Monday, Feb. 08, 2010

Myrtle Beach area Toyota dealership going extra mile

Customers: Recall work at Sparks quick, efficient

David Anderson opened the passenger door for his wife, Jean, on Sunday afternoon, about 2 1/2 hours before the world would watch the Super Bowl kickoff on television.

Ready for their drive home to Fork, between Mullins and Dillon, David Anderson said their service recall work on the gas pedal of their Highlander sport utility vehicle at Sparks Toyota in Carolina Forest took 35 minutes.

"It was done so well," he said.

On the day of the United States' biggest annual sports event, many people were having a small part installed on their car's accelerator as a step by Toyota Motor Corp. for several million vehicles worldwide. Toyota has stated in published reports that the insert eliminates excess friction with the gas pedal and prevents it from getting stuck. By about 3 p.m., three hours after the dealer opened on a Sunday for the first time ever, Brian Malcolm, its parts and service director, and Christopher Lang, the service lane manager, counted 40 customers who had been served.

Malcolm said the dealer had 47 appointments scheduled, and some drive-ups also were squeezed in by the team of five service technicians taking turns among a team of 18 for Sunday duty in the garage. Each repair has taken 35 to 45 minutes, Malcolm said, since the recall process began Wednesday.

John and Victoria Harris of Conway watched some news on TV in the waiting room while the recall on their Avalon sedan was addressed.

John Harris said their car had exhibited no problems.

Thomas W. Blackford drove from Garden City Beach for the repair on his Corolla.

"It was a convenience for me to come up on Sunday," he said. "It was an inconvenience for Toyota to be open on Sunday."

Like Harris, Blackford commended Toyota for its action and handling of the recall, which only bolsters his respect for the world's largest automaker and the local dealer.

"I think this is a worthwhile effort by the company," Blackford said.

Bill McClanahan of Little River was one of several waiting customers who voiced the word "sympathy" for the company.

He called Toyota's effort in the recall huge and the process to correct it as running "like a top."

Marilyn Heryla of Myrtle Beach grabbed a cup of coffee after dropping off her Avalon. She made her appointment for 3:30 p.m., reiterating her favorable impression of the company's products.

Bob and Angela Pruett had their Matrix checked.

The specific-size fitting for their gas pedal would come in this week, so they were told the dealer would pick up their car and drive it back, all the way to their home in Calabash, N.C.

"This is smooth," Bob Pruett said, one-upped by his wife of 62 years: "This is easier than having a baby."

Patrick Sparks, general manager of Sparks Toyota, had said one of seven different sizes of the gas-pedal part would be installed on affected cars.

He said the dealer had never opened on a Sunday, but that extended hours are in place every day through at least February.

Sparks said the family business sent three waves of 2,000 e-mails each last week as an enhanced means to reach customers.

"That's one reason why we try to collect e-mails at the point of sales," he said, noting every reply made goes right to his desk. "Because we might need to contact you."

Sparks said he and Toyota officials continue placing top priority in getting all the factual information to all customers, and that feedback has been nearly all positive with people's understanding and patience.

"It's important for them to contact us via telephone or by e-mail," he said.

"If you have a question about this, let us know."

After driving in a customer's car Sunday, Shawn Moore, the shop foreman, and Malcolm, the service manager, showed a "stainless steel, precision cut, reinforcement bar" - the piece being added to close the gap inside each applicable accelerator.

It barely exceeds the diameter of a person's thumbnail.

"This holds the gears apart, if you will," Malcolm said.

With 30 years' experience as a mechanic, including a decade in the military, Moore said the computer diagnostics, even inside segments of a pedal arm in his hand, afford technicians extra shortcuts to analyzing other potential problems in a car's intricate electrical system.

"There's more technology and more computers," he said of cars today," than there was in the Apollo space missions."