Toyota Motors, the world's largest car making company, has issued a voluntary safety recall for nearly 20,000 of its near-new vehicles due to a possible fuel leak.
The car maker identified the problem in several models due to missing welds at the end cap on the right-hand fuel delivery pipe in the engine. If fuel leaks, it elevates the risk of fire due to the presence of an ignition source, the car maker said in a short press release published by Auto Blog on Thursday.
The defect was identified in cars sold with 2GR-FE V6 engines. The recall includes the 2015 model year Lexus RX and 2014 model year Avalon, Camry, Highlander and Sienna models. The car maker did not receive any reports of fires, crashes, injuries or fatalities caused by the problem.
The affected models included in the recall were produced in the U.S. except the Lexus RX, which was manufactured in Canada. Most cars were sold within the United States and were also shipped to other countries including South Korea, Russia, Australia and some parts of Asia and the Middle East, according to Reuters.
As a remedy to the problem, dealerships will bring in the vehicles for inspection. The faulty fuel delivery pipe will be replaced with a new one, Toyota said.
Toyota will notify owners of affected vehicles via first-class mail. The letters will be enclosed within a special envelope designed for recalls, which reads "Safety Recall Notice" in large red letters along with the logos of Department of Transportation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for authenticity. The reason behind using special envelopes for recalls is to prevent confusion and rejection as junk mail, Los Angeles Times reported.
The auto industry has been facing its biggest recall list in the history, with more than 46 million cars already recalled by automakers this year. In June, Toyota issued a massive recall of 2.27 million vehicles around the world for a problem with exploding airbags. Other car makers have also been caught up in the air bag recalls, which resulted in 3.6 million vehicles called back by Nissan, Honda, BMW and other car makers last year.
