Dealers revving up for Toyota recall

FORT WAYNE, IND. (WANE) - Millions of vehicles nationwide are caught up in Toyota's recalls, and now the company's rushing replacement parts out the door.

Toyota will add a steel reinforcement bar to the gas pedal assembly and hopes that'll reduce friction and stop the pedals from sticking.

Right now, Toyota's busy training mechanics to keep its customers safe.

“We are truly sorry for letting them down, that nothing is more important to us than their safety and their satisfaction,” said Toyota Operating Officer Jim Lentz.

Toyota's telling its dealers to give priority to cars already on the road, and then fix their inventory during off hours. After criticism that it initially moved too slowly to address the problem, the company's now trying to get out in front.

It won’t be a quick fix for customers or for dealers. “It's about 40,000 cars in this area,” said Scott Lahrman, Parts Manager for Fort Wayne Toyota .

Fort Wayne area Toyota dealers are preparing for even more cars to come through their service department.

"The parts can be produced very quickly and in large quantity and so we should be receiving them by the end of the week," said Rick Evans of Evans Toyota.

That means beginning the week of February 8, both Evans Toyota and Fort Wayne Toyota should be able to swap out the recalled parts. Both dealers strongly recommend you call ahead to schedule an appointment.

"We've set up a team to work on these and to stay late, work weekends, and do whatever we have to do to get them done in a timely and efficient manner," Evans said.

"We're going to try to get people in as fast as possible and we're even thinking about extending our hours here at Fort Wayne Toyota," Lahrman said.

Dealerships say they have noticed a negative impact as far as people wanting to buy Toyota cars; however the dealerships say they are experiencing a bit of a minor setback when it comes to actually being able to sell some cars.

"Some people have wanted to buy them and we've had to tell them unfortunately we have to wait until the repair is done," Evans said.

Depending on the model of Toyota, that repair could take anywhere from 30 minutes to three hours.

"We're going to be busy, but we're going get this taken care of as fast as possible and customer safety is number one," Lahrman said.

Despite the wait time, many dealers have lounge areas and also offer a free shuttle service or even a loaner car.

If you are affected, you should receive a letter from Toyota, but you can also find a list by clicking here.

To call ahead to set up an appointment, you can call Evans Toyota at (260) 482-3730 or Fort Wayne Toyota at (260) 436-4567.