- Toyota is recalling its 2011 Sienna minivan to fix defective brake lights.
- Owners will be notified of the recall in mid-January.
- With this latest recall, Toyota has pulled approximately 14 million vehicles over a range of issues in the past year.
WASHINGTON — Toyota is recalling 94,000 2011 Sienna minivans to fix defective brake lights, the automaker announced on Monday.
Toyota said in a statement it will replace the stop lamp or brake light switch bracket on the affected Sienna minivans.
"Due to the proximity of the stop lamp switch bracket to the parking brake pedal when the parking brake is fully applied, the stop lamp switch bracket could, in limited circumstances, be deformed by the driver's foot during parking brake operation," said Toyota.
"Depending on the amount of bracket deformation, this condition could cause the brake lights to remain on or, if the deformation is significant, the brakes could become partially engaged due to contact from the bracket, resulting in brake drag with associated brake noise, brake vibration and/or illumination of the brake warning light. If this condition is not noticed and the vehicle continues to be driven, braking effectiveness could be reduced."
Toyota dealers will replace the bracket assembly with a new one that has been redesigned to "take into account the proximity of the component to the parking brake pedal."
Owners will be notified of the recall in mid-January, along "with instructions for what to do if they experience this condition and how to minimize the possibility of inadvertently contacting the stop lamp switch bracket while operating the parking brake."
Owners can contact Toyota at (800) 331-4331.
This latest recall caps a year in which Toyota saw the recall of millions of vehicles, along with a record fine by the federal government and ongoing lawsuits. Toyota is still in the midst of lawsuits in the U.S., but its lawyers contend that most of the deaths blamed on sudden acceleration of Toyota vehicles were the result of driver error.
With this latest recall, Toyota has pulled approximately 14 million vehicles over a range of issues in the past year.
Inside Line says: If you own the aforementioned Sienna minivan, get it checked out ASAP with your dealer. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent
Add A Comment »
charleneb1 says:
04:33 PM, 01/01/2011
Something tells me that this "fix" seems far too simple. What is REALLY causing the brake system to engage?
My guess is that the new brake bracket won't solve the problem. This one doesn't sit well in the gut for me. The late model Toyotas already have far too many braking "issues." The brakes in the Sienna can lock in light snow conditions and cause loss of braking ability. Drivers have cited the problem on many forums. This has nothing to do with "driver error" as Toyota would like you to think. It has everything to do with brake system design and inherent failure within the ABS system.
Stay tuned for more owner complaints on this one...wonder if the NHTSA will "swallow" the malformation of the brake bracket explanation? Time will tell...
Check out what thousands of Toyota owners are saying about a major engine problem in late model Toyotas. Go to http://www.petitiononline.com/TMC2003/petition.html to see the complaints.
Check out Parris Boyd's blog about Toyota. You can find it at http://www.uc2.blogspot.com. What an eye-opener it is!
Toyota owner advocates have had to endure a lot just to keep the issues in Toyota highlighted publicly. Wonder what "system" uses to discourage vehicle owner blogging and consumer advocate actions? Anonymous "Toyota Protectors" seem to be all over the internet to discredit and defame the messengers. I must admit that Toyota was almost effective in burying the engine oil sludge matter...at least until 2001!
Just ask Sean Kane at http://www.safetyresearch.net what he knows about the Toyota PRmachine! Though Toyota likes to distance itself from any wrongdoing, rest assured, it has the "slash and burn" mentality when it comes to ridding itself of pesky consumer advocates! This is no surprise since Toyota has thrown the book at its own value customers for over a decade now---blaming them for all sorts of inherent (and major!) problems in their Toyotas!
A company that continues to point the finger at its bread-and-butter customers (including sending soem to PRISON!) and that welcomes reducing the effectiveness of consumer rights measures is a company that should avoided, IMO. Why do auto consumers need that aggravation? Take your hard-earned money to a company that doesn't kick you in the pants when you come in to inform it about problems!
parrisboyd says:
05:16 PM, 12/15/2010
Another recall? No surprise. The Recall King has recalled over 25.6 million vehicles since '05. How many defects - safety related and otherwise - have yet to be exposed? Toyota makes a great acronym for "The One You Ought To Avoid," and I've been bloggin' 'bout 'em for quite some time at http://www.uc2.blogspot.com
lsobboh says:
06:59 AM, 12/15/2010
@autoadviseorg: You do realize that this recall is about the parking brake and not the van's regular everyday use ABS' right? And that your comment on this being more serious than UI is completely irrational and quite disrespectful to those who were actually victims of UI (those who were victims, not assholes who faked it) This isn't really that serious in my honest opinion. How often does one actually use their parking breaks? If it's an essential part to your daily parking then go get it checked out. If not, then go do something else with your spare time.
autoadviseorg says:
06:01 AM, 12/15/2010
@wpy777
>>> are you serious?
Yes, I am. In sudden acceleration, if you have nothing ahead of you and if you are sensible enough, you can put the car in neutral and use brakes.
In this case, the brakes maybe less effective. Just imagine the van driving in winter or worse in snow/ice/sleet conditions and trying to brake.
What makes me wonder is that how did they manage to design a switch bracket that can engage brakes! That is beyond me.
With recent recalls from Toyota and Honda, it just makes me wonder, if these two companies have become too comfortable with their quality status. They have got into some serious issues these days. Its time for many customers who opt for Japanese only to start test driving other makes. It is unfortunate that the fleet vehicles made by Domestic makers are bare bone and abused badly by others to fairly judge them.
dvsuton12 says:
10:13 PM, 12/14/2010
"Deformed huh? I was thinking the whole van looks deformed"
I couldn't agree more!
Looks like they recreated the dustbuster look from GM vans of the 80's
wpy777 says:
09:04 PM, 12/14/2010
@autoadviseorg
"I think worse than the sudden acceleration issue on Camry's."
are you serious?
wjtinatl says:
02:36 PM, 12/14/2010
Jeez, how flimsy is the brake light bracket that applying the parking brake may deform it? More evidence of Toyota's cost cutting and lack of product development and testing.
autoadviseorg says:
12:15 PM, 12/14/2010
This is a very serious issue. I think worse than the sudden acceleration issue on Camry's. They are clearly mentioning that this could degrade brake performance and cause brake drag.
What I find ironic is that Toyota has this time already redesigned the "faulty" part!. How did they manage to do it that quickly? where as on the Toyota gas pedal they took some time to come up with a solution.
I think a stop sale is the next thing to be expected. I have been reasonably calm on Toyota's woes, but this one points their weakness in QA and engineering.
aston_dbs says:
08:29 AM, 12/14/2010
Wow... already, eh?
We haven't even got to 2011 yet...
fantastic says:
08:09 AM, 12/14/2010
NOT a big deal.. imo