Toyota has issued a recall for nearly 20,000 vehicles in Canada due to a defect that could result in the rear doors opening while the car is in motion.
A total of 19,399 Toyota Prius and Prius Prime models are affected by the recall, a Jan. 30 advisory from Transport Canada said.
“On certain vehicles, water could leak into the rear door handle and cause the door opener switch to short circuit,” the advisory said. “If this happens, the rear door could open unexpectedly while driving.”
Model years 2023 to 2026 of the Toyota Prius and the Toyota Prius Prime are affected, according to the advisory. Prius owners can check online to see if their vehicle is subject to the recall.
The latest recall represents an extension of Transport Canada recall number 2024-228 concerning the same issue, the advisory said. The notice indicates that vehicles previously repaired under that recall must also receive this repair.
Toyota is advising consumers to activate the automatic door locking feature via the vehicle’s head unit to minimize the likelihood of the rear door opening during operation.
Toyota is sending notifications by mail to all owners of vehicles affected by the recall. The company recommends owners take recalled vehicles to a dealership to have the rear door switch circuit issue fixed.
More than 12,000 Toyota Tundra trucks were recalled last week due to a rear-view camera issue.
Transport Canada said in a Jan. 28 notice that 12,179 vehicles were being recalled due to a software problem that could cause the rearview camera image to freeze or not to display when the transmission is shifted into reverse.
Toyota initiated a similar recall for rear-view cameras on Tundra and Sequoia models last October. It affected more than 32,000 vehicles in Canada.
One of its largest recalls in recent years was last September when it recalled 70,480 Lexus and Toyota vehicles across 13 different models due to a software problem affecting the display panels. The company said at the time the issue could elevate crash risk.
