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Toyota dealers around the world and here in Cranbrook continue to dig in after several days of unprecedented bad news last week that saw the biggest recall in the giant automaker’s history.
To date, Toyota has recalled 7 million vehicles in the U.S. due to the danger of sudden acceleration problems caused by sticky gas pedals, according to American lawyer Lieff Cabraser, a San Francisco lawyer that specializes in deaths caused by faulty consumer products.
At least 270,000 vehicles in Canada, were recalled because of a faulty accelerator pedal in several models, including the popular Camry, Corolla and RAV4, according to an article in the Winnipeg Free Press
To fix the affected vehicles, dealerships will install a steel reinforcement bar to reduce the friction that's been associated with the sticky pedal problem. The company has also identified brake problems in its popular Prius hybrid but has not yet issued a recall for that vehicle.
Toyota's top executive, president and CEO Akio Toyoda, offered an apology to millions of Toyota drivers Friday. "I apologize from the bottom of my heart for all the concerns that we have given to so many customers in so many countries," said Toyoda, the grandson of Toyota’s founder.
As big as the Toyota recall is, it’s not the biggest in the history of the industry, according to Forbes Magazine and Wheelscene, an Internet Zine which both named the Ford Motor Company for recalling 8.6 million vehicles in 1996 after 875 consumers complained about the ignitions causing small vehicle fires.
This probably comes as cold comfort to Cranbrook Toyota dealer Bruce Smith, who has worked for Ford and other dealerships in the past, and now has to deal with the fallout from the Toyota recall.
“Over the last 25 years I have had the opportunity to run many different franchises where recalls are a way of life, this process is relatively new for our manufacturer and I feel Toyota in general will be better equipped in the future to handle the publics and the medias questions and concerns. Remember that this recall is to adapt a part of the gas pedal that has on extremely rare occasions could stick after high cycle rates (lots of heavy use) and the owners of these vehicles need not worry as the likelihood of a failure is extremely remote.
“To date we have inspected over 300 units with no concerns. There have been very few instances of a sticking pedals in Canada and so far only in high use scenarios (high mileage lots of use) and the likelihood of failure is extremely rare,” Smith said.
“Parts should be arriving late this morning (Friday). The repair is simple, quick and no charge, but call ahead before you bring it in,” he said
As for reports there is a brake problem in the popular Toyota Prius model, Smith said: “some customers have reported inconsistent brake feel during slow and steady application of brakes on rough or slick road surfaces when the anti-lock brake system (ABS) is activated in an effort to maintain tire traction.
“The system, in normal operation, engages and disengages rapidly (many times per second) as the control system senses and reacts to tire slippage. A running production change was introduced last month, improving the ABS system's response time, as well as the system's overall sensitivity to tire slippage. Toyota Canada is working with Transport Canada on this issue.”
Despite Smith’s detailed explanations, Jim Szakacs, President of the Import Auto Group in Cranbrook said he was sceptical of some of the things Toyota has been saying about its problems.
“Who’s to say there hasn’t been some ‘spin’ there? Who knows?”
Szakacs says most car dealers in town are reluctant to comment on the Toyota recall because there’s already lots of information in the public domain from the various safety boards in Canada and the U.S.
As for Toyota’s claim it has developed a stainless steel rod that will fix the problem in the gas pedal assembly, he said, “I do know there’s a lot of scepticism as to whether this is actually the fix or not.”
Szakacs says business has increased at the Import Auto Group since Toyota issued its recall. “We’ve definitely seen an upswing and most of the people coming in their number one concern is safety.
“We’re not talking to people so much about the features and the benefits, pricing and payments. That doesn’t seem to be a concern at this point. The issues are the safety of the vehicle.”
Szakacs was also sceptical if the Toyota recall was really voluntary on the part of the company, pointing to action taken by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in the U.S which last September told Toyota to investigate the sticky accelerator problem in some models.
But Smith said the recall was voluntary in Canada at least and a warning by U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood not to drive the affected vehicles has since been recalled.
