Toyota Recall Of FJ Cruiser Due To Seatbelt Malfunction; 209,000 Cars Recalled In US Alone, 310,000 Worldwide

Toyota has issued a recall for the FJ Cruiser. The Toyota recall will apply to all FJ cruisers from 2007 through 2013.

The total number of Toyotas to be recalled is 209,000 in the United States, according to NBC News.

An additional 52,000 recalled Toyota vehicles were sold in the Middle East, and the remaining malfunctioning vehicles of the 310,000 total were sold in Canada, Australia, China, and other parts of Latin America and Oceania.

Toyota issued a press release announcing the recall on Friday, March 15 citing a problem that could cause the front seatbelt retractors to separate from the vehicle body.

The problem stems from the FJ Cruiser's door opening design that has the front-occupant seatbelts attached to the rear doors.

Toyota stated that when the rear doors are "repeatedly and forcefully closed," the retractor could completely separate from the frame.

No information about the recall has been released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration yet, but Toyota stated that there have been no accidents or injuries associated with the issue.

The Toyota recall press release stated, "The seatbelt retractors for the driver and front passenger seat belts are mounted in the rear doors of the vehicle. Due to insufficient strength of the rear door panel, cracks may develop over an extended period of time if the rear door is repeatedly and forcefully closed. If cracks occur in the panel around the lower seatbelt retractor anchor, the seatbelt retractor may become detached."

Toyota reported that owners of the vehicle will receive a notification letter and that any authorized Toyota dealer will perform the recall at no charge.

More information can be found at Toyota.com/recall.

Less than two months ago, Toyota recalled more than 1 million vehicles due to problems with defective airbags and windshield wipers.

This latest Toyota safety recall has put the car manufacturer's recall count for 2013 at over 1.2 million in the U.S. alone.