Toyota has been receiving lots of publicity lately. Unfortunately none of it is very good. It started in late September of last year with Toyota's safety advisory for potential floor mat interference with the accelerator. By November the it turned into one of the biggest recalls ever. It covered Toyota and Lexus models, including Tacoma and Tundra pickup trucks, Camry, Prius, Avalon, Lexus ES and IS cars. Still, there were some that felt there was a bigger problem than just floor mats.

By the end of January the recall had been expanded. A second recall of 2.3 million vehicles was reported as sticking accelerator pedals. A separate recall from the first floor mat issue. Toyota’s accelerator pedal recall includes the following Toyota Division vehicles:

• 2009-2010 RAV4
• 2009-2010 Corolla
• 2009-2010 Matrix
• 2005-2010 Avalon
• 2007-2010 Camry
• 2010 Highlander
• 2007-2010 Tundra
• 2008-2010 Sequoia

This was soon followed by the temporary stop selling and building of these eight models. Concerns about where Toyota got their accelerator pedals from, started to rise, since most companies also supply similar products to other automotive manufactures around the world. Not long after the suspension of the eight models was revoked, the beginning of February, Toyota come back saying they had found a fix for the gas pedal problem.

So where does Toyota go from here? Some feel that Toyota handled the situation poorly, and that it has affected the trust of the once loyal Toyota customers. A trust they can't afford to loose.

Industry analysts such as Kelley Blue Book have done research showing that Toyota sales will drop this month. The company's research shows 27 percent of new car shoppers who were considering a Toyota before the recall are no longer considering the brand. Nearly half of the buyers who have defected from Toyota say they may never contemplate the brand again. Ford, Chevrolet, Hyundai and Honda have made the biggest gains with those customers, according to Kelley Blue Book.

Toyota already is offering zero percent financing for 60 months in some of its regions, as well as cash to dealers to help sweeten deals. There are also rumors that Toyota will offer longer warranties as an incentive to get back and create new Toyota customers.