It appears Toyota’s recall issues are not yet behind the Japanese manufacturer after Toyota Motor Sales US declared its intention to conduct a voluntary safety recall of up to 17,000 2010 Lexus HS250h hybrid vehicles.
The reason for the recall is to address a compliance issue with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 301. It follows on from a test from the NHTSA which involved striking the vehicle with a deformable barrier from the rear at around 50mph and then rotating it on its longitudinal axis incrementally to each successive increment of 90 degrees. As part of the rotation it is reported that the vehicle suffered fuel spillage that exceeded the required standard.
As part of the vehicle’s development, the Lexus HS250h was put through the same protocol and it was found that the vehicles complied fully with standard. So now Lexus is working on identifying the reason for the different test results.
According to Steve St Angelo, the Toyota chief quality officer for North America, the company will work intensely to duplicate the non-compliance issues that the NHTSA identified and to determine the reason behind it.
Lexus is yet to identify a remedy for the issue but is said to be working hard to do so promptly and will notify owners as soon as one is developed.
