By Steven Symes 
While Ford has squarely claimed the crown for safety recalls in 2025, Toyota just announced a big one for over 590,000 vehicles. Instead of this recall being about malfunctioning brake lines or wheels that suddenly come off, it’s for something which seems to be not quite as urgent.
Jaguar Land Rover’s shutdown is still going on.
According to Toyota, the problem arises from the 12.3-inch infotainment touchscreen. It apparently might show up as blank when you start up the car. Or it can suddenly go blank while you’re driving.
No, this isn’t a joke. Toyota has decided your infotainment screen going out constitutes a safety risk, and we’re willing to bet federal regulators at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration do as well.
We can see how a lot of drivers would freak out if they suddenly can’t see which Taylor Swift song is playing or have lost navigation. Instead of just safely pulling over, turning off the car, then starting it up again like you do with a computer that malfunctions, they would instead be hitting buttons and knobs and doing everything but paying attention to the road while driving.
In other words, they would be ultra distracted. That, of course, could lead to a crash. And that’s why this is considered a safety issue.
Per a press release from Toyota, about 591,000 vehicles are involved in this voluntary recall.
The models included in the recall are the Toyota Venza, Crown, Crown Signia, RAV4, GR Corolla, 4Runner, Camry, Grand Highlander, Tacoma, and Highlander. Also included are some Lexus LS, RX, and TX models.
Unfortunately, Toyota didn’t provide model year ranges for the recall, but we’re guessing if yours has the 12.3-inch infotainment touchscreen, it could be included. If you’re going to measure yours, do it diagonally from opposite corners.
Toyota has said it will start notifying customers about the recall in the middle of November. Of course, you can also go to NHTSA.gov/recalls and type in your VIN to see if your vehicle is included.
Image via Toyota
Shawn Henry