Toyota Recalls Pickups Over Spare Tire Issue

Toyota has issued a recall for pickups after reports that the spare tires can come lose and fall from beneath the trucks. The recall includes 150,000 Tacoma midsize pickups.

The recalled trucks are from the 2001 to 2004 model years and were sold or registered in 20 cold-weather states, as well as Washington, D.C., reports Yahoo! News.

The announcement is the latest in a string of safety recalls for Toyota in recent years. The Japanese automaker has already issued one recall this month that included 2.77 million vehicles sold around the world, including their Prius hybrid and the Corolla compact sedan after discovering water pump and steering shaft problems.

The company also issued a massive recall in October that affected 7.43 million vehicles over a faulty power-window switch that posed a fire risk.

The Toyota pickup recall includes the midsize Tacoma. A plate used to hold the spare tire under the truck has the potential to rust after being exposed to road salt for a period of time. The plate can then break, causing the tire to fall to the ground.

The company said the problem happened because the plates weren’t properly treated against corrosion, notes The Denver Post. So far, the problem has caused two minor accidents and no injuries after the tire fell off and struck a vehicle behind the pickups.

Dealers will inspect the plates and replace them if needed at no cost to the owners, who will be notified of the recall by mail in December.

Affected states are Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, MAine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont, Wisconsin, and West Virginia.

Customers with questions about the latest Toyota recall are asked to call the automaker at 1 (800) 331-4331.

Have you lost confidence in Toyota after hearing about the latest recall, which affects its Tacoma midsize pickups?