Gene Linder loves his Camry. His 2009 model, now caught up in Toyota's voluntary recall over gas-pedal problems, is the fourth he's owned since 1987.

He's not worried.

"When I get the letter, I'll take it in as time allows and have it corrected," the Salt Lake County resident said Thursday as dealers prepped to begin inserting precision-cut steel shims into gas-pedal modules. "The car drives beautifully. We love it."

Parts started arriving at Utah dealerships earlier this week, and at least one dealer, Tony Divino Toyota Scion, of Ogden, has started installing them in customers' cars.

"I've been putting in parts for two days -- even without [Toyota's authorization] letters," Divino said Thursday, referring to Toyota's request that owners bring letters in before the repairs can be made.

In the lulls between meeting customer requests, Divino's mechanics have been installing the parts on Toyota models for sale on his lot.

The automaker is doing the right thing, Divino said. "They are spending a lot of money to take care of these customers."

Salt Lake City dealer Mark Miller won't start making repairs until owners can present their letters. He had 300 parts on hand Wednesday with more expected, and said Toyota's letters should start hitting mailboxes by the weekend.

Toyota owners are passionate in their reaction to the automaker's recall of 2.3 million U.S. vehicles over a sticky gas-pedal that could lead to sudden acceleration -- and Thursday's revelation that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is evaluating brake problems on the 2010 Prius gas-electric hybrid.

Linder questioned what he sees as the federal government's "heavy-handed" involvement in the issue.

"After all, the government owns General Motors," he said, referring to the U.S. bailout of the American automaker. "If they can knock Toyota down, they'll sell more GM cars."

Michael F. R. Thornell believes "media hype and frenzy" have "caused some people to panic ... if they feel the pedal feels funny or is sticking, they should immediately take it to a dealer for a fix," he said in an e-mail.

He also suggested the government has an opportunity to "crucify Toyota" as "a way to sell more Chevys."

Some Prius owners as yet unaffected by any recall expressed their loyalty to the hybrid model.

Mike Haberman's 1995 Prius has 96,000 miles on it, and it's the "best car I have ever owned," the South Jordan man said in an e-mail. "I'm gonna buy a new one in a few months."

Steve Robinson, another Prius owner who reports no problems with his vehicle, said he thinks "Toyota is panicking" about the problems with its other models.

Steve Robinson, who describes himself as a loyal Toyota two-vehicle owner and shareholder, suggests the gas-pedal problem "may be a computer or software glitch since acceleration is computer-controlled in most of these vehicles.

"We all know that computers and software are not perfect."

jkeahey@sltrib.com