Toyota Announces Voluntary Recall of Certain Toyota Land Cruiser 150 and Lexus GX 460 in Europe

EPSOM, UNITED KINGDOM – April 20, 2010: Toyota Motor Europe today announced it would make a voluntary recall of around 7.500 units of Toyota Land Cruiser 150 (Prado) and Lexus GX 460 in Europe in order to carry out a reprogramming of the Vehicle Stability Control (VSC) software to improve its responsiveness in very limited circumstances and to ensure customer satisfaction.

While the recalled vehicles are safe to drive under normal driving conditions, on certain vehicles equipped with the optional Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System, when the driver makes a sharp turn of the steering wheel at high speed, or when the driver negotiates a curve to the right at excessive speed, there is a possibility for the car to slide out, even though it is a controllable situation. This is due to an insufficient activation of the VSC system when the vehicle is driven under certain extreme driving conditions. The issue was investigated following a report in a US based consumer magazine.

The affected vehicles in Europe are only left-hand drive versions, no right-hand drive models are affected. The voluntary recall includes the Toyota Land Cruiser 150, available across Europe, and the Lexus GX 460 which is only available in certain Eastern European markets. A remedy for this issue has been announced by Toyota Motor Corporation.

All customers owning one of the involved models will be personally notified in the coming days.

To date, there have been no reports of complaints or accidents linked to this issue in Europe.

No other Toyota or Lexus vehicles are affected by this recall action in Europe.

Toyota and Lexus owners who have questions or concerns should contact the Customer Relations offices in their respective countries for assistance.