Toyota Calms Concerns

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.”