Toyota recalling 516,000 vehicles in 3 recalls

DETROIT - Toyota said Thursday it is recalling 516,000 vehicles worldwide -- including 430,500 in the U.S. - for three separate safety problems, including brakes that can activate without warning.

The company said it has no reports of accidents or injuries due to the defects. In all three cases, the company will alert owners and dealers will repair the issues for free.

The largest recall, of 450,000 Sienna minivans from the 2004-2011 model years, targets vehicles sold in cold weather areas. Toyota said road salt can corrode the spare tire carrier under the vehicle and the tire can fall off.

Siennas from the 2004-2010 model years were recalled for the same issue in 2010, and a splash protector and anti-rust protection were applied. But the company says the splash protector can fall off and rust can still occur.

The recall involves 370,000 minivans sold in the U.S., 80,000 in Canada and 400 in Europe.

Also recalled Thursday were:

• 16,000 Lexus GS 250 and 350 sedans from the 2013 model year because a manufacturing defect can cause the brakes to activate without warning, and without turning on the brake lights. More than half of the vehicles -- 10,500 -- were sold in the U.S. Also included are left-hand-drive sedans sold in Canada, China and Europe.
• 50,000 Highlander and Highlander hybrid SUVs from the 2014 model year. Toyota says a software glitch may prevent the vehicle from properly calculating the size of the front passenger when determining whether to fire the air bags. The affected vehicles assume the passenger is smaller, so the bags may not fire or they may fire at a lower speed than necessary for a larger passenger. Toyota says most of the affected vehicles -- 45,287 -- were sold in the U.S. Around 3,400 were sold in Canada and the rest were sold in Mexico and Europe.