The defect
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2023 Corolla, Corolla Cross, Corolla Cross Hybrid, Highlander, Highlander Hybrid, Tacoma, 2023 Lexus RX350, RX350 Hybrid, RX500 Hybrid, 2023-2024 Lexus NX250, NX350, and NX350 Hybrid vehicles. An electrical connection inside the steering column's spiral cable assembly may be insufficiently welded, causing the connection to separate and deactivate the driver's air bag. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 208, "Occupant Crash Protection."
The risk
A deactivated driver's air bag that does not deploy as intended increases the risk of injury during a crash.
The remedy
Dealers will inspect and replace the spiral cable assembly, if necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed September 8, 2023. Owners may contact Toyota's customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Toyota's number for this recall is 23TA08. Lexus' number for this recall is 23LA02.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by MFR
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Lexus NX Hybrid | 2023, 2024 |
| Lexus NX250 | 2023, 2024 |
| Lexus NX350 | 2023, 2024 |
| Lexus RX Hybrid | 2023 |
| Lexus RX350 | 2023 |
| Lexus RX500H | 2023 |
| Toyota Corolla | 2023 |
| Toyota Corolla Cross | 2023 |
| Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid | 2023 |
| Toyota Highlander | 2023 |
| Toyota Highlander Hybrid | 2023 |
| Toyota Tacoma | 2023 |
Components: STEERING:COLUMN | AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:DRIVER CLOCKSPRING/SPIRAL CASSETTE
Model years in this recall
NHTSA complaints and the number of recall campaigns for each model year this recall covers.
| Model | Year | Complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lexus NX Hybrid | 2023 | 0 | 2 |
| Lexus NX Hybrid | 2024 | 2 | 3 |
| Lexus NX250 | 2023 | 0 | 1 |
| Lexus NX250 | 2024 | 1 | 1 |
| Lexus NX350 | 2023 | 1 | 1 |
| Lexus NX350 | 2024 | 0 | 1 |
| Lexus RX Hybrid | 2023 | 0 | 2 |
| Lexus RX350 | 2023 | 4 | 1 |
| Lexus RX500H | 2023 | 0 | 1 |
| Toyota Corolla | 2023 | 74 | 3 |
| Toyota Corolla Cross | 2023 | 176 | 4 |
| Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid | 2023 | 2 | 5 |
| Toyota Highlander | 2023 | 189 | 9 |
| Toyota Highlander Hybrid | 2023 | 9 | 6 |
| Toyota Tacoma | 2023 | 54 | 4 |
Other air bags recalls in 2023
34 of the 894 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2023 concerned the air bags; Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing filed 245 campaigns in all.
| 23V830000 22 Dec 2023 | Kia America, Inc. |
| 23V870000 21 Dec 2023 | General Motors, LLC |
| 23V868000 20 Dec 2023 | Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. |
| 23V865000 20 Dec 2023 | Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing |
| 23V837000 12 Dec 2023 | Mazda North American Operations |
| 23V797000 24 Nov 2023 | BMW of North America, LLC |
| 23V780000 21 Nov 2023 | Volvo Car USA, LLC |
| 23V715000 25 Oct 2023 | Porsche Cars North America, Inc. |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2023