When the nearest dealership is 16 hours away, warranty auto work can be a headache

Rebecca Willcott'strouble started when she got a bright red piece of mail that told her the airbags in her 2007 Toyota Yaris were potentially unsafe.

Willcotttold CBC the company warned the airbags could deploy on their own, or on impact, possiblyreleasing metal shards. She was not happy to learn she needed to take her car to the nearest Toyota dealership which is in Corner Brook, a thousand kilometres away, with a ferry ride.

"We live in Happy Valley-Goose Bay and the nearest Toyota dealership is, like, total travel time 16 hours away, nine hours over some of the probably most dangerous roads in Canada," Willcott told CBC News.

At the same time, she's concerned about any sort of safety issues; she drives her kids to school in the car, which she bought new in Corner Brook and had shipped to Happy Valley-Goose Bay by ferry.

"It's my main car so I was like, 'Yeah, we gotta get that checked out,'" she said.

After CBC published this story, Toyota said the recall notice did not suggest airbags could deploy on their own, but that "degraded propellant" could "cause inflator rupture during airbag deployment."

I feel like we're taking a risk by driving a vehicle and I really don't know what we're going to do.- Rebecca Willcott

Given the potential safety risk,Willcott says she doesn't understand whyToyota wants her to go so far to get the work done.

"It made no sense that they would rather have me take the risk to drive to a nearest dealership to get repairs done, rather than come up with some alternative solution that was safer and less of a liability for them," she said.

Conversations with Toyota Canada haven't comforted her, she said, including one she had with a representative who said the company feels the car "should be safe to drive," according to Willcott.

"'Should be,' which is not really as comforting as what you would like for them to come back with as a response," she said. Willcott also said she was also told not to carry any passengers.

"[That] means that there is a threat and a real danger and then he said, 'If something did happen to you we wouldn't find ourselfto be liable,' he said.'It's for the driver to drive safely.'"

In the past, Willcott said, she's been able to have warranty work done in Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

"It wasn't the easiest thing to get done but they did work around it," Willcott said. "But they said in this circumstance, only a Toyota-certified mechanic can do it and they have to do it in shop at the dealership."

To get the work done, travel and hotel costs are up to Willcott. She's trying not to drive the car so much but it's difficult with two kids with different schedules.

"I feel like we're taking a risk by driving a vehicle and I really don't know what we're going to do."

Safety recalls need to be done at dealership: Toyota

Toyota Canada declined an interview request from CBC but provided a written statement that said customers can often have regular service done at independent shops, but "all safety-relatedrecall remedies are required to be performed by a Toyota dealership."

"Often, these repairs are more technical in nature and require the specific tools and training of an authorized Toyota dealership," says the statement."We sympathize with this customer but we strongly recommend that she bring her vehicle to her nearest Toyota dealership to have this important repair performed."

Willcott's story is dj vu for Shylah Ernst.

Ernst and her 2008 Honda Pilot made two trips to Corner Brook for warranty work five years ago. Thefirst recall was for the passenger-side airbag.

"We drove to Corner Brook in November, mind you on the dirt road, so it wasn't very pretty, and say about $1,000 later we came home."

Two months later she got another recall letter in the mail, this time for the driver's-side airbag.

"To get it done here we would have saved $1,000 in travel, but then again, it's an airbag. We had to have it done," she said."If we had an accident and had something happen, who's to say what could have happened?"

She advisedanyone shopping for a vehicle ina remote location to do their research first.

"Talk with your friends and family and see if you can get some help with it, 'cause otherwise you're going to have to spend the money and the time to go out there and get that recall stuff done."

It's advice that Karen Pomeroy ofHappy Valley-Goose Bay is heeding. She's in the market for a new vehicle and was leaning toward Toyota as her first choice, until she read a social media post by Willcott.

"From what I'm getting from people, they say Toyota's a pretty reliable vehicle but after seeing what Rebecca posted the other day about the recall and having to take the vehicle to the nearest dealership, I'm definitely reconsidering that option," Pomeroy said.

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