On Monday, Toyota USA announced it’s conducting a voluntary safety recall of about 94,000 Sienna vehicles from the 2011 model year. The vehicles involved were produced prior to early November 2010.
The automaker plans to replace the stop lamp (or brake light) switch bracket.
“Due to the proximity of the stop lamp switch bracket to the parking brake pedal when the parking brake is fully applied, the stop lamp switch bracket could, in limited circumstances, be deformed by the driver’s foot during parking brake operation,” explained the automaker in a statement.
“Depending on the amount of bracket deformation, this condition could cause the brake lights to remain on, or, if the deformation is significant, the brakes could become partially engaged due to contact from the bracket, resulting in brake drag with associated brake noise, brake vibration, and/or illumination of the brake warning light,” Toyota went on to report. “If this condition is not noticed and the vehicle continues to be drive, braking effectiveness could be reduced.”
According to Toyota, no other Toyota or Lexus vehicles are involved in this recall. Furthermore, the automaker indicated it is not aware of any accidents or injuries related to the issue.
According to Toyota, “Owners of the involved vehicles will receive an interim notification advising them of this recall by first-class mail beginning in mid-January 2011, along with instructions for what to do if they experience this condition and how to minimize the possibility of inadvertently contacting the stop lamp switch bracket while operating the parking brake.”
Owners can expect to receive a second notice by first-class mail in late February, once replacement parts become available. They will be asked to make an appointment with any Toyota dealer to have the fix performed at no charge.
“Toyota dealers will replace the bracket assembly, which includes the stop lamp switch bracket, with a new one that has been redesigned to take into account the proximity of the component to the parking brake pedal,” the company concluded.
