Toyota Recalling Some 591,000 Vehicles To Fix Digital Display Issue
The vehicle's Instrument panel screen can go dark on startup.
The instrument panel of our cars, trucks, and SUVs is a vitally important part of the automobile, and in the past decade or two, it’s become increasingly digitized—so much so that the entire panel for a huge swath of today’s vehicles has gone fully digital. It’s also evolved well past just the speedometer and tach and offers all manner of pertinent information. Unfortunately for certain Toyota and Lexus owners, there have been issues with their 12.3-inch digital dashboard displays, namely that it can go blank, which can obviously be a pretty big problem and is now subject to a voluntary Toyota recall, with roughly 591,000 vehicles affected.
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The specific problem reported is that on vehicle startup, the screen will be blank. According to the release from Toyota, driving the vehicle without seeing the screen could lead to not being apprised of potentially important malfunction information and it could lead to or otherwise cause a crash as a result. It's unclear if the screens are going blank while the vehicle is in motion.
Models listed include the Toyota Venza, Crown Signia, RAV4, GR Corolla, 4Runner, Camry, Grand Highlander, Tacoma, and Highlander. Lexus models include the LS, RX, and TX series of vehicles. No specific model year nor trim level is mentioned in the release sent out from Toyota, but the 12.3-inch digital dashboard was offered as early as 2023 on most of the listed vehicles.
The problem with the digital dash blanking doesn’t seem to be a wholly widespread issue in the field via a brief web search on Toyota’s safety recall bulletin number (25TB08), but we do see mentions of it happening on some 2023 and 2024 models. Turning the vehicle on and off again doesn’t seem to temporarily fix the issue, either.
The specific fix mentioned in the release is to either update the programing of the 12.3-inch dashboard display's combination meter or to replace the combination meter altogether, a service that could take a few hours. According to forum and Reddit users who claim to have dealership technician access, an official permanent repair isn’t ready just yet and may explain the slow rollout of recalls other owners are reporting. Toyota says all impacted owners will be notified by November of this year.
Having experience in many forms of the automotive industry, Justin Banner has done more than just write about cars. For more than 15 years, he's had experience working as an automotive service technician—including a stint as a Virginia State Inspector—service advisor, parts sales, and aftermarket parts technical advisor (a fancy way of saying he helped you on the phone when you had trouble fitting your brakes over your aftermarket wheels and the like). Prior to his tenure as a full-time editor, Justin worked as a freelance writer and photographer for various publications and as an automotive content creator on YouTube. He’s also covered multiple forms of motorsports ranging from Formula Drift, drag racing, and time attack, to NASCAR, short course off-roading, and open desert racing. He's best known for breaking down complex technical concepts so a layperson can more easily understand why technologies, repairs, and parts should matter to them. At MotorTrend, Justin is part of the news team covering breaking news and topics while also working as a judge for MotorTrend Of the Year events and other major comparison tests.
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