Toyota issues urgent recall for Lexus, LandCruiser and Tundra vehicles

A major car company has issued an urgent recall for nearly 30,000 vehicles sold in Australia, warning a “design issue” could increase the risk of serious injury or death.

Toyota has confirmed some of its LandCruiser 300, Tundra and luxury Lexus models could deliver “unintended movement”, elevating the risk of an accident.

The federal government’s Department of Transport listed the SUVs for recall on Tuesday.

“Due to a design issue, the transmission control module may not operate as intended,” the regulator said.

“If this occurs, the automatic transmission may continue to transfer engine power to the wheels when shifted to the neutral position.

“If the brake pedal or park brake are not applied it may result in unintended vehicle movement if shift lever is not moved to park position.

“An unintended movement of the vehicle may increase the risk of an accident causing serious injuries or death to vehicle occupants or other road users.”

The design fault is common across the vehicles.

The affected models are the LX500d (FJA310) and LX600 (VJA310) offerings with the variants LX500d, LX500d F Sport, LX500d Sports Luxury, LX600, LX600 F Sport, LX600 Sports Luxury and LX600 Ultra Luxury, and the LandCruiser 300 (FJA300) and Tundra (VXKH75) offerings with the LandCruiser Wagon GR-S, LandCruiser Wagon GX, LandCruiser Wagon GXL, LandCruiser Wagon Sahara, LandCruiser Wagon Sahara ZX, LandCruiser Wagon VX and Tundra Limited variants.

The regulator said 28,491 LandCruiser and Tundra vehicles and 1360 Lexus vehicles had been affected from 2021 to 2024.

“Owners of affected vehicles will be contacted (by Lexus and Toyota) and are asked to make an appointment to update the transmission control module software, free of charge,” the regulator said.

“Prior to updating the transmission control module software, owners are encouraged to use the shift lever’s park position rather than neutral.”