Toyota has issued a recall of over 261,000 of its Toyota and Lexus brand vehicles due to safety issues.
Stability of the brakes of these vehicles is the major concern, according to CNBC.
The vehicles recalled come from model years 2012 and 2013, including Toyota Tacomas and RAV4s, as well as Lexus RX 350s, according to USA Today.
According to U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) filed documents, some of the recalled vehicles were sold outside the United States.
The cause of the recall lies in issues with an electrical component in the brake actuator, according to CNBC. The NHTSA documents stated the component changes fluid pressure in each of the brakes, resulting in increased resistance. The increase in resistance can lead to a decrease in vehicle control and an increase in the risk of crashes while different safety systems in the vehicle fail to work.
Warning lights would appear on the dash when the increased resistance occurs, according to The Christian Science Monitor. Such lights include those for the stability and traction control systems, as well as for antilock brakes. The illumination of these lights could lead to systems failing to work, resulting in the less directional control assistance during braking.
Standard braking control is reported to remain functional despite problems with automated breaking control even when the skid-control engine control unit does not work, according to Left Lane News.
The recall of Toyota and Lexus vehicles is the second recall for Toyota in the past week, according to Left Lane News. Toyota has recently recalled 1.9 million Prius hybrids in order to fix a software problem in the boost converter which could lead to cars losing power.
Toyota is currently updating the software for the engine control unit free of charge. Left Lane News reported owners of the vehicles will be contacted when the updates will be available at their local car dealerships.
