It has been only a few hours, but already industry insiders describe the recall as being unprecedented. It involves 2.3 million cars and means the closing of five factories, for at least a week. It is all due to complaints of out of control accelerators.
The suspended sales include makes and models across the board, including:
- 2009-2010 RAV4
- 2009-2010 Corolla
- 2007-2010 Camry
- 2009-2010 Matrix
- 2005-2010 Avalon
- 2010 Highlander
- 2007-2010 Tundra
- 2008-2010 Sequoia
"We're talking all segments; this is your small car, your family sedan, your SUV, they are getting hurt in all segments of their line-up," Sylvia Marino of Edmunds.com
Marino analyzes cars and markets for Edmunds.com and says this will shake consumer confidence in Toyota to the core.
The company has announced it will halt production at five facilities in the week of Feb.1 to "assess and coordinate activities." Management believes the action as necessary until a remedy is finalized.
Some of the biggest victims in this will be their dealers, who are left holding stock that they do not know when they can sell.
"This is going to be tough on dealers; you look at sales dealers, they just got through Cash for Clunkers, they were looking for an uptick, this will be tough on economies," Marino said.
Initially, Toyota had blamed the problem on accelerator pedals getting stuck in floor mats. At the time, it led to more than 4 million recalls, but it never stopped production.
If your car has been recalled:
If you have a car that has been recalled, Toyota will send you a letter in mid-February to come in and get the pedal replaced. The repair should take about two hours.
What to do if your pedal gets suck?
ABC7 spoke with a service representative who said that if you have problems while driving and your car accelerates on its own, you should put the car in neutral and push down hard on the brakes, then eventually pull over. You can also click here to see how a driving expert recommends stopping an accelerating car.
