Toyota US recalls 228,000 Tacoma units

Toyota announced on Thursday that it would recall its 2016 and 2017 model-year Toyota Tacoma due to possible leaked oil leading to the damaging of the car's rear differential. The total number of US units to be recalled was 228,000.

The Japanese car-maker said that the mid-size pickup could result in noise and reduced propulsion. The car-maker noted that there were some cases when the vehicle could seize resulting to the increased risk of a crash due to the possible loss control of the vehicle. Toyota spokesman Victor Vanov declined to comment if the company has received complaints in relation to the defect the led to crashes and injuries.

Vehicles would be checked for oil leakage and parts replacement would be implemented if necessary. The car-maker would also tighten the fasteners to prevent damages. Customers would be notified if they were affected and if they were eligible for free repairs scheduled in mid-June.

In March, Tokyo Toyota has recalled vehicles due to faulty airbag inflators. The total number of recalled vehicles was 2.9 million including 750,000 vehicles in Japan. Vehicles coming from other countries were included such as China with 650,000 vehicles, Europe with 350,000 vehicles and Oceania, Central and South America with 1.16 million vehicles. Auris, RAV4, Corolla Fielder, Corolla Axio and Noah or Voxy were among the vehicles that were recalled. Japanese supplier Takata created the faulty airbag for Toyota.

In April, the Takata airbag remained the cause for the recall of around 119,000 vehicles in Australia. The car models affected in the 111,000 cars included Corolla while 2,000 were Yaris and 3,276 were Rukus. The main problem for the recall was the airbag's metal inflator unit. When used over time, the unit could absorb moisture then it becomes brittle. When it deploys during a collision, the unit could shower the passengers with lethal metal fragments as the unit got fractured.

Sedan units of Corolla Altis were also recalled by Toyota Kirloskar Motor in India. There were 23, 157 units that have been recalled covering the models released between January 2010 and December 2012. It was part of the massive recall of the car-maker.

December 2002 and December 2003 units of Rav4 SUV and Echo was also recalled by the company. The problem with the units was the driver's front airbag and there were about 8,000 units recalled in Australia. The units were previously recalled but the new inflator could absorb moisture as desiccants were not added to the inflator.