Luxury Lexus recalled for steering malfunction

Lexus has announced a recall of its flagship LS 460 and LS 600hL for an issue with the car's steering control computer's programming.

The glitch, which effects the Electronic Control Unit (ECU) of the luxury model's Variable Gear Ratio Steering (VGRS) system, can result in the steering wheel becoming off-centre by a maximum of up to 90-degrees under certain limited driving conditions, such as when conducting a U-Turn or accelerating quickly following a sharp turn.

If the driver has fully turned the steering wheel to full lock and then very quickly attempts to turn it back to the centre position, the steering wheel may temporarily become off-centred before automatically returning to the centre position, usually within one to five seconds.

Although only 37 vehicles are affected locally, the problem saw 3800 LS models recalled in the United States last year. As a precaution, Lexus temporarily suspended the sale of its LS 460 and LS 600hL models (for three weeks) in the US until the steering ECU in all dealer stock were replaced.

Toyota, Lexus' parent company, reacted to the issue after receiving just one complaint, and has received no reports of injuries or incidents relating to the malfunction. The company also recalled 4500 vehicles in Japan for the same issue.

To avoid the condition occurring, Lexus advises owners to avoid turning the steering wheel too quickly in the opposite direction, where practicable, especially if the steering wheel was previously turned to the full-lock position.

The malfunction is extremely unlikely to cause steering failure.

Owners of all affected vehicles will be contacted by Lexus this week to arrange a mutually agreeable time to replace the vehicle's steering ECU. Alternatively, owners may contact their Lexus dealership directly, quoting campaign number 0514E in relevant communications.