After a week of confusion, local Toyota dealerships are preparing for the onslaught of Toyota vehicles needing new accelerator pedals following last Thursday’s recall of about 2.3 million vehicles.

The cars and trucks were said to be at risk for accelerator pedals getting caught under floor mats and pedals getting stuck in a depressed position.

According to an article published in the New York Times, Toyota began recalling cars in October after a driver called 911 on Aug. 28 while his accelerator pedal was stuck in place, causing the vehicle to speed out of control. The Lexus ES350 Sedan careened off the road, killing four people inside. In all, 19 deaths have been reported since 2002 because of sticky accelerator pedals in Toyota vehicles.

Friction in the pedal mechanism could cause the accelerator to stick in a depressed position or return slowly. Toyota announced it will ship a small metal piece to be installed under the accelerator pedal to help prevent it from sticking. Customers are also advised to take out any removable floor pads for the time being.

Toyota also halted production of all affected vehicles in five major production facilities in North America. Newly designed accelerator pedals will be shipped to these factories to make sure new models of each car from this point on will be in proper shape.

Tim Maguire, owner of Maguire Toyota, the primary Toyota dealer in Ithaca, said he is doing all he can to accommodate the approximate 3,800 Toyotas in the area his dealership covers. Maguire Toyota has extended its hours and will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays and on weekends by appointment.

“We have to get the parts for the recall first,” he said. “We expect by Monday to have … a smattering of them to get started. We believe that we can probably do as many as 100 to 150 of these [repairs] a day.”

He said the initial local response to the recalls was mainly confusion.

“When the recall was first announced, there were more people concerned about it because they really didn’t know what it was,” he said. “It was like, ‘The sky is falling, and my car is probably one of them that’s going to fall apart.’ That isn’t the case.”

Students who need to get their cars checked for issues can call or go directly to Maguire, who said he welcomes any and all Toyota drivers who need assistance.

Freshman Jordyn Conway, who works at a Toyota dealership in her town of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., while on breaks from college, said employees at her branch are hard-pressed because of the large influx of concerned callers. The dealership had to change the way they contact customers regarding the recalls.

“Normally we’ll call a person’s house three times in order to contact them,” she said. “But we have so many calls to make and not enough employees … so we only call once, just to get [the recall] out to everybody.”

The situation has evolved into a constant public relations effort for Toyota, a company that recently had its recalled models temporarily removed from Consumer Reports’ recommendation list.

Yesterday, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said drivers should stop driving their recalled Toyotas at a congressional hearing. Later in the same day, he retracted his statement. Market Watch reported the statement almost immediately, causing Toyota’s shares to drop about 8 percent.

LaHood said his on-the-spot announcement was an “obvious misstatement.”

Toyota released the following statement on its Web site yesterday after the statement was made. “We appreciate Secretary LaHood’s clarification of his remarks today. … If you experience any issues with your accelerator pedal, please contact your dealer without delay. If you are not experiencing any issues with your pedal, we are confident that your vehicle is safe to drive.”

The company reported Tuesday that its U.S. sales dropped by 16 percent in the last month — their worst decline in 12 years. Meanwhile, Toyota’s competitors are seeing an increase in revenue. Last month, Hyundai sales rose 24 percent, Nissan gained 16 percent, General Motors increased 14 percent and Ford by 25 percent.

Toyota spokesperson Brian Lyons said in addition to the information available on the company’s Web site, Toyota will also send letters to customers informing them of the company’s actions.

In a public apology published on Toyota’s Web site, President of Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. Jim Lentz said he “knows that Toyota has let [customers] down” and that the company will “work hard to fix vehicles properly and regain [customers’] trust.”

However, Arthur Wheaton, director of Western N.Y. Labor and Environmental Programs and industry education specialist at Cornell University, said he thinks these series of recalls will gravely affect Toyota’s global image.

“They’ve had their reputation built on quality and … on safety,” he said. “These recalls affect both of those. They’ve had 19 people killed because of this, so it takes some of the luster and shine off of their reputation of, ‘Oh, it’s perfect, it’s from Toyota.’”

Sophomore Darielle Grossman, whose family owns a 2008 Toyota Camry — one of the recalled vehicles — said she doesn’t think the situation will tarnish her family’s positive perception of the company.

“We love them,” she said. “We’ve never had any problems with our cars, so I’ll probably still get a Toyota Camry in the future.”

Wheaton said Toyota has yet to quell the issue, though.

“Toyota has continued to underestimate the seriousness of the particular problem,” he said.

Recalls are also expanding into the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. Toyota will recall about 180,000 vehicles imported from the U.S. and sold in those regions, according to Industry Week.

Wheaton said the confusion caused by the recalls will most likely be resolved soon and Toyota will eventually be able to move on.

“This year it will have an impact,” he said. “They’ve already lost a couple weeks worth of sales. People will be concerned until they get their accelerator pedals fixed, but I think after about five years, no one will even really remember it or care.”