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WASHINGTON - Toyota Motor Corp. announced it would recall 412,000 vehicles today for steering issues -- in its 13 and 14th recall campaigns of 2010, The Detroit News reported.
The new recalls mean Toyota has recalled more than 5 million vehicles in 2010 in the United States -- and the company has surpassed the 4.8 million vehicles it recalled in 2009.
The new recalls includes 373,000 2000-2004 Toyota Avalon models to address concerns the vehicle's steering lock bar could break under certain conditions.
The company said it first received a report in Japan of possible problems in October 2007 -- and another report in December 2008 in the United States. "Toyota believed that this was another isolated case," the company told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Toyota also said it will recall 39,000 2003-2007 Lexus LX 470 vehicles to address a steering shaft issue.
The company first received a field report from Germany in October 2009, which said the issue had been seen on three vehicles -- at least two with high mileage. Another report of the problem from Japan received in January suggested it may have been caused due to driving under harsh conditions.
Toyota has come under a torrent of criticism in the wake of its recall of more than 8.5 million vehicles worldwide for sudden acceleration issues. It paid a $16.4 million fine to the government for delaying a recall of 2.3 million vehicles by at least four months and is a subject of a federal criminal investigation over its handling of recalls.
The new Toyota recall is to address concerns that after a severe impact to the front wheels -- like striking a deep pothole -- that it could disengage the steering shaft. Toyota will install a newly designed snap ring and another component to prevent separation of the steering shaft.
"Toyota is continuing to work diligently to address safety issues wherever they arise and to strengthen our global quality assurance operations so that Toyota owners can be confident in the safety of their vehicles," said Steve St. Angelo, Toyota chief quality officer for North America.
Toyota will replace the steering column bracket -- a procedure that will take about two hours. Owners will get notified starting in late August.
Lexus owners will get notified in mid-August.
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