Toyota had some warning of recall issues four years ago

Toyota Motor Co may have known about the problem behind the company's recent recall of 7.43 million vehicles. The recall covers faulty window switches that may get stuck or catch fire if improperly lubricated. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration received its first complaint about the faulty switch issue some four years ago, which singled out American supplier, Tram Inc., and its Japanese parent company, Tokai Rika Co., as being the one to blame for the trouble. The faulty switches in question were described as emitting a strange odour and were sent back to the supplier for analysis. Tokai Rika couldn't discern a cause for the failure.

Toyota Motor Co dropped the case in that instance, but continued to monitor the switches. Similar reports flared up once again in 2010, this time with the components actually smoking, and Toyota launched a full-fledged internal investigation that eventually led to the recent recall. The campaign covers nearly 2.5 million vehicles in the US alone.