Today's announcement isn't a formal recall, because the company says the problem isn't a safety issue and there have been no accidents or injuries, Toyota spokesman John Hanson told Bloomberg. A design flaw in the cars' water pumps can create air bubbles that disrupt the flow of coolant, which can lead to overheating, he said.
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Toyota says it will cover the cost to repair Prius hybrids whose water pumps can cause the cars to overheat or lose power.
The bulk of vehicles affected by the flaw are in the United States. Repairs are needed on 378,000 Priuses sold in the U.S. between 2004 and 2007, along with 180,000 cars in Japan, 70,000 in Europe and 7,000 in Australia, another Tokyo-based spokesman told Bloomberg.
Prius owners who qualify for the repair will be notified personally starting in early December, the company told Reuters. Toyota will cover the cost of the repair at all U.S. dealerships, including more than $100 worth of labor.
"This is a 'customer satisfaction campaign,' which is a voluntary action of the company, unlike legally bound recalls," Toyota spokesman Paul Nolasco told Agence France-Presse.
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Toyota is the world's biggest seller of gas-electric hybrids, and the Prius is its top-selling model. After 2007, Toyota began using a different type of water pump in the Prius that doesn't suffer from the same problem. The company's other hybrid models don't have the flawed equipment.If the problem is left untouched, the car's engine could heat up and trigger a warning light. Once it overheats, the engine drops into "fail-safe" mode and engine power is reduced, Reuters reported.
Today's repair call caps a bruising year for Toyota, which has been forced to issue safety recalls for about 14 million of its vehicles worldwide, including 11 million in America. The company still faces lawsuits in the U.S. over claims that it hid accelerator pedal defects that have been blamed for dozens of deaths.