Ask The Best And Brightest: How About Those Repaired Toyota Pedals?

Edward Niedermeyer
by Edward Niedermeyer

Nearly a month ago, Toyota’s Jim Lentz was asked by National Public Radio about the then-new “shim fix” for sticky accelerator pedals.

NPR asked: “if I’m a Toyota owner subject to this recall and I say ‘I don’t want a repaired accelerator pedal, I want a new one.’ Is that an option?” To which Lentz replied: “it will be looked at on a case-by-case basis.” When NPR asked for Lentz to clarify what he meant by “case-by-case basis,” he said “It’s really up to… between the dealer and the customer. We would like to see customers get this fix done with the precision cut steel bar and see how that is. I think the customers are going to be very satisfied with overall quality of the pedal and the feel of the pedal.”

At the time, this was interpreted as a not-so-great sign for Toyota’s “precision cut” shim fix. Reinforcing the impression that some might not be happy with the fix, a Toyota memo to dealers has surfaced today at the AP [via Google], which requests that:

If a customer is not satisfied with the operation and/or the feel of the accelerator pedal after the reinforcement bar has been installed, please assist us by assuring a replacement pedal is provided at no charge to these customers

Which makes us wonder: is there anyone out there who has had the shim fix done to their recalled Toyota only to have the problem reoccur? Has anyone requested a replacement pedal instead of the shim fix, and had a Toyota dealer turn you down? Toyota is probably playing it safe by asking dealers to provide new pedals, but we’re cant help but wonder why they would cast suspicion on the shim fix this way. Any ideas?

Edward Niedermeyer
Edward Niedermeyer

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  • Pudelpointer Pudelpointer on Mar 23, 2010

    My wife and I have owned Toyotas since 91 when we bought our first Tercel. Since then we've owned various Tercels,Corollas,Camrys and 4Runners,some bought some leased. With the exception of a Jeep GC Laredo in 99 which was a steaming pile. And in almost 20 years of Toyotas I have replaced 1 starter in a 99 4Runner and a heater fan motor in a 2001 Corolla,thats it,aside from regular maintainence. And I use my 4Runners hard during 7 months of various hunting seasons,and they take a beating. So yeah,Toyota has earned my business,I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

    • Facebook User Facebook User on Mar 24, 2010

      We've only had two Toyos since 1992 and replaced an alternator, cracked exhaust manifold and the exhaust system (before stainless systems were available), all of this on the the '92 Corolla. The '03 Matrix was flawless at 167,000 miles. So yeah, we like em. But didn't go that way when we wanted a small SUV last year, got a Subie Forester instead. Would buy Toyota again however.

  • Obbop Obbop on Mar 23, 2010

    Maybe it's all in the angle of the dangle.

  • Buffs Fan Buffs Fan on Mar 23, 2010

    A friend of mine is a service director at a Toyota dealership. He said the part cost is about $275, so the shim is considerably cheaper -- probaly costs less than a buck. The labor is the same either way. "Case by case basis" is a way for Toyota to avoid putting a new pedal in every vehicle -- they will wait for the customer to complain about the shim. No complaint, and Toyota saves $275. The shim must meet the legal requirements for the recall (or Toyota convinced the Feds that it does), so Toyota isn't obligated to replace the pedal. With millions of vehicles affected, that adds up to a lot of money saved for Toyota

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    • Porschespeed Porschespeed on Mar 24, 2010

      Thanks Paul. That's an expensive piece.

  • Buffs Fan Buffs Fan on Mar 23, 2010

    Hey porschespeed -- not sure what it costs Toyota to buy it from the supplier, hopefully more than $5! Either way, $275 is what they would have to reimburse the dealer for installing it. Manufacturers sell the parts to the dealer, and then reimburse the dealer for the dealer cost plus a markup. (I spent some time at a dealership in parts and service). Some of that $275 is Toyota margin when they sold the part to the dealer, but most of it is money out of their pocket. Also since they already put the spacer in, each pedal replaced would be a new labor charge -- I think my friend said it was about 2 hours labor -- many dealers are close to $100/hour, so the total to Toyota is almost $500 per vehicle. So every 2 million vehicles would cost them about $1 Billion. Even for Toyota that's some real money!

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    • Porschespeed Porschespeed on Mar 24, 2010

      I was low on the price, according to SEC filings via Mr. Niedermeyer, it's $15. As to the rest, I don't have my software handy, but pedal replacement booking out at an hour sounds right, two sounds really high, but I'll take your word for it. Regardless of the accounting trick or reimbursement scenario, what it costs Toyota is basically $15 per pedal + labor reimbursement to the dealer.

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