Toyota dealership unaware of recall
February 23, 2010
by shf
TORRANCE, Calif. (FASTLAUGH.com) — Despite rabid media and congressional attention focused on the massive failures of Toyota Motor Corp. for a host of safety issues, at least one Toyota dealership in Southern California was in the dark regarding details of the recall of millions of vehicles, to the point of not even knowing that some of their vehicles were in the recall process.
“This is one of the most underreported aspects of the entire Toyota fiasco,” claims a justifiably upset owner of a 2005 Prius. “When I went into my local Toyota dealership to inquire about the timetable for repairing the dangerous vehicle defect related to the accelerator pedal, unbelievably, the service department engaged in a semantic game over the word interim and brusquely informed me that my vehicle had no safety issues under recall despite the fact that I presented them with a Safety Recall Campaign Interim Notice (which included my vehicle’s serial number) from Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.”
Now, as federal prosecutors initiate a criminal investigation into pervasive safety problems with Toyota’s vehicles, and congressional hearings are underway to determine who knew what and when, Akio Toyoda, grandson of the company’s founder, testified to Congress today that “for the last several years we haven’t given a shit about our customers and we haven’t given a shit about effectively communicating with our dealer network. It has all been about growth, putting profits and ego over customer safety, and overtaking General Motors at the expense of lives, reputations, safety and legality. Oops, did I just say that to Congress… Uhhh, ummm, is that going to be an admissible statement in a courtroom since it was not an apology?”
Mr. Toyoda’s statements were presented against the backdrop of a horde of nervous U.S. Toyota dealers descending upon Washington today in a blatant attempt to lobby and frighten lawmakers with the reality that Toyota provides jobs in all of their congressional districts despite a growing anger and extreme distaste by the American public for Toyota’s outrageous violations of safety and blatant disregard for business ethics.