Ind. Toyota dealers prepping for repairs

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Toyota dealers learned more Monday about how the manufacturer wants them to handle the repairs of millions of recalled vehicles.

More than two million Toyota vehicles on the road will soon have to visit a dealer's service garage. And Skip Walters, general manager of O'Brien Toyota, expects to be busy.

"We'll be here extended hours. There will be quite a workload for a while," said Walters.

Some dealerships around the country plan to stay open 24 hours until the repairs are made. Asked if O'Brien will be open around the clock Walters said, "I don't know about 24 hours, but it will definitely be demand driven."

But Central Indiana's workload will be shared among a half dozen dealers. He says the repair is easily done in about 30 minutes. Mechanics will install a steel reinforcement bar to the gas pedal assembly. That should reduce friction and stop the pedal from sticking.

"They just need to call us. We'll take their name and number, and as soon as we have the parts and the technical bulletins to do the repair, we'll bring them in and fix them," said Walters. "We expect to have parts later on this week. We expect there will be repairs early next week."

But there will be thousands of vehicles, and that could take some time. Eight of Toyota's most popular models are on the recall list. [please link to toyota's web site http://www.toyota.com/recall/pedal.html]

Walters admits some consumers say they don't want to drive their vehicle until the problem is repaired.

"We have had people that are concerned, and we put them in alternate transportation in the meantime. So if someone is that upset and that concerned, contact us and we'll take care of it."

But business analysts say assurances and good customer service may not be enough for some consumers.

"Ford may actually pick up some customers because Ford's quality is every bit as good if not a little bit better than Toyota's right now," said Charles Williams, Dean of the College of Business at Butler University.

Ford hopes to capitalize on Toyota's troubles. It's offering a $1,000 toward the purchase of a Ford for customers who trade in a Toyota, Honda, Lexus, Scion or Acura.