When Audrey Wallace touches the dashboard of her Toyota Camry, it's quite a change from how it was last year when NBC 6 Investigators interviewed her about the dashboard.
At the time, it was literally melting in the Florida sun
Now, she has a new dashboard that's not melting.
"I think Channel 6 played a big part in having this done," Wallace said. "Bringing it forward embarrassed the dealer, I think. They really had no choice but to do it."
The Pembroke Pines woman is not alone. NBC 6 Investigators uncovered similar complaints to that of Wallace's last year from car owners across South Florida and other hot weather states.
A Miami attorney filed a lawsuit representing hundreds of people, calling for dashboard replacements.
"Now they are saying, 'Yes, there's a problem and yes, we are going to fix it," said Juan Bauta, an attorney who represents the plaintiffs.
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Earlier this year, Toyota announced a big warranty extension, agreeing to replace the dashboards in more than 4.5 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles.
But it took Wallace another six months to get hers.
"I feel safe in the car and can drive it again," Wallace said. "I don't have to get in the car and wonder if I'll be able to see or wonder if the stickiness and shininess is going to block my vision."
The replacement process has been slow because the company didn't have a large inventory in stock to replace the part.
"I was one person but the media brought it to the attention of the world," Wallace said.
Here's he list of car makes with melting dashboards:
Toyota:
Model Model Year Approximate UIO
- 4Runner 2003-2005 328,600
- Avalon 2005-2010 331,400
- Camry/HV 2007-2011 1,631,200
- Sienna 2004-2010 924,800
- Solara 2004-2008 203,400
Lexus:
Model Model Year Appx. UIO
- ES 350 2007-2008 175,800
- GX 470 2003-2008 156,200
- IS 250/350 2006-2008 146,000
- LS 460 2007 19,000
- RX 330 2004-2006 285,800
- RX 350 2007-2009 233,100
- RX 400h 2005-2008 66,300
