Grease Causes Biggest Recall In A Decade

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

In the largest recall since the infamous Ford thread separation, Toyota recalled 7.43 million vehicles worldwide today. The reason: The Power Window Master Switch could melt, go up in smoke, or cause a fire after the wrong lubricant has been applied in an attempt to fix a sticky feeling during operation.

During the recall, the switch will be taken apart and special fluorine grease will be applied. The sticky feeling stems from uneven application of the grease during the switch assembly process at the supplier.

In the U.S., the following vehicles are affected:

The Grease Recall2007 to 2008 Yaris110,3002007 to 2009 RAV4336,4002007 to 2009 Tundra337,1002007 to 2009 Camry938,1002007 to 2009 Camry Hybrid116,8002008 to 2009 Scion xD34,4002008 to 2009 Scion xA77,5002008 to 2009 Sequoia38,5002008 Highlander135,4002008 Highlander Hybrid23,2002009 Corolla270,9002009 Matrix53,800Total:2,472,400

According to Reuters, an additional 1.4 million vehicles will be recalled in China, 1.39 million in Europe, 459,300 in Japan, 650,000 vehicles in Australia and Asia, 490,000 in the Near and Middle East, 240,000 in Canada and 330,000 elsewhere.

On August 21, 2000, Ford recalled 14.4 million Explorers for thread separation of the Wilderness tires. A year later, 13 million were recalled again.


Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • Daveainchina Daveainchina on Oct 10, 2012

    Made in China??? Anyway just wow, absolutely just WOW. That is a huge number of vehicles, I'm glad to hear that Toyota is doing the right thing. I guess my only question is how did they discover this one? I don't recall reading anything about Toyota's going up in flames on a regular basis. Lot's about 1-5 cars burning of a batter powered nature, but nothing about this. I'm curious as to what the cost is to Toyota for this recall.

  • MDBT MDBT on Oct 10, 2012

    The last line that you added without any context or seemingly any purpose illustrates why I make an effort to avoid ever clicking on your postings. In this case I was curious what you had to say about the subject and you got your page view. If you're going to include such data at least take the time to put a lead in stating "this is the largest recall since Ford blah blah blah" or something similar.

  • El scotto El scotto on Oct 10, 2012

    The last sentence ties directly with the first sentence. 1St sentence mentions Ford thread separation and gives Toyota recall numbers. Last sentence mentions Ford thread separation again and gives Ford recall numbers. The two sentences support each other and grease is the underlying problem for the Toyota recall. It could have been "This is largest recall since Ford,blah,blah" but this title is more clever than that. I don't always agree with Bertel but he is a wordsmith.

    • MDBT MDBT on Oct 11, 2012

      Foot inserted directly into mouth...my apologies. By the time I got to the end of the article, a fairly short one I realize, the opening line had already passed out of my consciousness and I allowed my personal view of the author to taint my observation of the text. I clearly am not as complimentary about the article's structure but my complaint is rendered null and void none the less.

  • Dhanson865 Dhanson865 on Oct 10, 2012

    I heard about this on the radio this morning, drive to work look it up. Imagine my suprise when the Prius isn't on the list. Also the radio said 2005-2009 but I'm not seeing any 2005 cars listed here. Maybe the disconnect is that some of the cars recalled aren't sold in the US? http://www.npr.org/2012/10/10/162639744/toyota-recalls-7-43m-vehicles-over-faulty-switch

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