Took my 1983 FJ60 in to the dealer today to have it looked at and parts ordered to complete my outstanding fuel tank recall. After waiting an hour someone came out to get me and told me "none of the parts are available for this recall". He just kept saying that they simply could not order any of the parts including the fuel tank itself. I pushed a little bit knowing that almost all of the parts are still available. He said "I will talk to the service manager and get back to you." On the way home I got a call from the dealer and they just reiterated "the parts just aren't available and there is nothing else we can do, sorry." Ugghhh!
I called Toyota corporate and they opened a case up for me and told me they would contact the dealer and I should hear something within two days.
I did some research on safety recalls at
Motor Vehicle Defects and Safety Recalls: What Every Vehicle Owner Should Know | Safercar.gov | NHTSA and the following is an excerpt from the site:
"Once a safety-defect determination is made, the law gives the manufacturer three options for correcting the defect – repair, replacement, or refund. In the case of a vehicle recall, the manufacturer may choose to repair the vehicle at no charge; replace the vehicle with an identical or similar vehicle; or refund the purchase price in full, minus a reasonable allowance for depreciation."
FYI: it looks like there is not time limitations to the right to a recall remedy. There is a 10 year time limit that applies to how long after a safety recall is found that the recall has to occur but from what I can find there is no time limitations on remedies actually being performed.