Recall · 20V033000
Toyota Motor Engineering recalled 3 models over air bags
138,842
Vehicles covered
3
Models
7
Model years
January 22, 2020
Filed with NHTSA
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:DRIVER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
- The defect
- Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 1998-2000 RAV4, 1998-1999 RAV4 EV and Celica and 1997-1998 Supra vehicles. These vehicles were equipped with Non-Azide Driver air bag Inflators (NADI) and do not contain phase stabilized ammonium nitrate (PSAN) propellant. Due to a manufacturing issue, the NADI inflators may absorb moisture, causing the inflators to rupture or the air bag cushion to underinflate.
- What it can cause
- In the event of a crash necessitating air bag deployment, an inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants. An underinflated air bag may not properly protect the occupant, and increases the risk of serious injury or death.
- What the dealer does
- Toyota will notify owners, and owners will have the option to self-inspect, or have a dealer inspect the steering wheel on their vehicle to determine if their vehicle may be equipped with an affected inflator. Potentially affected steering wheel serial numbers will be inspected by a dealer. Based on the inspection, dealers will replace the front driver air bag inflator with an alternate one, as necessary. These repairs will be performed free of charge. The recall began August 28, 2020. Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371. Toyota's numbers for this recall is 20TB01 and 20TA01.
- NHTSA's note
- Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.
The repair is free, whatever the age or mileage of the vehicle, and whether or not you are the original owner.
Which vehicles
A recall reaches a range of VINs inside these model years, not every car built in them. Yours may not be covered even if it is listed here, and the only way to find out is NHTSA's own VIN lookup .
| Vehicle | Model years | Safety record |
|---|---|---|
| ToyotaCelica | 1998 to 1999 | Not published here |
| ToyotaRAV4 | 1998 to 2000 | Not published here |
| ToyotaSupra | 1997 to 1998 | Not published here |
How this campaign compares
At 138,842 vehicles this is a bigger campaign than 93% of the 19,818 vehicle recalls filed since 1995 whose size NHTSA published. The middle campaign on file covers 472. It covers model years 1997 to 2000, so the oldest vehicles on it were 23 model years old when the defect was reported to NHTSA.
Toyota vehicles have been recalled over the air bags 49 times before this, most recently in January 2020 as 20V024000. That is not evidence the earlier repair failed.
This site holds the complaint record for 5 of the 7 model years the campaign names. Their owners have filed 184 complaints with NHTSA, 171 of them before this campaign was filed. 30 of those name the air bags, the system this recall is about — a count of complaints, not of this defect. The earliest of them reached NHTSA in January 1998, 21 years before this filing.
Check your own car
A VIN check is the only answer for a specific vehicle, and it also shows every other open recall on it, which is usually the reason it is worth doing rather than reading one campaign.
Filed by Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing with NHTSA on January 22, 2020 as campaign 20V033000. Every word of the defect, consequence and remedy above is NHTSA's published record of that filing, not a summary of it.
Compiled and maintained by guarledes . Data last checked 2020-01-22.
Independent developer and analyst