Dealers race to repair Toyotas

The Omaha area's three major Toyota dealers are averaging 25 to 35 repairs a day on recalled vehicles, but Friday's snowy weather further complicated an already challenging week.

Some customers didn't show up for their scheduled appointments, and delivery of some parts was delayed, dealers said Friday.

Toyota recalled millions of vehicles recently because of gas pedals that could stick, causing acceleration that drivers might not be able to control. By midweek, the company had found a solution and was shipping millions of tiny steel shims to dealerships for installation.

Dealers also were fixing an issue with floor mats, subject of a separate recall, that could interfere with gas pedals' function.

Some cars were affected by both recalls.

Local dealers expect to be in full repair swing by Monday, and all have extended their business hours.

Meanwhile, the head of Toyota's global operations apologized Friday for the recalls, seeking to repair the company's damaged reputation and sliding sales.

Bill Woodall, general manager at Old Mill Toyota, said that despite the challenges, the repairs were going smoothly.

“We haven't had anything on this large a scale,” he said. “So far, it's going well.”

Woodall said his dealership had fixed about 35 cars and had an additional 70 appointments scheduled through Monday.

“It looks like 35 a day is pretty much what we're scheduling. Some will show, and some won't,” he said.

Friday, typically a slow service day, probably would have been busier had snowy weather not intervened, he said.

At Bellevue Toyota, general manager Jim Duffack Jr. said only two of about eight appointments had arrived by late Friday morning.

Mickey Anderson, president of Performance Auto Group, said that by midafternoon Friday his dealerships in Omaha and Lincoln had made 135 recall repairs and had 50 more scheduled throughout next week.

Performance expected to get parts for the recall involving floor mats on Thursday, but they didn't arrive, said Anderson, speculating that the problem was weather-related. Some of the parts finally arrived Friday afternoon.

“I have to tell you, it has been a tough week,” Anderson said.

Still, Anderson said, he has been impressed with how quickly Toyota got parts to its dealers.

“We ought to be in pretty good shape to help our customers next week,” he said.

Dealers have expanded their hours in different ways: extending the work day; adding a weekend service day; or shifting to 24/7 operation. But they said they won't really know until next week if all those hours will be necessary, or if they need to add even more hours.

Anderson said his around-the-clock operation is for the customers' convenience — maximizing the hours that drivers can drop off their cars.

He doesn't expect a lot of people to bring in cars after midnight, Anderson said, but service technicians will be doing repairs then.

Duffack said his dealership will be open seven days a week, even though Sunday isn't a popular day to get a car serviced. He, too, said he wanted to offer extended hours as a convenience.

A longtime service manager at Bellevue Toyota said he expects to fix 800 Camrys, one of the Toyota models affected by the recalls.

He's added an extra 2½ hours Mondays through Thursdays and is opening Saturdays for the first time, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

“I think we're doing the right things. I feel that what we have in place is working for us and the customers. It's making sure they are getting taken care of as fast as possible.”

Akio Toyoda, appointed to the top job at Toyota Motor Corp. last June, finally addressed the recalls on Friday, after receiving criticism for not speaking out and apologizing sooner.

And yet another problem was emerging late this week concerning the company's popular Prius gas-electric hybrid.

There have been nearly 200 complaints in Japan and the United States of drivers experiencing a short delay before the brakes kick in, which the company says can be fixed with a software programming change.

The automaker has fixed the programming glitch in Prius models that went on sale since last month but has done nothing yet on 270,000 Prius cars sold last year in Japan and the U.S.

The hybrid is a symbol of Toyota's technological prowess and ambitions to lead the industry in green, low-pollution cars.

This report includes material from the Associated Press.

Contact the writer:

444-1183, christine.laue@owh.com

« Money

Share