, due to an issue with the power window master switch, on the driver’s side of the car. The switch needs grease, in order to minimize friction and work properly, and it turns out those switches don’t have enough lubricant on them. That can cause a short circuit, which can then cause the system to overheat, melt, and possibly catch fire.
The full list of affected vehicles includes:
- 2007 and 2009 Camry and Camry Hybrid
- 2009-2011 Corolla
- 2008-2011 Highlander and Highlander Hybrid
- 2009-2011 Matrix
- 2006-2011 RAV4
- 2009-2011 Sequoia
- 2009-2011 Tundra
- 2006-2011 Yaris
- 2009-2011 Scion xB
- 2009-2011 Scion xD
This is Toyota’s second recall related to the window switch issue; the automaker previously recalled several 2007-2009 vehicles for the same problem. The parts all came from Japanese manufacturer Tokai Rika.
Toyota owners who want to know if their cars are included in this or any other recall can check their VIN on Toyota’s site or safercar.gov.
Toyota Recalls 6.5 Million Cars to Fix Power Window Switch [Bloomberg]
by Kate Cox via Consumerist