Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing: Steering › Gear Box › Shaft Sector
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing reported this defect to federal regulators on Nov 14, 2012 and put the number of vehicles at risk at 669,705. The repair is free for as long as the recall stands.
The defect
Toyota is recalling certain model year 2004-2009 Prius vehicles manufactured August 5, 2003, through March 30, 2009. The affected vehicles have a steering intermediate extension shaft assembly built with metal splines that complete the connection from the steering wheel to the steering gear. These splines may have been manufactured with an insufficient hardness.
The risk
Over time, the splines may wear and eventually fail resulting in a loss of steering ability, increasing the risk of a vehicle crash.
The remedy
Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the extension shaft and replace it if it is one with insufficient hardness, free of charge. The recall began during December 2012. Owners may contact their Toyota dealer or the Toyota Customer Experience Center at 1-800-331-4331.
6 model years covered
Newest first| Vehicle | Complaints | Recalls | Fires | Crashes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 Toyota Prius | 502 | 6 | 4 | 64 |
| 2008 Toyota Prius | 1,497 | 4 | 6 | 152 |
| 2007 Toyota Prius | 2,004 | 4 | 9 | 124 |
| 2006 Toyota Prius | 1,440 | 6 | 5 | 82 |
| 2005 Toyota Prius | 1,051 | 6 | 4 | 102 |
| 2004 Toyota Prius | 610 | 6 | 2 | 38 |
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 12V537000.
Full record for the 2009 Toyota Prius → · Recalls carrying a do-not-drive advisory → · Where this data comes from →