Toyota Recalls 7.4 Million Vehicles Worldwide In Largest Recall In 16 Years

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Toyota Motor Company has announced a massive global recall regarding nearly 7.4 million vehicles due to an open investigation on fire risks originating from faulty master switches that control the power windows in the driver side door.

The investigation was first recognized by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) when reports of smoking driver side doors were reported eight months ago. To date, NHTSA has collected reports of 161 related Toyota fires, including 129 that were reported from the automaker. A total of nine incidents resulted to injury of unreported severity (NHTSA reports). This recall affects 2.5 million vehicles in the United States alone. Over a million of these vehicles are Toyota's best selling Camry midsize sedan.

According to one NHTSA filed report, a Toyota owner stated, "The smoke immediately turned into flames, which caused poor visibility and complete panic. The flames caught the left side of my arm and started to burn my coat ... After exiting the vehicle, the flames quickly increased and began shooting into the air." No crashes related to the recall have been reported.

During the investigation, Toyota had traced the origin of the fire to a power windows master switch located on the driver side door, a China manufactured component supplied by Japan's Tokai Rika Co. company. According to Toyota, some switches may feel "notchy" or "sticky" due to poor application of grease on the mechanism. If the lubricant starts to break down and carbonize, then the switch assembly may smoke and melt.

Toyota announced that recall notifications should reach owners by the end of the month. Certified Toyota technicians will disassemble the switch component for thorough inspection and apply a special fluorine grease.

Tackling the issue, Toyota said notifications of the recall should reach affected owners via mail by the end of the month. Technicians would inspect, disassemble and apply grease to the switch at no cost. The whole procedure would take an hour, the automaker said.

The roster of Toyota vehicles affected are as follows: