An improperly torqued bolt could cause Camry or Corolla Cross Hybrid models to lose power while driving, or possibly catch fire.
Toyota issued a new safety recall for 55,405 examples of the latest-generation 2025-2026 Camry and 2026 Corolla Cross Hybrid over an issue that could cause loss of motive power. Specifically, the problem is with an improperly torqued bolt inside the cars’ inverter, that aids power delivery from the hybrid battery to an electric motor. A loose bolt could cause incomplete contact at the inverter terminal and trigger a limp mode condition or lose drive power altogether, increasing the risk of a crash.
The automaker also told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that the bolt could come loose inside the inverter assembly itself, triggering a short circuit if the ignition is on that could lead thermal damage and, in extreme cases, a fire.
In its safety recall report, Toyota marked “1” value in the estimated percentage of vehicles that could have a defect. While that means a low number of cars in the recall pool actually have a problem in some cases, it could also mean “unknown”, and Toyota acknowledges that is the case here. So, of more than 55,000 units, the company isn’t exactly sure how many have a loose or completely detached bolt in the inverter assembly.
In early November, Toyota first received a report from a dealer inspection that a vehicle could not power on. Upon closer evaluation by the dealer and by the supplier, a bolt from the inverter was eventually found lying on the circuit board (and therefore a short circuit risk). Denso, the supplier building the inverter assemblies in Tennessee, found a machine settings change could lead to a low torque condition of that specific bolt within the inverter. From there, the bolt can come loose under driving conditions that lead to loss of power or increase risk of a fire.
To-date, Toyota says its best “engineering judgement” is that 34 field reports and 15 warranty claims may relate to this condition. Nevertheless, the company is recalling 3,761 Corolla Cross Hybrids and 51,644 Camrys to address the concern.
What will the repair look like and when will it happen?
At this moment, Toyota did not specify a fix for the issue. In fact, it only told the NHTSA that, “All known owners of the subject vehicles will be informed that they will be contacted when further information is available about the repair remedy.” The automaker is targeting a range between January 30 and February 13, 2026 for the repair notifications to actually go out. Before that, though, Toyota says a copy of the draft notification will go out as soon as it is available, though dealers are already aware of the problem as of December 16.
Whenever Toyota does roll out a fix, the repair will be free of charge to all customers affected by the recall. Owners shouldn’t need to be reimbursed for this remedy, as affected vehicles are all still under warranty.
