Toyota Recalls RAV4 For Seatbelt Issue

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Toyota has announced that it is recalling more than 3 million SUV's, more than 1 million of which were sold in the U.S., because the safety belts could potentially fail in a crash. This comes as the auto industry is trying to recover from a record total of  51.2 million recalls last year, per the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

In addition to this seatbelt issue, Toyota has also been one of 14 manufacturers force to recall around 24 million vehicles sold in the U.S. for defective airbags produced by Takata. This issue has already been linked to 10 deaths.

In this latest recall, Toyota says that the second row seatbelts in it's smaller SUV's can come into contact with the metal seatbelt frame. This can cause the belts to fray and unable to safely restrain occupants in the event of an accident.

The cars affected are the RAV4 sport-utility vehicle (2005-2014), the electric RAV4 EV (2012-2014), and the Vanguard SUV (sold in Japan from 2005-2016). All totaled, almost 2.9 million vehicles are affected and 1.3 million of those are in North America. Toyota will repair any damaged belts and also place a resin cover over the metal frame to prevent the new belts from fraying. These fixes will be made free of charge.

But Toyota is not alone. Not long ago, Tesla announced it was recalling it's entire run of Model S sedans for seatbelt issues. In addition, Ford, Dodge, Jeep, Honda, and Acura, along with Toyota, have announced airbag recalls since 2014. General Motors has also made headlines due to it's infamous Delphi ignition switch recall.

 

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