Toyota announces service campaign to fix exhaust on 28,000 Prius V hybrids

Toyota engineers worked hard to get the emissions that come out of the tailpipe of the Prius V down to a low level, but that doesn't mean that everything is copacetic with the car's exhaust system. To fix a known problem, Toyota has announced a service campaign for the Prius V, both in the U.S. and Japan.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the problem is with "weak actuators-control mechanisms" in the exhaust-heat-recovery systems that can end up leaking engine coolant, which will then force the car into a "safe" mode. Some second-gen, 2004-07 standard Prius models were affected by a similar problem in the past.

The new issue affects about 8,000 vehicles in Japan, 20,000 in North America. Prius V owners will get the problem fixed for free.