Autos Craze – Autos Blog

Lexus LX 470

Toyota Motor Sales (TMS) USA Inc., has recently announced that Lexus will conduct a voluntary safety recall of almost 39,000 2003-2007 Model Year LX 470 vehicles. This will be done to take care of a steering shaft condition.

Photo by Shaker Cherukuri

However, they also informed that no other Toyota or Lexus vehicles would be involved in this large-scale safety recall.

An announcement had been made by Toyota Motor Corporation in Japan, in late July this year, and the action follows that very announcement.

Lexus has decided that the construction of the steering shaft on the LX 470s in question has been done in such a way that the snap ring on the shaft may possibly disengage when the vehicle experiences an unusually severe impact to the front wheels – like for instance when it strikes a deep pothole. So if the snap ring becomes disengaged the steering wheel would be repeatedly turned to the full locked position, then there would be a gradual disengaging over time, of the steering shaft.

However, no accidents related to this condition have been related to Lexus. Mark Templin, group Vice President and General Manager of Lexus said that they were very committed to setting and maintaining standards for quality customer care, and that they believed in paying proper attention to their drivers’ safety. The issue, he said, has been thoroughly investigated by their engineers and a durable remedy has been identified, which would help to prevent this condition from affecting any drivers in the future.