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Toyota announced that letters will be mailed for the sticky accelerator pedal recall but not all Toyota car owners will have mailing address information that is correct is Toyota’s database.

In a separate announcement on February 8th, Toyota tells Prius owners included in the 2010 Prius recall to wait for their recall letter. Does Toyota believe that they will get a 100% delivery rate?

As Toyota has starting fixing cars that are part of the massive Toyota recall program, some Toyota owners are at risk of falling through the cracks.

In an exerpt from Toyota’s February 5th press release:

“The company also announced that it has begun mailing letters to owners of recalled vehicles to let them know when to bring their vehicles into a dealership. Owners will only receive a letter if their vehicle is involved in the recall. Upon receipt of a notification letter, owners will be asked to contact a local Toyota dealership to schedule an appointment to have their vehicle fixed.”

As part of the 2010 Toyota Prius recall press release dated February 8, 2010, Toyota says:

Toyota will begin mailing letters to Prius owners included in this recall next week and HS 250h owners within the next few weeks, to let them know when to bring their vehicles into a dealership. Owners will only receive a letter if their vehicle is involved in the recall.

The press release did not address the very practical problem that Toyota’s database can not contain accurate mailing information for all Toyota owners affected by the recall.

Car sales between private owners as well as mailing address changes as consumers move within the country will impact the effectiveness of a Toyota national recall notification mailing.

Toyota Owners Will be Missed

According to the US Postal Service website:

• 17% of Americans change addresses annually.
• 43 million people move each year.
• One out of every six families move each year.

The ability for any company to maintain an accurate mailing address of their customers has always been a challenge in the direct mail industry. With over 8 million cars included in the floor mat recall and the sticky accelerator pedal recall, when you apply a conservative mailing address error rate of 8%, it can be estimated that over 500,000 Toyota owners will not receive their recall letters.

Since Toyota’s press release says that mailed recall letters as the trigger for consumers to call their local dealer, consumers who don’t get recall letters in the coming days are advised to call their local Toyota dealer to check and see if their VIN# and mailing address is correct in the Toyota database. The Toyota press release did not cover what consumers are to do who own cars included in the recall and that do not receive a letter.

Toyota Recall Owners Have a National Podium

Consumers can also particpate in forums and discussions to share their experiences during the recall process on an independant website at www.toyotarercall.org.  The website will allow consumers to freely express their recall service experience and the effect the recall has on their confidence in the Toyota brand. Consumers can also request a local Toyota dealer contact them about a recall service appointment or to confirm that their car in included in the recall.

This independent website which is not affiliated with Toyota, is a popular destination for Toyota car owners to express the questions comments and reactions to the Toyota recall process. The PCG Digital Marketing chose the .org domain extension because the website is designed for public information, education and commentary.

The website www.toyotarecall.org was recently recognized by the Public Interest Registry (PIR.ORG) as a fine example of the effectiveness and application of a .org domain name. You can read their post at: http://blog.pir.org/?p=541

Official Toyota Hot Line

Consumers who are concerned about the safety of their Toyota models not included in the current recall are advised to call the official Toyota Customer Experience Center at 1-800-331-4331.

A new website dedicated to providing information about the most recent Toyota recall has united Toyota owners from all over the country who are looking for answers to many of their questions.  With millions of Toyota vehicles recently recalled, Toyota owners are turning to this website to find answers to their questions and express their feelings and opinions with fellow consumers.

The dedicated Toyota recall website, http://www.toyotarecall.org, is an independent, consumer to consumer website that is not affiliated with Toyota or the government. It was launched as a way to collect the massive amount of questions and answers that exist online and bring it all to one simple destination for consumers.

The website provides an outlet for Toyota owners through various forums through which consumers can share their comments, opinions and experiences. Current forums being discussed now include:

• Confusion About Toyota Recall Letters
• How Will This Recall Impact Toyota’s Reputation?
• Share Your Experience with Toyota Recall Repairs

One of the most active areas of the Toyota recall website is the Q&A section where an outpouring of emotions and frustration has been seen.

One consumer wrote in, “Me and my family’s lives are not worth it. In the interest of public safety, none of these cars should even be on the road. The question is whether Toyota is going to do the right thing and allow people out of their contract or is it still going to stonewall everyone and claim that they’re going to work it out.”

Another consumer posed the question, “What is a consumer to do when the dealerships tells me that a letter will be sent out sometime next week/next month to address this problem? Do we keep driving this death trap?”

The website demonstrates visible anger and frustration on the parts of millions of Toyota owners.  Toyota owners who would like to share any information they have received can take part in the online forums by visiting http://www.toyotarecall.org/

Consumers who would like information from Toyota directly can call the official Toyota Customer Care phone number at 1-800-331-4331.

Toyota has told its dealers on recent training phone calls that they will be starting to drop in the mail their first batch of consumer recall letters during the week of January 18th.

The letters will be send out in batches at staged intervals to help dealers with the staggering number of calls that will be coming into their switchboards.

According to dealers we spoke with, Toyota will start by sending recall letters to Toyota Camry owners next week and inform them of the recall repair process.

Toyota dealers have been allocated 2 hours of service time to fix the accelerator pedal problem involved in the massive recall according to their training phone call this past week.  It is unclear if the repair process will take a full 2 hours once the technicians are used to the factory outlined procedure.    Parts for the recall are in the process of being shipped to car dealers.

According to local dealers, once the parts arrive in the coming week, they will be able to start scheduling service appointments.

USA Today interviewed Yoshimi Inaba, president of Toyota Motors North America, in an article today which he said:

“Toyota has learned a lot and learned its lessons” from the recent safety trouble, which is resulting in its largest recall ever of about four million vehicles, Inaba told reporters this week at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. “We have widened our antenna so we can react more quickly.”

It is very clear that Toyota is taking this recall seriously.

Accelerator Recall Repair Time: 2 hours

The two hours allocated for fixing the millions of cars affected by the recall will mean that consumers will have a choice to wait for the repairs to be completed.  Local dealers will be trying to accommodate local consumers with shuttle van service, loaner cars and extended service hours.

One dealer we spoke to said that loaner cars for the accelerator recall will not be as plentiful because of the high volume of cars and appointments that will be scheduled.  Consumers are encouraged to ask their local dealer on their loaner car policy in advance before assuming that a loaner will be available.

Many Toyota dealers will be partnering with shuttle services to allow local customers to drop off their call and taken back home or to the office while the repairs are being completed.

Schedule Your Recall Appointment Today

Did you receive your recall notice in the mail? If you didn’t, don’t worry.  Just confirm that your car is a model that has been part of the recall.  The list of qualifying cars can be found here:  Toyota Recall List.

You can also visit www.toyotarecall.org , a leading consumer website designed to help consumers affected by the 4 million car recall.

The website has a form which will connect consumers with a local Toyota dealer that can confirm if your car is involved in the recall as well as to schedule a recall service appointment.