One of the great things about FixYa’s large group of Experts is that many of them have led very illustrious careers, and are highly placed in companies and organizations of interest to the technical support sphere. So when very major events, such as Toyota’s recall of 5.3 million vehicles makes the news, our Experts are often in a position to give us some real insight into what’s going on behind the scenes.

One such Expert is Toyota Ed, an award-winning Service and Customer Relations Manager at his Toyota dealership. Having worked with Toyota for years, Ed has unique insight into the situation. He set the record straight about the current recalls and the actual scope of the problem, showing that consumers needn’t panic.

Ed started by saying that “the current situation that Toyota is experiencing with the alleged sticking accelerator pedals has been grossly exaggerated,” and went on to explain the situation to us:

The truth is that there are two different manufacturers of the accelerator pedals- Denso and CTS. CTS is the manufacturer of the alleged defective unit, and is installed in roughly 50% of the vehicles produced in the US only. The Denso pedal has not been found to have any issues whatsoever.

Additionally, any Toyota produced in Japan (denoted by the ‘J’ at the start of all Vehicle Identification Numbers produced in that country) all have the Denso pedal installed. Therefore, there are no issues with any Japanese-produced vehicles

Ed’s dealership has been doing the same things as all Toyota dealerships have been doing- making a major effort to be available to their customers and look into any concerns they may have about their vehicles. To date, his dealership has inspected over 300 CTS pedals, and they have yet to see one that is “anywhere near ‘sticky.’” He says that every pedal they have come into contact with over the last several weeks has been 100% ok, free from binding, sticking, or increased resistance.

He also makes it clear that the ongoing effort to modify the CTS pedals has been approved by the NHTSA, something that should comfort owners concerned about the effectiveness of the fix.

This information, straight from the mouth of an experienced Toyota insider should help to calm the fears of any owners out there who are worried that the usually dependable automaker may be slipping. Ed comments about his dealership’s response are similar to the action we are seeing from Toyota dealerships nationwide, who are eager to reassure customers that Toyota is committed to making things right. It is also a sentiment echoed in an open letter by Jim Lentz, President and Chief Operating Officer for Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc, “Our entire organization of 172,000 North American employees and dealership personnel has been mobilized. And we’re redoubling our quality control efforts across the company. Ensuring your safety is our highest priority.”

On Monday, Toyota issued a second recall of several popular models due to safety issues. The number of cars recalled continues to climb, and has already affected some 5.3 million vehicles.

The most recent recall, “Pedal” involves the possibility that some accelerator pedal mechanisms may mechanically stick in a partially depressed position, or return slowly to the idle position. Affected models include the following:

• Certain 2009-2010 RAV4
• Certain 2009-2010 Corolla
• 2009-2010 Matrix
• 2005-2010 Avalon
• Certain 2007-2010 Camry
• Certain 2010 Highlander
• 2007-2010 Tundra
• 2008-2010 Sequoia

Toyota’s engineers have developed a solution for vehicles currently in production, as well as vehicles already on the road, and repair kits have already begun shipping to Toyota dealers.

An earlier recall, “Floor Mat Entrapment” involves unsecured or incompatible driver’s floor mats interfering with the accelerator pad and causing it to become stuck in the wide-open position. Affected models include the following:

• 2005-2010 Avalon
• 2007-2010 Camry
• 2009-2010 Corolla
• 2008-2010 Highlander
• 2009-2010 Matrix
• 2004-2009 Prius
• 2005-2010 Tacoma
• 2007-2010 Tundra
• 2009-2010 VENZA

Toyota’s engineers have developed a solution and have been contacting customers to let them know when to bring in their vehicles to be fixed.

As a part of these recalls, new car sales of affected models has been temporarily suspended until the problem has been remedied. Production at some North American plants has also been halted in order to free up resources to fix affected vehicles.

Toyota’s commitment to creating reliable products and exercising strict quality-controls is renowned in the auto industry and beyond. However, with a third recall involving Prius looming on the horizon, one has to wonder if Toyota will be able to maintain their good reputation.

One of the best sources for technical information on FixYa is our growing Tips & How-To’s section. This is where our Experts aggregate the knowledge acquired during their time in the field into Tips, which are then made available to anyone searching for a related solution. Experts who create high-quality Tips can actually become Premium Tips Experts, and earn money for the Tips they write.

While some Experts are just learning how to make the most of this system, one Expert who is really setting the standard is heatman101, who has already posted an astonishing 132 Tips since joining FixYa in November 09. Not to be overlooked, his 542 solutions and 97% rating are also testaments to his impressive skill as a technician.

heatman101 originally came to FixYa looking for a way to make a living without being tied to one place. After working in such professions as meat packing, welding and metal fabrication, refinishing carpentry, and HVAC (where he has spent the last 20+ years), heatman101 has picked up a wide range of skills and abilities. His wife has actually come to refer to heatman101’s primarily HVAC-oriented business as actually being his “‘whatever you need fixed we do it’ service.” heatman101 credits location saying, “where I live you learn to ‘do it all’ because there often just isn’t someone else to call.” Thankfully, when left to his own devices, heatman101 truly excels. In fact, he’s even accomplished at making his own devices, as you can see in the image above of an original heating system that he designed, built, and installed.

One of the ways in which heatman101 is ahead of the curve is his usage of SEO strategies to attract more attention to his Tips. He says he gets his ideas from Tips by seeing which questions are asked over and over on FixYa. He then researches keywords in an effort to create titles that will turn up in relevant search results. He has already found that by employing his growing SEO know-how, he can get a new Tip to appear on the first page of Google’s search results within a day! It looks like heatman101 has added a brand new skill to his already impressive list of Areas of Expertise.

The object of all this effort is to allow him to achieve his dream of doing mission work with his wife once his children have graduated from high school. heatman101 hopes to fund this activity by finding a residual revenue stream that won’t tie him down, and participating in FixYa’s Premium Tips program has become a part of that plan. We’re very happy to get to play a part in helping him reach his goal, and we hope that 2010 will result in even more new revenue streams for heatman101 and the rest of our deserving Experts. Thanks heatman101, for leading the way and showing us what’s possible.

It’s tax season! Time for FixYa to take stock of what we’ve done during the last 12 months and make sure we’re squared away with Uncle Sam. We need to collect a little information from our Premium Experts and Premium Tips Experts, which will only take a few seconds to complete.

If you are a Premium Expert or a Premium Tips Expert, please visit the “Premium Expert Information” section of your Edit Profile page. Enter your name and the location where you primarily perform your Premium activities (don’t forget to click “Save Changes”). That’s all you have to do!

Please make sure to submit this information in order to receive your FixYa earnings on time. Thanks for a great 2009 and here’s to an even greater 2010!

Before FixYa looks to the New Year, we want to reflect on the last month of 2009. That’s when three of our Premium Experts wowed us with their technical prowess and superb support skills, earning themselves FixYa’s second Holiday Bonus award.

Congratulations to our first place $500, Ekse! As Ekse approaches the end of his second year on FixYa, we want to make it known how much we value the contributions he has made to our community. Ekse is a consummate professional and has unparalleled insight into the workings of our site, making him a great help to both our customers and our staff.

Our second place winner, tbirdfan1, takes home the $250 prize. He’s a relatively recent addition to FixYa’s community, but he has made his mark as a dedicated tech who continually produces great work. Thank you, tbirdfan1, for bringing fresh talent to FixYa!

Winning our third place, $100 prize is localwonder. It’s no wonder what makes this Expert shine, just check out his 26 Brand Badges and 10 Category Expert Badges. From cars, to large appliances, to computers and cell phones, there’s nothing this Expert can’t fix!

FixYa sends a huge “thank you” to all its winning Experts. By providing customers with top notch assistance these Experts are helping to build FixYa into the internet’s number one resource for product support, and we are proud to have them featured on our site.