Toyota recalls 55k UK hybrid cars

Toyota recalls 55,000 UK hybrid cars over power failure fault

Toyota has a reputation for building some pretty solid if unexciting cars. However, it also has a habit of recalling millions of vehicles at a time, which kind of puts a stinker on the whole thing.

Faulty and potentially lethal airbags supplied by third party Takata triggered a recall of almost six millions cars back in 2016 and this time, more than 2.4 million hybrid Toyotas have been called back due to a system fault that could cause them to completely lose power.

In the UK specifically, the recall concerns around 55,000 Prius and Auris cars, but in the wider world, it also affects 290,000 cars in Europe, as well as 1.25 million cars in Japan and 830,000 in the US.

Any cars affected by the new fault were produced between October 2008 and November 2014. It seems Toyota is erring on the side of caution as usual because it says it is not aware of any actual accidents caused by the fault.

That said, a sudden loss of power could have catastrophic consequences so good on Toyota for taking the initiative.

In a statement, the Japanese car maker said that in “rare situations”, the fault could cause vehicles to stall when entering “failsafe” driving mode. “While power steering and braking would remain operational, a vehicle stall while driving at higher speeds could increase the risk of a crash,” the company added.

Perhaps the most shocking thing is this isn’t the first time these cars have been recalled – the models affected had already been called back for other reasons in 2014 and 2015.

Toyota explained this boo-boo by saying: “The remedy conducted then did not anticipate the new condition identified in this recall.”

If you own one of the affected vehicles, expect someone from Toyota to get in touch soon. After scheduling a slot for the fix, a technician installs a software upgrade in around 40 minutes.

Do you own one of these Toyotas? How do you feel about yet another recall? Let us know down in the comments.

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