Toyota Recalls RAV4 and Lexus HS 250h for Rear Suspension Issue

On Wednesday, Toyota announced a recall involving 778,000 RAV4 and Lexus HS 250h models sold in the U.S. to fix a problem in the rear suspension that comes up when the vehicles are serviced.

The recall includes 760,000 RAV4s from the 2006 to early 2011 model years, as well as 18,000 Lexus HS 250hs from the 2010 model year. The recall follows an investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that began in June and looked into possible suspension failures involving 460,000 RAV4s from 2006 to 2008.

Toyota said that its own investigation had revealed “that if the nuts on the rear suspension arm are not tightened following the proper procedure and torque specification during a rear-wheel alignment service, excessive play may occur at the threaded portion of the arm, followed by rust formation.”

If rust builds up, “threads may wear, causing the arm to separate, which could result in loss of vehicle control,” wrote Toyota in a report on Wednesday.

Toyota spokesman Brian R. Lyons said:

“In the United States, there are nine crashes and three minor injuries alleged to be related to this condition."

Toyota says that it is developing a remedy to fix the defect.