Toyota continues to deal with recall of vehicles

By Ryan Conway

As soon as new parts arrive at the Tusket dealership, repairs will be made to all Toyota vehicles affected by a recent recall. Parts were expected to start arriving on Feb. 4 and shortly thereafter.

Toyota announced on Jan. 21 that it was recalling approximately 270,000 vehicles in Canada, and around two million vehicles in the United States, that are equipped with a specific accelerator pedal assembly. The accelerator pedals can become stuck. It suspended delivery of eight models affected by the recall.

Toyota also announced plans to stop the production of these vehicles on North American assembly lines, allowing the company to focus on fixing vehicles for customers whose models are involved.

On Tuesday, Feb. 9, Toyota said it is also recalling about 437,000 Prius and other hybrid vehicles worldwide to fix brake problems.

Toyota will be contacting all customers who have purchased these models and will then advise them to meet with their local dealers, said Tusket Toyota general manager Dick Hubbard. “We plan to act quickly as soon as the parts arrive because people will certainly be calling us to see when they can book appointments. When the parts do arrive, we will be able to accommodate most people through regular business hours but we have workers who are willing to put in extra hours to take care of things because we certainly want these cars rectified.”

Sandy Difelice from Toyota Canada’s public relations explained the recall process.

She said when a manufacturer identifies a required fix in a vehicle, the company goes to the regulator to say they have identified the problem. “Then we’ll be issuing a recall on the product. When that happens, we take our findings to the regulator. You can take it at the time that you issue the recall or in a defined period of time, like in this case we moved very quickly in a short period of time to bring them a remedy to the recall.”

As part of the process the company will send out letters to owners of the vehicles to identify that there was a recall, to identify what the remedy is and what the action is. “Then they call their local dealerships and make an appointment and then have the remedy applied.”

Hubbard said with this being an unprecedented recall for Toyota, the Tusket dealership will handle the situation in just that way. “We are going to take the extra step to make sure people are accommodated as quickly as possible. “Toyota wants to take care of the safety of all of its customers. It is the utmost important thing to Toyota right now for sure.”

People have already come into the dealership office and received inspections. “We have had people who have been in contact with us. What we have been doing is bringing in people to inspect pedals to make sure everything is free and to make sure that the vehicle they are driving should be driven. “We have looked at quite a few already and we are just waiting for the parts to arrive and as soon as we get the parts, there will be appointments taking place.”

Hubbard said he has received plenty of calls. “And rightly so. People want to make sure they are in safe vehicles and Toyota wants to make sure they are in safe vehicles. Again, customer safety is of the utmost important.”

He said the customers have been very understanding considering the circumstances. “So far we have gotten a lot of positive comments from our customers. They were very pleased with how quickly Toyota has been acting on this, 99.9 per cent of the public has been very impressed with how Toyota has been handling the situation.”

He also said the recall hasn’t caused any negative impact when it comes to sales. “We are still taking orders, although we can’t sell anything and rightly so. We can’t deliver a vehicle that has not had the proper fix until it is taken care of. We accept and understand that. “We have sold some of these vehicles and they are still standing in our lot waiting for these parts to arrive and as soon as they do and other people are taken care of, then they will be fixed up.”

Customers who have purchased their vehicles prior to the recall will be top priority, he said. “People who already own these vehicles do not want to be kept waiting. Toyota would definitely want to help them first but we feel there will be enough parts to take care of everyone very quickly.”

Information and answers to any questions about the recall are available to customers at www.toyota.ca and the Toyota Customer Interaction Centre at 1-888-TOYOTA-8.