Toyota Recalls 110k Cars Over Software, Power Steering Problems

In case you haven't yet tired of automotive recalls, we have another one that has surfaced in the pipeline, this one from Toyota affecting in excess of 110,000 cars. The recall was announced today, and includes its Camry, Camry Hybrid, RAV4, RAV4 EV, Highlander, and Highlander Hybrid models. There are two different issues at play, though they don't affect all of the models equally. Fortunately, no known injuries or wrecks have resulted from either problem, says the auto maker.

For this recall, the 2012 to 2014 Toyota RAV4 EV and 2014 to 2015 RAV4 models have been recalled, as well as the newest (2015) Camry and Camry Hybrid, and Highlander and Highlander Hybrid cars. The RAV4 EV cars affected are said to have a software glitch that could cause the vehicles to shift into a neutral, an obvious hazard.

All the other cars, including the non-EV RAV4s, are having a different issue: the electric power steering assist could stop working due to a "circuit board...[that] may have been damaged during its manufacturing process. If the power steering assist goes out, steering the car will be considerably harder and could cause a wreck if the driver isn't prepared.

Problems with electric power steering assist potentially failing is becoming a recurring issue for auto makers. We saw this same issue affect some of General Motors' cars in 2014, and more recently Hyundai has had to recall a bunch of its Elantra cars over the same potential power steering loss (though that one is due to a different core problem).

SOURCE: CNBC