Toyota recalling 670k Prius models in US, 2.77 million vehicles worldwide [UPDATE]

Zach Bowman — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 08:59:00 EST

Filed under: Hybrid, Government/Legal, Recalls, Safety, Hatchback, Toyota

Automotive News reports Toyota is recalling a total of 2.77 million vehicles worldwide for faulty water pumps and steering system issues. A total of 670,000 of those are 2004-2009 Prius hybrids sold in the US. Those vehicles are headed back to the dealer, where technicians will inspect the intermediate shaft in the steering column for deformed splines and replace the shaft if necessary. Around 350,000 of those same models will also be inspected for a faulty electric water pump. In some cases, the motor driving the pump could stop, causing the electric motor to overheat and stop functioning while being driven.

Toyota has not received any reports of accidents as a result of either problem, and says the inspections and replacement work should be completed in around one hour.

The recalls also affect 496,000 vehicles in Europe and a further 1.5 million in Japan. All told, the steering shaft recall covers 10 models worldwide, including the Corolla and Wish models manufactured in Japan between 2000 and 2009. Five models are affected by the water pump recall, though we're still waiting for confirmation from Toyota as to which they are. You can read the full Toyota press release below, covering the US-spec Prius issues, for more information.

UPDATE: We've heard back from Toyota about the two recall issues reported on this morning, and have a bit of clarification on the models in question, worldwide, now.

Prius is the only model affected by the water pump issue. As we indicated earlier, the faulty water pump could cause the electric motor to shut down, which then causes the ECU to shut down the gasoline engine, as well.

The other nine models affected by the steering shaft issue (which is unrelated to the water pump issue) are mostly Japanese Domestic Market vehicles: Allex, Avensis, Corolla, Corolla Feilder, Corolla Run X, Corolla Spacio, Isis, WiLL VS and Wish.

We also have a breakdown of the number of vehicles affected by both recalls, by world market. 670k in the US, 1.5 million in Japan, 15k in Canada, 496k in Europe, 3,800 in China, 35k in Oceania, 1,500 in the Middle East and a total of 12,600 in "other" regions.

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Toyota recalling 670k Prius models in US, 2.77 million vehicles worldwide [UPDATE] originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 14 Nov 2012 08:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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