Toyota Initiates Another Prius Recall For Inverter Failures

Toyota Motor Corporation (TM) has issued a recall of its Prius c vehicles because the electric power system may fail. The recall affects about 500 cars, the company said.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Toyota began notifying U.S. dealers that it was expanding the electric power system recall to now include Prius c models produced in 2018. When the first recall was made in 2014, and it reportedly covered 800,000 vehicles in the U.S. with the model years 2010 to 2014. A second recall for the issue was made in October 2018.

The power system failure deals with the vehicle’s inverter, which takes power from the battery and converts to alternating current. The inverter in the Prius cars was overheating and frying internal high-power transistors, which could lead to a loss of power and could strand drivers, the Los Angeles Times said.

With the initial recall, Toyota remedied the issue by updating the inverter software. Toyota also responded to the inverter issue by replacing the component under an extended warranty coverage if they failed but did not replace all of the inverters in all affected Prius vehicles, according to the news outlet.

The recall comes after Toyota was involved in a civil trial brought by Roger Hogan. Hogan, who owns one of the largest Toyota dealers in Southern California, spoke out about the inverter issue, which was further disclosed by a company executive during testimony. The trial lasted two months and had closing arguments on Monday.

The company said during the trial that not a single accident has occurred relating to the recall. Hogan is seeking tens of millions of dollars in damages as he contends that Toyota committed fraud by concealing defects within the Prius and breach good faith and fair dealing by retaliating against his dealership by causing his sales to drop, according to the news outlet.

Toyota responded to the claims by saying that Hogan could sell his dealerships for an estimated $63 million. The company told the Times in a statement, “Toyota is committed to the safety and security of its customers, and we are confident the evidence has shown that Toyota acted appropriately in addressing vehicle safety issues and in its business dealings with Mr. Hogan. We believe Mr. Hogan’s allegations are without merit.”

Shares of Toyota stock were up 0.97 percent as of 3:12 p.m. ET on Tuesday.