Toyota Harrier: Skid control ECU recall — stability control may not switch back on

Toyota recalled 88,161 vehicles built between 28 April 2020 and 4 April 2022 in Japan, covering nine models with the Harrier named among them, and ran the matching campaign on more than 458,000 vehicles elsewhere. The defect is in the skid control ECU software: if the driver has switched the vehicle stability control system off, the software may fail to turn it back on when the car is restarted. The car then drives with no stability control and, depending on the vehicle, no traction control either, which matters most in exactly the conditions you would never choose to find out about — wet roads, gravel, a corner taken faster than intended. The remedy is a free software update. This is worth checking on every Harrier of this age in New Zealand, because almost all of them are Japanese imports and the recall notice went to an address in Japan.

• Stability control warning light staying on after a restart
• The VSC OFF indicator remaining lit when it was not selected
• No stability control intervention on a slippery surface
• Traction or skid control warning messages on the dash

1. 1

   Note the VIN or the chassis number and ask a Toyota dealer to run a recall search on it — Toyota publishes a per-vehicle recall lookup for Japanese-market cars and the check is free, which matters here because a New Zealand owner of an imported Harrier may never have been told the campaign existed.

2. 2

   Then check the car yourself.

3. 3

   Turn the ignition on without starting and watch the warning lights come on and go out as a set; note the stability control light in particular, which should extinguish.

4. 4

   Start the engine and confirm no stability control or VSC OFF light stays lit.

5. 5

   If the car has a VSC OFF button, press it to switch the system off, confirm the indicator lights, then switch the engine off completely, restart, and check the indicator has gone out by itself — that is the exact behaviour the recall is about, and it is a test you can do standing in the driveway in under a minute.

6. 6

   Ask the seller whether any Toyota dealer work has been done since the car arrived in the country.

7. 7

   If a workshop inspection is possible: ask for the skid control ECU software version and any stored chassis codes to be confirmed.

$0 to $600 at New Zealand independent workshop rates. That is for this job on its own, not for the car.

An estimate, in NZD, for the repair as normally carried out. What a specific car costs depends on which part has failed and what it damaged on the way — treat this as the floor for a negotiation, not a quote.

• “Has this car had any recall work done since it was imported?”
• “Does any stability control or VSC light stay on when driving?”
• “Do you have the Japanese auction sheet or import paperwork?”

The failure described above is documented in published sources — owner forums, technical service bulletins, recall notices and workshop write-ups — held in our fault database. The inspection instructions and the cost estimate are KickTyres’ own interpretation of them, and it is a starting point for an inspection rather than a manufacturer statement.