You don’t buy a Toyota truck if you want the latest, most cutting-edge features, and you definitely don’t buy one if you’re looking to save money. You buy them because they’re reliable and will last for well over a decade, even if you don’t do a great job taking care of them. Which is why it’s been so frustrating for owners who bought Toyotas equipped with its new twin-turbo V6 to run into reliability issues. And now, Toyota’s just recalled another 127,000 trucks and SUVs because of those same reliability issues.
The 127,000-vehicle recall covers the 2022-2024 Toyota Tundra, 2022-2024 Lexus LX, and 2024 Lexus GX. And for those of you who have been following along at home, the official reason for the recall will definitely sound familiar:
There is a possibility that certain machining debris may not have been cleared from the engine when it was produced. In the involved vehicles, this can lead to potential engine knocking, engine rough running, engine no start, and/or a loss of motive power. A loss of motive power while driving at higher speeds can increase the risk of a crash.
Yeah, that’s what those of us in the business call “not ideal.” And you could also probably say the same about the next line in the press release, which reads, “Toyota is currently developing the remedy for this issue.” Sadly, as you may have figured out in therapy, it’s a lot easier to identify a problem than it is to come up with a solution. But hey, there are worse things to receive than a free replacement engine. If you bought the hybrid version, your truck isn’t part of this particular recall, at least.
Owners of affected vehicles should expect to receive a letter about the recall by January 2026, although, if you don’t want to wait for your letter, you can always plug your VIN into NHTSA’s recall site.
A history of problems
As previously mentioned, this isn’t the first time Toyota has had to recall the twin-turbo V6 that replaced its old naturally aspirated V8. Nor is it the first time owners have reported having issues with their new engines. Production of the redesigned Toyota Tundra and Lexus LX began in late 2021, with the redesigned Lexus GX following about a year later. It wasn’t long before some owners’ engines began failing — and not at 500,000 miles or whenever you might reasonably expect a Toyota engine to start having problems.
It took until 2024 for Toyota to finally figure out what was going on, and in June of that year, it recalled about 102,000 vehicles equipped with the problematic engine. Back then, they also didn’t have a fix for the issue, so Toyota took the hit and decided to simply replace the engines in any of the affected vehicles. It probably cost Toyota a small fortune to do that, but on the other hand, just think how much it would cost Toyota in the long run if its vehicles lost their reputation for offering bulletproof reliability.
And it’s not like the new V6 was the only reliability problem Toyota has run into recently, either. Toyota also had to recall 381,000 Tacomas built between 2022 and 2023 because the rear axles might break, and at about the same time, it had to recall 281,663 Tundras, Sequoias and Lexus LX600s due to transmission problems. Speaking of transmission problems, the recently redesigned Tacoma also had transmission problems that were bad enough for the Tacoma to get a transmission recall of its own.
Want to know who didn’t have to deal with any transmission recalls, though? The Toyota Tacoma owners who chose the manual transmission option. Take that, automatic transmissions and your stupid superior fuel economy.
