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Lexus Recall of 2010 Lexus GX460 SUV and Siena Minivans

Toyota has issued another recall, and this time it’s a Lexus Recall. Last week, Consumer Reports magazine announced that their tests had found a potential rollover risk in the new 2010 Toyota Lexus GX 460. According to the magazine, the vehicle had a tendency to slip sideways when the driver lifted his foot off the gas pedal, increasing the risk of a rollover. The magazine had issued a “Don’t Buy” warming for the new Lexus.

Toyota in response, announced that it would retest the vehicles. The company this week announced that its engineers have also confirmed problems with the Electronic Stability Control systems, that Toyota calls Vehicle Stability Control systems. The company has announced that it will recall approximately 9,400 2010 Lexus GX 460 vehicles. These vehicles will receive a software update which will take care of the problem. The new Lexus has been in the market for approximately 3 months, and about 5,000 vehicles have already been sold.

According to the company, the problem involves an issue with the stability control systems in these vehicles. In other vehicles that Consumer Reports tested, the vehicle righted itself correctly when the foot was taken off the gas pedal while making a turn. However, in the case of the new Lexus, the stability control system was activated too slowly, causing the SUV to slip sideways until it was almost completely sideways. This could potentially increase the risk of a rollover accident.

That wasn’t the only bad news for Toyota this week. The company also announced that it would recall approximately 600,000 Toyota Siena minivans for corrosion problems. The Lexus recall is related to potential problems with corrosion of the spare tire carrier. The recall is especially focused on those models that are used in cold climates, where the use of road salt on highways increases the risk of corrosion. According to Toyota, the cable securing the tire could be at a risk of breaking. This could lead to the tire dropping onto the road, thereby creating an accident hazard for motorists around the vehicle.

Meanwhile, the Toyota Siena minivan was at the center of a fatal accident that occurred in Houston earlier this week. A motorist was attempting to park his Sienna minivan in a multi-storey parking garage, when his car accelerated and sped through the cable barriers, dropping two floors onto the ground below. The vehicle landed on its roof, and the man was killed instantly. Houston police are still investigating the accident, and there is no indication about why the man failed to stop his van in time to avoid a fall.

Considering all the focus on Toyota and unintended acceleration over the past few months, Texas and California car accident lawyers are likely to increase scrutiny of the Siena. The minivan has not been included in the list of recent vehicles recalled by the company. There’s no information on what model van the victim was driving, but other models of the Toyota Siena have, in the past, been investigated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for sudden unintended acceleration problems.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of motor vehicle defects. Please visit our website at http://www.robertreeveslaw.com/. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us at contact@robertreeveslaw.com.

The Reeves Law Group is not representing any party in the matters discussed in this posting.

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