Toyota troubles: Some not worried, others trading in recalled cars

If Toyota’s mechanical troubles had surfaced last fall, Larry Slagle doubts he would be driving one now.

Slagle’s 2007 Toyota Avalon is affected by the automaker’s massive vehicle recall for sticky accelerator pedals that have resulted in sudden and uncontrolled accelerations.

Last week, Toyota said it would suspend sales of the Camry sedan, its top-selling vehicle, and seven other cars and trucks because of the problem.

Slagle, a Massillon, Ohio, city councilman, said he bought the car last October after racking up more than 180,000 miles on his 12-year-old BMW.

“I needed something and it met the amount of money I had to spend at the time,” Slagle said.

“It’s a nice enough car and it runs well, but it’s not what I was used to.”

The automaker said it is shipping parts to reinforce the pedals to its dealers and training mechanics on how to perform repairs. It added that many dealers will extend hours, up to 24 hours a day, to fix the problem.

Slagle said an employee at his local dealer told him the parts are not expected to arrive until the end of the week.

“They told me there is going to be a letter (about the recall) going out,” Slagle said.

Brian Cain, vice president and general manager of Cain Toyota in Jackson Township, Ohio, said most customers have been understanding.

“It’s going to take some time to schedule everyone in,” Cain said. “The majority have been really positive.”

It does not appear the repair will be time intensive, he said, noting the dealership has received the special tools needed for the repairs. Only one customer has claimed to have had trouble with an accelerator, Cain said.

Cain said the recall will affect sales, but noted February typically is a light sales month.  

To this point, Slagle said he isn’t too worried about a mechanical failure and recently drove the car on a long trip.

“You just have to pay attention to it,” he said.

However, Slagle said he is concerned about the vehicle’s resale value.  

Rather than waiting to get their cars fixed, some Toyota owners are opting to trade them for other imports such as Hondas and Nissans, according to Doug Waikem, co-owner of Waikem Motors Inc.

In the last week, Waikem said the dealership has completed 20 Toyota trade-ins, adding some dealerships are refusing to accept them in deals.

“We’ve been inundated with people wanting to trade them in for other imports,” he said. “... We have made a corporate decision to take those on trade even though we know they are unsafe. We are sitting on all the Toyotas until they have a fix to remedy the problem.”

Waikem added the dealership is trying to give Kelley Blue Book trade-in value to all Toyota owners.

The mechanical problems Toyota is experiencing were “inevitable,” Waikem said, because they overextended their product line.

“We don’t see it with Honda. They only produce about five different models but Toyota makes 30 different models ... You can’t keep your eye on the wheel when you have so many models out there,” he said.

The recall also has raised concerns for owners who drive clones of Toyota models – including the Pontiac Vibe.

To assuage concerns, General Motors recently tested the braking capabilities of the Vibe in a controlled, unintended acceleration scenario, according to published reports.

Dan Sanders, president of Progressive Chevrolet in Massillon, said the dealership has received several inquiries from Vibe owners, but no mechanical failures have been reported. A memo was circulated Wednesday morning containing details about a fix for the Vibe, Sanders said.

“We really don’t know anything more than what they (Toyota) know,” he said.

The Independent (Massillon, Ohio)