Confusion for Toyota owners as Obama official waffles

There was more confusion for Toyota owners and more bad press for the carmaker Wednesday as a top Obama administration official first suggested that people stop driving the 2.3 million vehicles being recalled for sticky accelerators, then said he meant only that they should take them in for repairs.

Meanwhile, there were new reports of complaints in the United States and Japan - more than 100, according to one Japanese news service - about brakes in a model not involved in the sticking pedal recall - the Prius. Regulators in the United States and Japan were said to be investigating.

And questions remained about whether the cause of what Toyota says are rare incidents of runaway cars really is corrosion in the pedal assembly or entrapped floor mats, as Toyota maintains, or something electronic, as some safety activists and liability lawyers suggest.

Testifying before a House committee Wednesday morning, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said, "My advice if anybody owns one of these vehicles is to stop driving it and take it to a Toyota dealer because they believe they have the fix for it," according to Reuters. Later, he was quoted by several wire services as telling reporters that it was a "misstatement" for him to have suggested that owners park their vehicles.

Marie Pipia, 67, a Melville retiree who has been told by a dealer that her 2010 Corolla is one of the cars being recalled for sticky accelerators, wants Toyota to take back her car. "I cannot drive this car - I literally can't," she said. "Even though they said, 'We're going to put this new device in,' I cannot take the chance."

She and her husband Richard have no other car, she said, so that parking it until it has been repaired is not an option. "He has to get to work." she said.

The controversy is costing Toyota sales and is eroding the carmaker's once bulletproof reputation for top quality. Oregon-based CNW Marketing Research said Wednesday a survey of 150,000 Americans intending to purchase a new car found Toyota had slipped from the positions of first or second place in perceived quality it had held since 1997 to seventh place. Toyota reported Tuesday that January sales were 16 percent below the same month a year ago.

"This whole recall issue has hit Toyota right at the heart," said auto analyst Jesse Toprak of the Web site TrueCar.com. "Their reliability is essentially the core of their brand."

Toyota said after the LaHood remarks, "Our message to Toyota owners is this - if you experience any issues with your accelerator pedal, please contact your dealer without delay. If you are not experiencing any issues with your pedal, we are confident that your vehicle is safe to drive."

Toyota suspended sales Jan. 26 of the models in the accelerator recall and said Monday it had begun shipping repair parts to its more than 1,200 dealers, but spokesman John Hanson said Wednesday it could take months for repairs to be completed, even though many dealers are lengthening service hours.

Toyota won't reveal the repair cost, but according to information from dealers the part involved costs only about a penny and a half, The Associated Press reported, while the average cost for 30 minutes of labor to install it is $42.50. Multiplied by 2.3 million vehicles, the cost of the part and labor alone is $97.8 million, all covered by Toyota.

Toyota also is recalling 5.3 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles to reshape and later replace accelerator pedals to avoid mat entrapment, including 2.1 million of those involved in the accelerator recall. But not everyone is convinced that the recalls will make the cars safe. The Center for Auto Safety, a decades-old group, suggested in a letter Tuesday to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that it look further into possible electrical causes, such as outside electromagnetic interference.

LaHood told reporters the agency is investigating. Toyota has insisted it conducted extensive testing and found no such electronic issues.

Calls to three of the 10 Toyota dealers on Long Island Wednesday seeking comment were not returned. A fourth dealership referred questions to Toyota headquarters in California.