Nearly 10,000 vehicles are affected in Canada
- Some non-hybrid Tundra trucks and Lexus LX 600 SUVs are being recalled
- An issue has been identified with the manufacturing process
- The fix involves replacing the entire engine
It doesn’t take a rocket surgeon to understand that any metal debris inside an engine is a recipe for failure, sometimes in spectacular fashion. According to the recall, affected engines may run rough or may not start at all. Worse still, the problem could rear its head on the open road, potentially causing the engine to stall whilst driving. In a fit of clarity only the government can provide, Transport Canada says, “A sudden loss of power to the wheels could increase the risk of a crash.” You don’t say.
The fix? An entire replacement of the engine. This will surely keep technicians at Toyota dealerships hopping, with anecdotal information quietly provided to this author from “those in the know” suggesting the job could take upwards of 15 or 20 hours. Even taking a massively optimistic view of the situation and allocating roughly two days per truck in the service bay to complete the work, that’s potentially 120,000 hours of paid warranty time in Canada alone – and not counting the parts.
Spitballing a $25,000 repair bill per truck (retail), Toyota could be staring down the barrel of a quarter billion-dollar situation just in this country. America might be ten times that amount. And that doesn’t consider the opportunity costs of taking technicians off other, more profitable work to complete these jobs instead. Also, the words “backordered parts” should strike fear into the hearts of everyone involved. Maybe they should just LS-swap the works of them (we’re kidding … kinda).
Sign up for our newsletter Blind-Spot Monitor and follow our social channels on X, Tiktok and LinkedIn to stay up to date on the latest automotive news, reviews, car culture, and vehicle shopping advice.