By Allie Mosier

Daily Titan Staff Writer

One of the many Toyota vehicles on campus that was parked outside the College Park building. Following the recall of 2.3 million Toyotas, many owners feel torn about their cars. Photo by Daniel Enos/For the Daily Titan

Finance and marketing professors say that while the recall of 2.3 million select Toyota Division vehicles will hurt Toyota financially, it will benefit the company in the long run.

“The recall decision will actually save Toyota much more than it loses through avoidance of much higher legal costs and loss of goodwill. By responding in an upstanding manner, Toyota has demonstrated that it indeed has its customer’s best interests in mind, even beyond the purchase counter,” marketing professor Ray Benedicktus said. “Quarterly earnings may be affected … but there should be little effect for Toyota long term.”

“Toyota’s stock price hit a recent high of $91.14 per share on Jan. 15. Since then, mostly when their brake problems have been in the news, their price is down to $73.49 – a 19 percent drop in value,” finance professor Mark Stohs said.

This isn’t the first time Toyota has announced a recall of its vehicles. In 2005, Toyota Camrys were recalled due to defects in seat belts. In 2006, Corollas were recalled due to defects in headlights. In 2007, 15,600 Tundra trucks were recalled due to problems related to driveshaft parts that weren’t heat-treated properly. That same year, Corollas were recalled due to problems with accelerator pedals.

“I had to take my car back because they recalled the seat belts,” said Anna Coria, a 22-year-old biology major and owner of a 2007 Toyota Yaris.

Toyota has stopped the production of affected vehicles until the problem is fixed. The vehicles affected by the recall include certain 2009-10 RAV4s, certain 2009-10 Corollas, 2009-10 Matrixes, 2005-10 Avalons, certain 2007-10 Camrys, certain 2010 Highlanders, 2007-10 Tundras and 2008-10 Sequoias.

“I think that Toyota is a really good brand. I’ve never had a problem with my car,” said Donna Barrera, 19, a pre-nursing student who also owns a Toyota.

The issue that causes pedals to stick in a partially-open position involves a friction device in the pedal that adds resistance. The device includes a shoe that rubs against an adjoining surface when the pedal is operated. Over time, these surfaces may begin to stick and release and, in some cases, the friction could increase to a point that the pedal is slow to return to the idle position or the pedal sticks, leaving the throttle partially open.

Toyota’s engineers have developed a solution that involves reinforcing the pedal assembly in a way that eliminates the excess friction that causes the pedals to stick. A steel reinforcement bar will be inserted to reduce surface tension and excess friction.

In addition to this recall, Toyota is also in the process of recalling vehicles in which floor mats have trapped the accelerator pedal in certain Toyota and Lexus models. This problem will be fixed by reconfiguring the shape of the accelerator pedal and the floor mat, which will increase the space between them.

“Toyota can recover from this, but their missteps will mean that it will take time,” Stohs said.