Toyota announced a recall of approximately 65,000 brand-new Sequoia and Tundra vehicles this week, while Hyundai separately announced the recall of roughly 43,900 Santa Fe vehicles — almost 110,000 trucks in all.
The issues with the vehicles vary: “Improperly fastened bolts” in model year 2017 Tundras may heighten the risk of injury during crashes. In 2018 Sequoias and Tundras, a diagnostic function may inappropriately turn off the Vehicle Stability Control system, which could increase the likelihood of crashes. Toyota listed additional information about the recall in a safety notice posted to its site on February 20.
“For all involved vehicles, Toyota dealers will update the software in an electronic control unit at no cost to customers. All known owners will receive a notification by first-class mail starting in the middle of March,” the company said.
Meanwhile, Hyundai Santa Fe trucks are at risk for the steering wheel breaking away from the steering column, according to the Associated Press. The car manufacturers will notify owners of the vehicles next month, the AP reported. But concerned car owners should be able to visit the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Safer Car website for further details shortly. As of this writing, there is no information on either recall listed on the federal website, and Hyundai has not posted any information to its website yet.
For any additional questions about the Toyota recall, customer support is also available by calling 800-331-4331. Hyundai owners can look up recalls on the company’s service center by entering their VIN, or contact customer care by emailing [email protected] or calling 800-633-5151.
Mere days ago, Hyundai unveiled the 2019 Santa Fe, bringing a distinctive new look to the front end and announcing a a new eight-seat SUV that will surpass the Santa Fe/Santa Fe XL in size.
The massive truck recall is the latest in a recent binge of auto recalls. BMW announced the recall of nearly 12,000 cars after the company “discovered that the wrong programming had been installed.” In late January, Volkswagen recalled more than half a million vehicles in the U.S. due to defects that could result in fires or airbag malfunctions. And Takata, manufacturer of faulty airbags found in a dozen or more makes of car, recently expanded its recall to 3.3 million vehicles.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.