About 15 million Camry models have been sold in more than 100 countries since the car debuted in 1983 in the U.S. A recall becomes a big deal because of the high volumes everywhere.
Toyota Motor Sales is recalling 803,000 Model Year 2012-2013 Camry, Camry Hybrid, Avalon, Avalon Hybrid, and Venza vehicles because the air bags may not deploy. The root cause, according to the Japanese automaker, is a problem with the air conditioning condenser.
In the defective cars, water from the air conditioning condenser could leak onto the airbag control module if the drain becomes clogged. A short circuit results and the air bag warning light turns on. In some instances, the air bag or air bags are disabled or could suddenly blow up. More than 700,000 of the cars are the best selling car in the U.S., the Camry.
Compounding the problem, power steering could also fail, if a communication line in the airbag control module is damaged. Loss of power steering assist results in dramatically increased steering effort, which the average driver may not be able to handle. .
To fix this latest Toyota safety defect, Toyota dealers will apply sealant and install a cover to the air conditioning condenser-housing seam located above the airbag control module. Owners of the involved vehicles will be notified by first class mail to return their vehicles to a Toyota dealer for the repair.
