Toyota Recalls 77 RAV4 Plug-In Hybrids in South Africa Over the Same Motor ECU Fault as the US Recall

South Africa's National Consumer Commission has issued an urgent safety recall for 77 Toyota RAV4 plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, according to reports on November 2 and 3, 2026 from Cape Town ETC, TimesLIVE, IOL and TopAuto. The vehicles were manufactured between April 2 and September 3, 2026, and sold across South Africa.

The defect is the motor generator electronic control unit, or MG-ECU. In certain instances the component may not complete its initialisation process correctly, leaving the motor control mode used at higher speeds unavailable. In more severe cases the system may enter fail-safe mode or shut down entirely, causing a loss of motive power while the vehicle is in motion and raising the risk of a crash.

The fix is a software job, not a parts replacement: owners are advised to visit an authorised Toyota dealership for reprogramming of the MG-ECU, provided free of charge. Toyota South Africa Motors has acted on the Commission's notice, and owners seeking further information can contact the company directly.

South African readers should note this is not a new defect, it is the same fault behind the much larger US recall CARC covered in October, when Toyota recalled 30,978 model year 2026 RAV4 Plug-in Hybrids in America, plus a related Australian action covering about 5,925 cars. The South African count is small because it reflects only the vehicles sold in that market in the affected build window, not a milder version of the fault. If your RAV4 PHEV was built between April and September 2026, check with a dealer regardless of which market it was sold in.