Toyota to be ready for repairs Monday

By Karissa Minn

kminn@salisburypost.com

Toyota owners affected by a recent recall soon will be able to visit their dealerships to fix the problem.

Toyota Motor Corp. has announced repair plans for faulty accelerator pedals in eight of its models, and it already has shipped parts for the fix to local dealers.

Mike Hughes, manager of Cloninger Toyota in Salisbury, said his dealership wants to take care of customers' cars as soon as possible.

"We're going through all the training and everything right now," Hughes said. "We'll be ready for customers come Monday. We're going to stay and do it until it gets done."

Toyota found that a certain accelerator pedal it uses could become stuck and cause unintended acceleration. This discovery led to the recall of 2.3 million cars nationwide, including the popular Camry and Corolla models. A "stop-sale" was announced last week for all affected vehicles, which Hughes said should be lifted by Friday.

Toyota now says it has found a simple solution for the problem. A precision-cut steel reinforcement bar will be inserted into the pedal assembly of each affected vehicle. This is meant to reduce excess friction that could cause the gas pedal to stick in rare cases.

Officials with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration say they will investigate whether the problem may have been caused by Toyota's electronic throttle control system. Toyota says it has found no trouble with the electronic system.

The repair should only take about 30 minutes, Hughes said. Cloninger Toyota plans to combine the repair with another recall remedy.

An earlier Toyota recall announced in November involved floor mats that could catch accelerator pedals. Owners of cars affected by both recalls can have both issues fixed in less than three hours, Hughes said.

"While we've got it, we're just going to do it all," he said. "That way, customers won't have to come back twice."

In spite of the automaker's recent troubles, Hughes said sales at his Cloninger Toyota haven't fallen due to the recall. In fact, it's prompting more customers to come into the dealership.

"A lot of folks are concerned about it, which they should be, but they're buying another Toyota," Hughes said. "The Toyota quality, dependability and reliability has always been there, and it always will be."

Toyota says it will send letters to owners of recalled vehicles, notifying them of the solution and recommending that they make appointments with their dealers.

The most recent sales suspension and recall includes the following models: the 2009-2010 RAV4, the 2009-2010 Corolla, the 2007-2010 Camry, the 2009-2010 Matrix hatchback, the 2005-2010 Avalon large sedan, the 2010 Highlander crossover, the 2007-2010 Tundra pickup and the 2008-2010 Sequoia large SUV.

Meanwhile, some questions are being raised about the brakes on Toyota's marquee Prius hybrid. The Prius was not part of the recent recall, but Japan's transport ministry ordered the company to investigate complaints of brake problems with the hybrid. U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said his department also was looking into those brake problems after about 100 complaints came in over Prius brakes in the U.S. and Japan.