Even the big ones sometimes suffer technical failures and now it is the turn of the untouchable Toyota, Subaru and Lexus, which have just announced a recall that affects 94,320 electric cars across the country…
The problem has nothing to do with propulsion, but it does touch a sensitive point that the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) has considered a priority and critical: the HVAC system. In this case, if the electric compressor fails, the defogging and defrosting can stop working and cause accidents, especially in cold climates, losing visibility means a direct risk for drivers…
Which cars are affected
According to the NHTSA, the models involved correspond to the years 2023 to 2025. In the U.S. alone there are more than 41,500 units of the bZ4X in circulation. In Australia about 3,000 were already withdrawn, and it is not ruled out that the campaign will end up being global…
The other two vehicles called for recall are the Lexus RZ and the Subaru Solterra, the three models have in common Toyota’s eTNGA platform. It has not been their best bet, certainly.
What is going to happen?
Very simple, once you receive the recall notification letter, you will have to make a visit to the dealership, they will update the climate control software of your vehicle and, if necessary, replace the electric compressor so that it does not fail again. Likewise, no damages or accidents have been reported for this cause.
How the problem was discovered
The alert came from Transport Canada. At first, Toyota thought it was simply a failure in the heating and that it would not be serious, since the cars had two sources of heat. The problem appeared in some tests at extreme temperatures carried out there, the story changed because the climate control unit went into “fail-safe mode” and, in doing so, also deactivated the second source of heat.
That programming error is what has led to the recall of the older vehicles because, once they discovered the failure, they incorporated the already corrected software into the new vehicles.
At a key moment for Toyota
This recall comes just as Toyota wants to strengthen its presence in the electric market. The brand has just launched new versions of the bZ4X Touring and the C-HR+ coupe SUV, while Subaru presented the Trailseeker EV and Uncharted, both with the same technical base.
And of course failures in recall campaigns are common in the whole industry, but they usually hit a sensitive point: customer trust. Although Toyota has plenty of trust from its users, they should not get used to this and their partners will have to move quickly, fix the error as fast as possible and maintain transparency if they want to keep up against their rivals.
Toyota in 2025
This year, Toyota has faced several recalls in addition to this one, more than 100,000 Tacoma for risk of brake leaks, 443,000 Tundra for failures in the reverse lights, and 591,000 Toyota and Lexus for dashboard screens that go black… Toyota seems to be going through a complicated bump right now, but all the repairs are carried out at no cost to the owners.
And then, what?
We know that recall news are very difficult to take, but the idea with these campaigns is to guarantee that the vehicles on the road are fit and safe both for drivers and for the rest of users, and it is always something routine. This time it was the turn of a giant of the industry but that means they are still working to guarantee the safety of everyone!