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Nearly 700,000 Toyotas and Lexuses named in fuel pump recall

In an announcement posted to its corporate press room, Toyota made known a voluntary safety recall on select 2018 and 2019 Toyota and Lexus models. The recall includes roughly 696,000 vehicles and deals with a fuel pump that might stop working. An internal investigation into the issue is under way.  Affected rides include the Toyota 4Runner, Camry, Highlander, Land Cruiser, Sequoia, Sienna, Tacoma, Avalon, Corolla, and Tundra, as well as the Lexus LS 500, LC 500, RC 350, RC 300, GS 350, IS 300, ES 350, LX 570, GX 460, RX 350 NX 300, RX 350L, and GS 300. The Avalon, Corolla, NX 300, RX 350L, and GS 300 are restricted to 2019 model years, while the others are 2018 and 2019 model years. The potential danger in this issue is pretty obvious. Should the fuel pump stop, the vehicles could sputter, stall, and come to a stop, likely without the ability to restart the cars. Toyota notes warning lights and messages would display should this occur, but by then, it'd be too late. Although Toyota made the announcement this week, the investigation is not yet complete, and therefore, a fix has not yet been specified. The resolution, when determined, will come free of charge to affected customers. Toyota plans to send out notifications for affected vehicles in mid-March. 

Earthquake causes most of Toyota's Japan operations to shut down

Toyota is idling a large portion of its Japanese assembly plants as a result of the devastating earthquake in Hokkaido, Japan. The earthquake had such a big effect on the carmaker's supply chain that a number of its plants will have to be shut down for an undisclosed period, starting on Saturday. The 6.7 magnitude earthquake occurred early on September 6 th, resulting in more than dozen casualties and hundreds of injuries, cutting power to the entire island; the powerplant supplying half of the island's power was located so close to the earthquake's epicenter that it shut down automatically, bringing down the rest of the island's grid with it. Tens of people were also reported missing, as reported by Reuters. The affected factories are the Kyushu, Tahara and Toyota Auto Body plants, according to Automotive News, and they manufacture vehicles such as different Lexus models and the Toyota Land Cruiser. Some of the models produced in these factories are exported to the United States, but a Toyota spokesman said that North American operations are not likely to be significantly affected by the plant closures. As well as the automobile assembly plants in Hokkaido, Toyota also has a facility there that manufactures transmissions and transfer cases. As it was also without power, Toyota could not confirm when the plant would be back online. Out of Hokkaido's 2.95 million households, 1.54 million had regained power by Friday afternoon. All in all, Toyota has 18 manufacturing facilities in Japan; spokeswoman Akito Kita said that from Monday on, the shutdown will affect all Japanese Toyota and Lexus lines — not including two Daihatsu facilities that are also used for Toyota products. The shutdowns come directly after Toyota also announced a recall for Japanese-built hybrid models, mainly Prius. Related Video:

Driving the new Prius Prime, Lordstown goes bankrupt and the march to NACS | Autoblog Podcast # 787

In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Road Test Editor Zac Palmer. They start the show by talking about the cars they've been driving. Zac spent time in the 2023 Toyota Prius Prime and 2023 Jeep Compass, while Greg chats about his week in the 2023 Cadillac CT5-V and 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe Calligraphy. Next, they hit the news and chat about Lordstown's bankruptcy, Volvo (and others) adopting Tesla's NACS port and the revealed presence of a BMW M5 Touring. Finally, they conclude with the Spend My Money segment where a listener is looking for help finding a new EV or PHEV. Send us your questions for the Mailbag and Spend My Money at: Podcast@Autoblog.com. Autoblog Podcast # 787 Get The Podcast Apple Podcasts – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes Spotify – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast on Spotify RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown Cars we're driving 2023 Toyota Prius Prime XSE Premium 2023 Cadillac CT5-V 2023 Jeep Compass 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe Calligraphy News Lordstown bankruptcy Volvo adopts NACS, and the trend continues A BMW M5 Touring is coming, but will it come here? Spend My Money Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on Apple Podcasts Autoblog is now live on your smart speakers and voice assistants with the audio Autoblog Daily Digest. Say “Hey Google, play the news from Autoblog” or "Alexa, open Autoblog" to get your favorite car website in audio form every day. A narrator will take you through the biggest stories or break down one of our comprehensive test drives. Related video: Green Podcasts BMW Cadillac Hyundai Jeep Toyota Volvo Green Automakers Technology Crossover Hatchback SUV Wagon Electric Hybrid Luxury Performance Sedan Podcasts