Toyota is recalling about 280,000 pickups and SUVs in the United States because the engine may not disengage entirely when in neutral.
“Certain parts of the transmission may not immediately disengage when the vehicle is shifted to the neutral position,” the Japanese manufacturer said in a statement Wednesday. This can allow some engine power to continue passing through to the wheels, it added.
As a result, the vehicle could “inadvertently creep forward at a low speed when it is on a flat surface and no brakes are applied, leading to an increased risk of a crash,” the carmaker said.
The recall includes certain Toyota Tundra, Sequoia and Lexus LX 600 vehicles manufactured between 2022-2024. Lexus is Toyota’s luxury brand.
The company will inform the owners of recalled vehicles by late April and update the software for the transmission, Toyota said.
The recall is one of three in the United States that the company announced Wednesday.
Toyota said it was recalling another 19,000 vehicles over a software problem that means “the rearview image may not display within the period of time required by certain US safety regulations after the driver shifts the vehicle into reverse, increasing the risk of a crash while backing the vehicle.”
That safety recall involves certain Mirai and Lexus LS, LC, ES models in North America, made between 2023 and 2024, it added.
Additionally, some 4,000 Toyota Camry and Camry Hybrid vehicles are also being recalled over safety issues with the head restraints on rear fold-down seats that “increase the risk of injury during certain collisions.”
Toyota is the world’s biggest automaker by sales, but it risks becoming bogged down in safety scandals.
In December, it recalled about 1 million cars and SUVs in the United States due to a possible defect that could cause the passenger airbag to fail to deploy in a crash.
The recall involves 15 Toyota and Lexus models from 2020 and 2021, including the Toyota Camry, Rav4, Sienna and the Lexus RX350 and ES350.
In another mark on the company’s reputation, late last year, Daihatsu, the small Japanese carmaker owned by Toyota, halted domestic production after admitting it had forged the results of safety tests for more than 30 years.