Toyota Recalling Lexus RX, Highlander Models

Toyota Motor Corp. reportedly will recall more than 380,000 Lexus RX and Toyota Highlander cross/utility vehicles due to a faulty console part.

The majority of the vehicles being recalled were sold in the U.S., including 130,000 RXs and 280,000 Highlanders, built from February 2003 through this year, Dow Jones Newswires says.

The part in question may detach below the center console and become lodged under the gas and brake pedals.

In Europe, 20,200 RX CUVs are being called back for the same problem.

The issue of recalls has been a bogey for Toyota lately. Earlier this week The Detroit News reported the auto maker would begin removing the passenger airbag shutoff switch from the front seat of 160,000 Tundra pickup trucks in the U.S. because the lack of child-seat anchors, in combination with the switch, was a violation of U.S. safety regulations requiring both.

Meanwhile, some former Toyota executives in Japan are accused of knowingly concealing defects with the steering systems of the Hilux Surf van for eight years.

Reports say Toyota did not act to recall the vehicle until an August 2004 accident left five people injured.

And in North America, the National Highway Traffic Safety Admin. has begun investigating moonroofs in Scion tC coupes following nine reports of the roofs shattering. In one instance, a person was injured by falling glass, NHTSA says.

Last year, Toyota recalled the tC because its glass wind deflector could shatter, sending shards of glass into the passenger compartment when the roof was open.