Toyota is recalling 885,000 vehicles after it was discovered that fluid from the air conditioning condenser unit housing can leak into the airbag control module and cause a short circuit. According to Toyota, the short circuiting can cause the airbag light to turn on, and in some cases disable or inadvertently deploy the airbags. Toyota also drew attention to concerns over a loss of power steering in some instances as a result of the damage in the airbag control module. The 885,000 vehicles recalled include the 2012-2013 Camry, Camry Hybrid, Avalon Hybrid and Venza. Toyota will contact the owners of vehicles in need of auto repair in the weeks ahead. For some owners the recall is a tough reminder of the importance of car air conditioning repair.
According to NBC News, in the past month Toyota recalled almost 1.5 million other vehicles with an assortment of separate problems.
The AC and airbag issue has led to two minor injuries and no accidents says the automaker. All this comes after Toyota's infamous acceleration defect recalls, which led to allegations of cars speeding up rapidly without driver control. However, Toyota was recently found not liable by a California jury in one of the first cases against the company over the alleged acceleration defect.