Toyota Announces World’s Biggest Car Recall in 16 Years

Today, Toyota Motor Co. announced that it is recalling 2.5 million vehicles sold in the United States due to a potential risk of fire.

Globally, the recall involves 7.43 million vehicles sold under the Toyota and Scion brands.

This is the largest safety-related recall the manufacturer has announced, and it’s the biggest single recall since Ford Motor Co. recalled 7.9 million vehicles in 1996.

Many of the vehicles involved in this recall were previously recalled at least once prior due to unintended acceleration issues.

The recall is the result of an issue with a potentially defective power window switch on the driver’s side of the affected vehicles. Manufacturers say that the window “may experience a ‘notchy’ or sticky feel during operation.”

If lubricants are applied to the switch in an attempt to correct the sticky feel, the switch could melt or cause smoke and lead to a fire under some circumstances.

Toyota announced a similar recall in February, but limited the recall to about 830,000 Camry and Rav-4 models.

The latest recall includes the following makes and models:

• 2007-2009 Camry sedans
• 2007-2009 Camry Hybrids
• 2007-2009 RAV4 crossovers
• 2007-2009 Tundra pickups
• 2007-2008 Yaris subcompacts
• 2008 Highlander SUVs
• 2008 Highlander Hybrids
• 2008-2009 Scion xD models
• 2008-2009 Scion xA models
• 2008-2009 Sequoia SUVs
• 2009 Corolla compacts
• 2009 Matrix crossovers

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) received over 200 reports of issues with the defective switch, including fires. There are no known crashes or injuries.