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Last Updated: Feb 12th, 2010 - 18:33:58 |
Liberal car dealerships are responding in multiple ways to a series of Toyota recalls that affect millions of vehicles and have been making international headlines.
Toyota's two recalls involve gas pedal problems that can result in crashes. The recalls affect a total of 11 vehicle models. Stu Emmert Automotive Center, Liberal's Toyota dealership, currently have cars they cannot sell as a result of these recalls.
"They did put a stop sale on some of the vehicles, but we hope in the next week or two to have them repaired," said Duane Headrick, general sales manager at Stu Emmert. "Once we have them repaired, we can sell them."
On Jan. 26, Toyota suspended sales on 2.3 million vehicles containing a gas pedal capable of sticking, following the recall of the eight Toyota models on Jan. 21. The announcement came after Toyota's November recall of 4.2 million vehicles containing floor mats that potentially trapped gas pedals.
Concerned Toyota owners are calling the dealership for questions and repairs, Headrick said.
"People have been calling in, even though they don't have a problem, because of what they have heard in the media," said Headrick. "We are just making appointments for them and sending them to service."
Fixing the problem
Toyota announced Monday that a steel reinforcement bar can be installed to fix the sticky pedal problem. Stu Emmert performed its first installation of the steel bar Thursday night and has appointments to fix recalled cars into the week. Julio Castaņeda, a service advisor at Stu Emmert, said the dealership also began to receive parts to fix floor entrapment problems Friday morning.
"We do have some parts for some of the vehicles and I am making appointments for the ones with recalls, that we have parts for," Castaņeda said.
Castaņeda said the dealership has been receiving 12 to 15 calls a day from concerned Toyota owners, but that he expects calls to increase soon.
"People will get notices that we have parts together and will begin to call more," Castaņeda said.
The steel bar installation takes about an hour to complete. Castaņeda said Toyota has trained the technician to perform these repairs.
"We had some training with a Toyota representative with physical and video training, which totaled about five hours," Castaņeda said.
Stu Emmert technicians plan to work into the evenings on business days to cope with the increase in repairs they anticipate in the next few weeks.
Castaņeda says Stu Emmert plans to perform its first pedal repair for floor mat entrapment problems on Monday.
Recall responses
Headrick said local residents have not been seriously affected by the recalls and suggests responses to the recall may be too drastic.
"I don't know that we've had any confirmed problems that we can find," said Headrick. "People have been calling in, even though they don't have a problem, because of what they have heard in the media."
Castaņeda said a woman from Guymon, Okla., called claiming her car's gas pedal experienced problems with floor mat interference, but that she never actually brought the vehicle into the dealership. Castaņeda also said her car was not a recalled vehicle.
Headrick does not feel the recalls will have a huge impact on sales at Stu Emmert.
"I think it has been blown up out of proportion," Headrick said.
In the last three years, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has investigated all the major vehicle companies. Their investigations have resulted in 524 recalls affecting 23.5 million vehicles, according to Thursday's press release.
While Headrick admitted less people have been looking at the dealership, he suggests winter snow is to blame.
"This is probably because of the weather, not anything else," Headrick said.
Shane Johnson, a sales manager at Lewis Toyota of Dodge City, Kan., did not feel he had worked with the dealership long enough to comment on the recall or sales on Thursday.
Toyota Motor Company President Akio Toyoda, however, does view the series of recalls as a major issue for the company.
"I believe what is happening now is a very big problem," said Toyoda in a press conference reported by the New York Times on Friday. "We are in a crisis."
Since the recall was announced, stock prices for Toyota fell more than 20 percent to $71.78 per share from $91.78 per share on Jan. 19.
For Toyota, the succession of recalls may not be finished. On Thursday, the NHTSA announced the beginning of it's investigation into the 2010 Toyota Hybrid Prius vehicles after reports of temporary losses in breaking capabilities by the cars. According to Thursday's press release, the NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation has 124 reports of braking problems with the 2010 Prius, with crashes resulting in four of the cases.
Other dealerships respond
While less people have been viewing cars at Stu Emmert, Roger Rose of Richard Rose dealership, says they have seen sales increase recently. Rose, however, does not attribute the sales increase to Toyota recalls.
"I think people are getting over the recession blues," Rose said.
Rose does not think the Toyota recalls will greatly impact car sales for their dealership.
"Every car company has had recalls of some kind and I don't think it will make much of a difference," Rose said.
While Rose said their dealership does not plan on offering special deals to Toyota owners, Foss Motor Company in Liberal will try to capitalize on the series of recalls. Dave Hinkle, the general sales manager of Foss, says the dealership plans to offer incentives for Toyota owners to exchange their cars for Ford vehicles.
"It looks like we are going to be offering some special rates for Toyota owners to trade them in for Fords," said Hinkle.
Despite Foss's offers, Hinkle says he worries the recalls may still have negative impacts for local dealerships.
"Its definitely going to affect the availability of used cars, but hopefully it won't be a big impact to us locally," Hinkle said.
The 11 Toyota models affected by by the recalls include 2009-2010 RAV4, 2009-2010 Corolla, 2007-2010 Camry, 2010 Highlander, 2009-2010 Matrix, 2005-2010 Avalon, 2007-2010 Tundra, 2008-2010 Sequoia, 2004-2009 Prius, 2005-2010 Tacoma and 2009-2010 VENZA. Some Toyota models are included in both floor mat entrapment and sticky pedal recalls.
The NHTSA advises owners of recalled vehicles to contact their local dealership if they have problems.
For full story please see Sunday's Times
© 2008 Southwest Times
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