Toyota Recall Problems or Opportunities?

With Toyota recall involves more than 4 million cars and it is surprising to see that no one is writing about the potential mayhem that will be created at local Toyota and Lexus dealerships service departments.

Consumers are fearful that their cars may cause them harm. As soon as the recall letters start to arrive, dealers will be bombarded with service appointments. Our blog has already shown that consumers are panicking.

If you haven't read the most recent Toyota recall notice on January 21st, check out this post: January Toyota Recall Notice

One dealer we contacted in Virginia said the Toyota database of consumers in their area showed that over 15,000 cars are included in the recall. Now, add to that number the thousands of Toyota owners that are not synchronized in the Toyota database. How is this car dealer expected to handle regular customer service work and a percentage of the 15,000 Toyota owners that will choose their dealership?

Do the math: 4,000,000 cars in the recall (conservatively) divided by 1,200 Toyota dealers = 3,333 cars per retail location. Since this is an average, you can quickly understand that the range could easily be 1,000 - 7,000 cars at any store, depending on location.

Toyota Recall Service Hours

It would seem that Toyota dealers will need to extend service hours, add staff and implement new procedures to handle the service work associated with the Toyota recall. I am sure they will not want to drop their service levels for existing customers.

The Pasch Consulting Group has created a website to help consumers with information on the recall at www.toyotarecall.org. We have already received hundreds of service requests that we have forwarded to local Toyota dealers for free. We expect the volume to increase to over 1,000 leads a day in the coming weeks.

This reminds my staff of Cash for Clunkers where we had over 8 million consumers come to our website www.cashforclunkersfacts.com.

If you are a Toyota dealer and would like to receive free recall service leads, take a moment to read this previous post on how to request free service leads: Toyota Recall Website Leads

How Are You Preparing For The Rush?

If any Toyota dealers are reading to post, please tell us what you are doing to plan for the upcoming workload. It will be good to hear what local dealers are doing to attract this service business and how to schedule the workload without disrupting their business.

From my perspective, this recall is an excellent opportunity to connect with local Toyota owners that are taking their cars to independent service centers. If done properly, Toyota dealers can win back thousands of Toyota owners and convince them to service their cars at a Toyota dealership.