Toyota dealerships gear up for recall response

Following Toyota's announcement this morning that it would offer a fix for customers who have Toyotas covered by the throttle pedal recall, we talked to a few Toyota dealerships to get a feeling for what consumers may be facing when they go to have the recall work done.

All the dealers were very helpful and cooperative. Most quoted Toyota's word that parts would be shipped this week and that they expected to put a priority on fixing customers' cars before working on those on their lots that cannot be sold until they get fixed.

In a conference call this morning, Toyota said the parts should begin arriving in dealerships tomorrow  afternoon or Wednesday morning. Once they arrive, technicians will require some brief training on how to install them and then will be able to begin recall work.

One dealer vice president we talked to said things are happening so fast he could get an email in an hour about parts arriving or in a few days, and he wouldn't know until it arrived. He added that the actual repair is relatively simple and it would not take much time to start retrofitting cars once the parts arrive.

Toyota says it will begin mailing letters to owners of the recalled models this Friday. Owners who don't respond to the first mailing will receive more notices until they do.

Several of the dealership service departments we talked to said they have already been swamped with calls from owners of the recalled vehicles.

The fix Toyota announced this morning for existing cars covered by the pedal recall involves installing a steel reinforcement bar in the pedal mechanism to reduce friction. It is different from the fix that Toyota is implementing at the factory on new cars that it will resume producing for sale next week. Those cars will receive a whole new pedal assembly. In the conference call, Toyota says it has thoroughly tested both fixes and is convinced both are equally effective.

The company says some dealerships are extending hours in their service departments, have hired extra technicians, and some are staying open 24 hours. We've also seen some reports of dealers extending hours, but none of those we talked to said they were going to those lengths.

Most had few details about the fix and referred us back to Toyota for further questions.

The cars involved in the pedal recall are:
2005-2010 Avalon
2007-2010 Camry
2009-2010 Corolla
2010 Highlander
2009-2010 Matrix
2009-2010 RAV4
2008-2010 Sequoia
2007-2010 Tundra

A separate recall, to shorten the gas pedals and modify the vehicle floor to avoid potential floor mat entrapment involves different vehicles. Those are:

2005-2010 Toyota Avalon
2007-2010 Toyota Camry
2009-2010 Corolla
2008-2010 Highlander
2009-2010 Matrix
2004-2009 Toyota Prius
2005-2010 Toyota Tacoma
2007-2010 Toyota Tundra
2009-2010 Venza
2009-2010 Pontiac Vibe
2007-2010 Lexus ES 350
2006-2010 Lexus IS 250 and IS 350

About 2.1 million Avalons, Camrys, and Tundras are involved in both recalls. Toyota says it hopes owners of those cars will be able to have both recall procedures performed at the same visit.

—Eric Evarts and Jim Travers

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