Toyota says fix on the way

Dealers expand service hours

By Owen Boss
Staff Writer
and The Associated Press

NORTHAMPTON — Toyota’s announcement Monday that dealerships should get parts to fix a sticky gas pedal problem by the end of this week was music to the ears of two area dealers who continue to apologize to their customers and hope to bring to an end a recall that has affected 4.2 million vehicles worldwide.

Toyota Motor Corp. said Monday it has begun shipping parts and is training dealers on the repairs. Some dealers, including those in Northampton and Greenfield, said they will begin staying open around the clock to fix cars and trucks affected by the recall as soon as parts are available.

“We have made arrangements with our technicians here and let them know that we are going to stay open every night and work on Saturday and Sunday until we get these cars fixed,” said Jeffrey Holmberg, general manager of Toyota of Greenfield.

Technical bulletins on how to install the new parts should arrive at dealers by midweek, the company said in an email. It was not clear exactly when repairs would start, although dealers have said they’ll begin as soon as possible.

“Everyone at all of our dealerships will be on board with expanding their service hours for these repairs because we want to get car owners’ confidence back. We want them to know that they have a good car ... that’s what we are gearing up for,” said Tim Cardillo, general manager of Lia Toyota, on King Street.

Cardillo also said he was pleased to find out that repairing defective gas pedals is expected to be a relatively simple task, and shouldn’t take technicians very long to rectify.

“They will be sending parts to dealers starting today and our local managers will probably start to see those by the end of the week,” Cardillo said. “There is speculation that the repair will take about 30 minutes or less, which is great news.”

Engineers traced the problem to a friction device in the assembly that is supposed to provide the proper pedal “feel” by adding resistance, Toyota said in a statement.

The device has a shoe that rubs against a nearby metal surface during normal pedal use. But wear and environmental conditions can over time cause the pedals to not operate smoothly or, in rare cases, stick partially open.

The company said a steel reinforcement bar will be installed, reducing the friction.

The recall in the U.S. includes the 2009-10 RAV4 crossover, the 2009-10 Corolla, the 2009-10 Matrix hatchback, the 2005-10 Avalon, the 2007-10 Camry, the 2010 Highlander crossover, the 2007-10 Tundra pickup and the 2008-10 Sequoia SUV. It also has been expanded to another 1.9 million vehicles in Europe and China.

Toyota said that not all the models of Camry, RAV4, Corolla and Highlander listed in the recall have the faulty gas pedals, which were made by CTS Corp. of Elkhart, Ind. Dealers can tell which models have the CTS pedals. Models made in Japan, and some models built in the U.S., have pedal systems made by another parts supplier, Denso Corp., which function well.

All Matrix, Avalon, Tundra and Sequoia models covered by the recall have the faulty pedals.
Local Toyota owners with questions, Cardillo said, should call the company’s customer care center toll-free at 1-800-331-4331.

The automaker also said Monday it would suspend production of eight U.S. models affected by the recall this week, with factories restarting next Monday.

Toyota suspended sales of the models last week, but spokesman Mike Michels said dealers can begin selling the cars as soon they are fixed. However, cars already on the road will be the dealers’ first priority, he said in an email.

Jim Lentz, president and chief operating officer of Toyota Motor Sales, said in the statement that nothing is more important than customer safety.

In a video clip released by the automaker, Lentz said he wanted to “sincerely apologize to Toyota owners. I know that our recalls have caused many of you concern and for that I am truly sorry.”
“Toyota has always prided itself on building high-quality, durable cars that customers can depend on and I know that we’ve let you down,” Lentz said.

Lentz, in an interview on NBC’s “Today,” said the automaker was “confident that we have the fix” for the gas pedal system. He said the company first developed a report on the problems in late October, and he denied that Toyota had delayed addressing the problem.

“I drive Toyotas. My family members drive Toyotas ... I would not have them in products that I knew were not safe,” Lentz said.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration told Toyota last week that it was satisfied with the repair plan. Legally, Toyota did not need NHTSA’s approval, but the company would be unlikely to proceed without the government’s blessing.

Owners are expected to receive information by mail beginning this week. The company will cover all repair costs.

The pedal recall is separate from another recall involving floor mats that can bend and push down accelerators on certain Toyota and Lexus models. The two recalls combined affect more than 7 million vehicles worldwide.

Toyota said Monday it is in the process of recalling vehicles to fix the floor mat problem. Some of its cars are affected by both recalls, and the company said it intends to fix both problems at the same time.

The repairs will not bring an end to public scrutiny on how Toyota handled the problems.
The U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is launching an investigation. It has scheduled a Feb. 10 hearing titled “Toyota Gas Pedals: Is the Public at Risk?” and asked Yoshi Inaba, chairman and CEO of Toyota Motor North America, to testify.