The defect
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2020-2021 Toyota Avalon and 2020 Avalon Hybrid, RAV4, and RAV4 Hybrid vehicles. Breakaway pins within the steering column, designed to absorb energy and reduce injury during a crash, could have been damaged during production, possibly affecting the performance of the driver's air bag in the event of a crash. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 208, "Occupant Crash Protection."
The risk
In the event of a crash, an air bag that does not perform as designed can increase the risk of injury.
The remedy
Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will replace the steering column, free of charge. The recall began December 18, 2020. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Toyota's number for this recall is 20TB17/20TA17.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by MFR
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Toyota Avalon | 2020, 2021 |
| Toyota Avalon Hybrid | 2020 |
| Toyota RAV4 | 2020 |
| Toyota RAV4 Hybrid | 2020 |
Components: STEERING:COLUMN | AIR BAGS:FRONTAL
Model years in this recall
NHTSA complaints and the number of recall campaigns for each model year this recall covers.
| Model | Year | Complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toyota Avalon | 2020 | 10 | 3 |
| Toyota Avalon | 2021 | 21 | 2 |
| Toyota Avalon Hybrid | 2020 | 0 | 3 |
| Toyota RAV4 | 2020 | 636 | 6 |
| Toyota RAV4 Hybrid | 2020 | 13 | 5 |
Other air bags recalls in 2020
45 of the 782 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2020 concerned the air bags; Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing filed 245 campaigns in all.
| 20V791000 17 Dec 2020 | Ford Motor Company |
| 20V785000 16 Dec 2020 | Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. |
| 20V749000 2 Dec 2020 | Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. |
| 20V747000 1 Dec 2020 | Nissan North America, Inc. |
| 20V736000 25 Nov 2020 | General Motors LLC |
| 20V681000 4 Nov 2020 | Volvo Car USA LLC |
| 20V628000 9 Oct 2020 | Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC. |
| 20V604000 2 Oct 2020 | Aston Martin The Americas |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2020