News

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.

With the widespread news coverage of the Toyota recalls that affect over 4 million vehicles and as recall notices start to be mailed, some are concerned that the Toyota dealer network can handle the recall volume properly.

In some markets, the recall will create a flood of service appointments at local dealers that will exceed 5,000 vehicles.  Whether local Toyota dealers be able to handle the tsunami of calls and appointments that will be needed to repair all  of the cars in a timely manner will have to be seen. In the past year car dealers have trimmed staff, reduced service hours and pulled back on spending.

Toyota dealers may also be hit with calls from consumers who don’t have a model included in the recall.  If the Cash for Clunkers program is any parallel, consumers owning a Toyota car will rather call a local Toyota dealer to get the verbal assurances that their car is excluded rather than reading the specifics in a Toyota press release or letter.

Toyota dealers must be able to complete the recall repairs in a timely manner.  Many consumers are scared to wait for the recall repairs to take place.  One Toyota owner wrote in on an independent  website which provides information and consumer feedback on the recall:

My car is a 2010 Camry, and I just got it about 3 weeks ago. I know it’s on the recall list. I’m scared to drive it now, especially that I have two children under the age of 5. I wanted to know if the dealership where I bought my car can give me a temporary car (that is not on the recall list), while they fix my Camry. Can that be done?

You can read more consumer comments on  http://www.toyotarecall.org

Toyota dealers will need to extend service hours, add staff and implement new procedures to handle the service work associated with the Toyota recall.  Some dealers have  expanded their loaner fleets to provide a loaner cars during recall service appointments and others are offering shuttle service for their customers who work locally.

If this recall is handled properly, local Toyota dealers can embrace Toyota owners and demonstrate Toyota’s commitment to safety. Dealers can restore confidence in Toyota car ownership and reassure owners of Toyota of the value of the brand.  AN extra measure of customer service will go a long way with Toyota owners at this critical time.

If handled poorly this could be a disaster for Toyota.  Specific coaching on the recall service process must be implemented by Toyota for their service consultants.   Dealership service staff must be able to reassure consumers that  the components affected by the recall were serviced or replaced properly.

If the recall service is handled like a fast-food cafeteria line,  it will leave a bad taste in Toyota owners mouths.