By Eileen Mencias

Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. is recalling 79 units of the Lexus NX 350 because of an issue with the lane tracing assist and skid control ECU.

The units subject of the recall were produced from November 2021 to June 2022 that were sold in the Philippines.

A compact luxury SUV, the Lexus NX 350 is being sold for P3.438 million to P4.688 million.

In two separate letters to Consumer Protection and Advocacy Bureau Director Melquiades Marcus Valdez II of the Department of Trade and Industry on September 5, TMPC First Vice President Bernardino Arevalo said 17 Lexus NX350 units are being recalled because of the problems with the skid control ECU within the brake actuator assembly.

The skid control ECU could falsely detect a condition in the electronic parking brake actuator and go into a failsafe mode wherein the malfunction indication lamp will light up and display a message that says “Parking Brake Malfunction, Visit Your Dealer.” When this happens, the electronic parking grade might not engage or disengage.

If the unit is parked in a slope and the gear is not on “park”, it could roll down the road and crash. TMPC will be reprogramming the skid control ECU to fix the problem.

Arevalo said the issue with the 62 other Lexus 350 units is the Lane Tracing Assist that can be activated to assist the driver in maintaining the unit’s position in the center of a lane once certain operating conditions are met.

Due to improper programming of the Lane Tracing Assist, the steering angle required may be activated earlier than expected and the unit will not be as centered within the lane as designed under certain road and vehicle conditions. As a result, it may not meet the requirements in countries that have rules on the performance of lane centering systems. When this happens, the driver will always remain in full control of the steering wheel and all lane departure warnings and driver monitoring functions will continue to operate as designed.

TMPC will reprogram the LTA software to remedy the issue at no cost to the unit owners. (Eileen Mencias)



Toyota PH recalls Lexus NX350 vehicles due to parking brake issues
Source: Filipino Daily Inquirer