(AP) - Toyota Motor Corp. is recalling 600,000 Sienna minivans sold in the United States, to address potential corrosion in the spare tire carrier cable.
Toyota says the recall affects the 1998-2010 model year Siennas that have been operated in cold-climate areas.
The automaker says rust from road salt could cause the carrier cable to break. The spare tire could become separated from the vehicle and cause a road hazard for other vehicles.
Toyota says it is working on a fix. In the meantime, customers will get a notice telling them to bring their vehicle to a dealership for an inspection.
The government says it has received six complaints involving spare tires falling off Siennas.
The recall involves two-wheel-drive Sienna minivans in the District of Columbia and 20 states: Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont, Wisconsin and West Virginia.
The latest recall from the Japanese automaker came after a House committee said it will hold another hearing on runaway Toyotas and requested more documents from the car company on how it reviewed potential electronic problems in its vehicles.
Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., a subcommittee chairman, said they plan to hold a May 6 hearing to look into potential electronic causes of sudden acceleration in Toyota vehicles.
Toyota has said it has found no evidence of electronic problems in its vehicles, attributing the problems to sticking gas pedals and accelerators that can become jammed in floor mats. Toyota has recalled more than 6 million vehicles in the U.S., and more than 8 million worldwide, because of acceleration problems in multiple models and braking issues in the Prius hybrid.
Toyota said in a statement Friday it was "more than willing to meet with the committee and discuss the ongoing testing related to our electronic throttle control system, as well as the steps we are taking to improve our quality assurance processes. Nothing is more important to us than the safety and reliability of the vehicles our customers drive."
Toyota Recalling 600K Sienna Minivans
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The Transportation Department has fined the company $16.4 million for failing to promptly notify the government about defective gas pedals among its vehicles. Toyota has until Monday to agree to the penalty or contest it. The fine is the largest civil penalty ever issued to an automaker by the government.
Waxman and Stupak asked Toyota and outside consulting firm Exponent Inc. to provide documents detailing a review of possible electronic problems in its vehicles. Exponent, which was hired by Toyota, said in an interim report it could find no evidence that electronic malfunctions had caused sudden unintended acceleration.
Committee investigators said in February that the Exponent testing was flawed because it studied only a small number of Toyota vehicles and consumer groups have said electronics could be the cause of the acceleration problems. Reviews of some high-profile crashes in San Diego and suburban New York have failed to find either mechanical or electronic problems.(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
