Toyota Motor Corp. has authorized a recall of 6.5 million vehicles worldwide to fix a faulty window switch that could short circuit, the company announced Wednesday.
The problem in the cars stems from window switches that weren't lubricated properly during manufacturing. Thus, as the switch begins to wear down over time, it can can cause a short circuit which in turn leads to overheating of parts, potentially resulting in a fire inside the car, according to the International Business Times.
Toyota officials claimed to not have heard about any fire-related incidents, but have received a complaint from a U.S. customer who reported a severe burn to his hand after his window switch melted. The company said it's also aware of 11 incidents where switches and door trims burned.
Roughly 2.7 million of the cars affected by the recall are from North America, 1.2 million from Europe and 600,000 from Japan.
The recalled vehicles were produced between 2005 and 2006, and between 2008 and 2010, Toyota said. The affected models include: Yaris, Corolla, Camry, RAV4, Highlander, Matrix, Tundra, Sequoia, Scion xB and Scion xD. Any of these models made during the two time periods are subject to the recall.
This marks fourth time the automaker has issued a recall due to faulty power-window switches since 2009. All the problematic switches were supplied to Toyota by Tokai Rika Co., which will book a special loss of $121 million to deal with the latest recall, the companies said Wednesday, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Toyota said the fix will take about 45 minutes at a dealership, though it has made no mention of whether it will offer financial reimbursement for the repairs.
