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The embattled Toyota Motor Corp. assured drivers and dealers that a fix was coming for recalled vehicles. Last week, the Japanese auto manufacturer made waves when it announced the recall of about two million Avalon, Camry, Corolla, Highlander, Matrix, RAV4, Sequoia, and Tundra vehicles and that dealers would temporarily not be allowed to sell these cars and trucks. That number was later expanded to about five million vehicles in the United States. A malfunctioning gas pedal assembly common to all eight vehicles was causing some accelerators to stay in a depressed position when pushed, leading to uncontrollable speeding cars and allegations of as many as nineteen deaths. Toyota dealers wrung their hands in despair, rental agencies pulled all Toyotas from their fleets, and Toyota owners took to their phones and computers, burying the company under a deluge of angry calls and e-mails. Now, there is some light at the end of the tunnel for these frustrated souls: Toyota has announced that its proposition for a fix has been approved by the U.S. government has been approved, and that the parts needed to fix the pedals would be shipped to dealerships in time for repairs to begin this week.

Toyota says that it has isolated the problems in the gas pedal assembly to a “friction device.” The remedy for this malfunctioning mechanism is said to be both simple and effective: a steel reinforcement bar called a shim that will reduce friction in the parts and keep the gas pedal from sticking. The company says that it has rigorously tested the repair to confirm the efficacy of the fix. Apparently many Toyota dealers will remain open ‘round the clock working on recalled vehicles impounded on their lots until every one has the new parts installed and inspected. said Jim Lentz, president and chief operation officer of Toyota’s U.S. sales division, assured consumers that the company worked as quickly as possible to make things right, and that they “deeply [regretted] the concern that our recalls have caused for our customers.”

But Toyota will have to go far to erase the criticism it drew for recalling the defective parts last week without immediately coming up with some kind of remedy. The fact that the number-one car company in the U.S. for sales and the reputation of reliability had to take some time to think about how it would repair the massive problem has undermined consumer confidence by no small amount. And the decision to halt all sales and production on the affected models, which constitute almost all of Toyota’s most popular cars and trucks, has caused widespread confusion, dismay, and fears. The sales restriction was completely unprecedented in Toyota’s sixty year history, and stock prices fell by over fifteen percent.

During the fall of 2009, Toyota announced a smaller recall of seven models and cited the fact that floor mats could potentially entrap the gas pedal and cause the mechanism to jam and the vehicle to accelerate out of control. Seven models were named in this recall. The expanded recall in January, which added five vehicles (the Pontiac Vibe and a few Lexus models were also named) was perceived to be a correction of Toyota trying to blame the malfunctions on a much smaller problem in the interest of protecting its reputation at all costs. Toyota is still citing the older excuse of floor mat interference in the death of a California Highway Patrolman and his family last August, in an accident that was attributed to the family’s Lexus ES accelerating out of control. The incident drew national scrutiny to Toyota vehicles. The official report on that accident, prepared by the San Diego Sheriff’s office, said that floor mat interference could not be ruled out, but that a host of other mechanical or electronic problems with the car could potentially be the problem, including the electronic throttle control system. Toyota switched several years ago from older-style mechanical gas pedal assemblies to a complicated electronic model controlled by a computer. Many experts took the leap and accused Toyota of manufacturing faulty internal computers. In return, Toyota has implicated CTS Corp., a North American supplier that made many of the gas pedals. CTS retorts that the pedals were made to Toyota’s specifications, and that the problem lies in Toyota’s design. Nonetheless, CTS is cooperating with the auto manufacturer in designing the fix for the affected recall vehicles. Lentz appeared on the NBC network “Today Show” to speak openly about the recall, and to try and reassure the public that Toyota was sorry and hard at work on fixing the problem. Lentz said that the company’s domestic headquarters in Torrance, California have been overwhelmed by angry calls and e-mails. On Sunday, Toyota paid for lavish full-page advertisements in major national newspapers to try and explain its decision to halt sales and production of the affected models. It remains to be seen what lasting fallout might result from the Toyota recall crisis, and how the company’s reputation will fare in days and months to come.