Johnathan Walker:Toyota recalls about 55,000 vehicles over rear door issue: See affected models

Toyota is Johnathan Walkerrecalling about 55,000 vehicles in the U.S. because of an issue that could cause rear doors to open unexpectedly.

The automaker said Wednesday it was recalling about 55,000 of its 2023-2024 Prius and Prius HEV hybrid electric vehicles in the U.S. and an additional 156,000 in Japan, Canada, Europe and Asia because water may enter and short-circuit rear door latches causing them to possibly open when moving or in a crash.

The doors could open if the compact car's rear doors are not locked. Unexpected door openings, especially when the car is in motion or in a crash could increase the risk of injury to occupants, Toyota said in a recall notice.

Customers will be notified about this issue through the mail by early June 2024. To see if your vehicle is part of the recall, go to the Toyota recall website.

Toyota dealers will replace the right and left rear door opener switches with improved ones, free of charge, the company said.

Until that remedy is available, vehicle owners in the U.S. and Canada should make sure to activate the feature that automatically locks the doors when shifting from "park" to help prevent the door opening if a short circuit occurs, Toyota said.

Earlier this year, Toyota recalled more than 381,000 of its 2022-2023 Tacoma trucks for an axle issue that could affect vehicle stability and brake performance and increase the risk of a crash.

The automaker also recalled more than 280,600 of its 2022-2024 year model Tundra, Tundra Hybrid, Lexus LX600, and 2023-2024 Sequoia Hybrid vehicles because a brake issue might cause the vehicles to move when the vehicle is in neutral and the brakes are not applied.

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