Local Toyota dealers already faced the fallout of an unprecedented production halt and stop-sale order of cars in the first recall.
Toyota on Tuesday said it is halting production and sales of eight models, to fix gas pedals that could stick and cause unintended acceleration. Last week, the automaker recalled the same eight models.
A private firm said it had identified 275 crashes and 18 deaths because of sudden, uncontrollable acceleration in Toyotas since 1999.
“There are some questions,” Christian Hahn, general manager at Joseph Airport Toyota in Vandalia, said. “Most of the questions are from current customers who have the cars.”
Other developments Wednesday:
- Toyota insisted the problem was "rare and infrequent" and said dealers should deal with customers "on a case-by-case basis."
- Car rental companies were also pulling thousands of Toyotas and the Pontiac Vibe from their fleets. The Vibe is essentially the same vehicle as the Toyota Matrix, one of the affected models.
- The Obama administration said it pressed Toyota to stop building new cars with the problem.
- General Motors is offering $1,000 to Toyota owners toward a down payment on a GM vehicle and up to $1,000 to help to pay off current leases early .
- The supplier of the gas pedals used in the recalled car and trucks, CTS Corp. of Elkhart, Ind., said it knew of only a few cases of drivers having problems with accelerators. It said it's working with Toyota to design a new pedal.
- Ron Lietzke, spokesman for Honda of America Manufacturing in Marysville, said Honda relies on CTS for parts, but not for the same parts that Toyota buys from CTS. Lietzkehe said Honda has not experienced the same problems the Toyota models have.
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