Toyota Motor North America, Inc.: Air Bags › Side/Window
Toyota Motor North America, Inc. reported this defect to federal regulators on Apr 21, 2011 and put the number of vehicles at risk at 307,848. The repair is free for as long as the recall stands.
The defect
TOYOTA IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2008 HIGHLANDER, HIGHLANDER HYBRID, AND MODEL YEAR 2007-2008 RAV4 VEHICLES. IN THE CURTAIN SHIELD AIRBAG (CSA) SYSTEM, THERE ARE TWO SENSORS IN THE AIRBAG SENSOR ASSEMBLY WHICH ARE DESIGNED TO DETECT VEHICLE ROLL ANGLE. IF ONE OF THESE SENSORS MALFUNCTIONS, THE AIRBAG WARNING LIGHT (MALFUNCTION INDICATOR LIGHT: MIL) WILL ILLUMINATE AND THE ROLL DETECTION SYSTEM WILL BE SUSPENDED; HOWEVER, THE AIRBAG CSA REMAINS AVAILABLE IN THE EVENT OF A SIDE CRASH. IF BOTH SENSORS FAIL NEARLY SIMULTANEOUSLY AFTER INITIAL AIRBAG SYSTEM CHECK, THE CSA AND THE SEAT BELT PRETENSIONER COULD BE INADVERTENTLY ACTIVATED.
The risk
INADVERTENT ACTIVATION OF THE CSA AND/OR THE SEAT BELT PRETENSIONER CAN CAUSE INJURY TO A VEHICLE OCCUPANT.
The remedy
TOYOTA WILL REPLACE THE AIRBAG SENSOR ASSEMBLY WITH A NEW ONE CONTAINING IMPROVED ROLL RATE SENSORS, FREE OF CHARGE. TOYOTA INTENDS TO SEND AN INTERIM OWNER NOTIFICATION TO OWNERS EARLY TO MID-MAY, 2011 WHEN SUFFICIENT PARTS AND REMEDY BECOMES AVAILABLE. OWNERS MAY CONTACT TOYOTA AT 1-800-331-4331.
4 model years covered
Newest first| Vehicle | Complaints | Recalls | Fires | Crashes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 Toyota Highlander | 405 | 13 | 14 | 44 |
| 2008 Toyota Highlander Hybrid | 197 | 8 | 4 | 6 |
| 2008 Toyota RAV4 | 575 | 14 | 16 | 42 |
| 2007 Toyota RAV4 | 1,004 | 14 | 37 | 53 |
What this page is, and what to do next
A recall is not an opinion. It is a Part 573 report a manufacturer is required by federal law to file once it decides a defect poses an unreasonable risk to safety, and it commits them to repairing the vehicle at no cost to the owner. The three passages above are the manufacturer’s own wording as published by NHTSA.
This page describes the campaign. It cannot tell you whether one particular car has already been through the shop — that is tracked by VIN, and only the manufacturer knows it. Check yours at nhtsa.gov/recalls or with a franchised dealer, quoting campaign number 11V245000.
Full record for the 2008 Toyota Highlander → · Recalls carrying a do-not-drive advisory → · Where this data comes from →