When Toyota’s worldwide car and truck sales surpassed General Motor’s sales in 2007, the… When Toyota’s worldwide car and truck sales surpassed General Motor’s sales in 2007, the company effectively outdid the world leader in auto sales for 76 years. But now with the faulty brake and gas pedals and other mechanical maladies in some of its models, Toyota has itself become a dethroned king.

Since November, Toyota has recalled more than 8 million vehicles, according to CNN. Between 2000 and 2009 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration received a total of 34 complaints alleging fatalities regarding Toyota vehicles. The recall gained momentum in late January when the accelerators in certain Toyotas began to be suspected as the culprits behind crashes. Since Toyota began its recall, buyer complaints have increased.

It’s unfortunate for car buyers everywhere that Toyota has proven unreliable with some of its models and that it had to issue such a widespread recall. Our society is still very car-driven, and drivers need a brand they can trust. When Toyota led the world in sales, it couldn’t have done so without a solid reputation among consumers. Now even those who didn’t own a Toyota firsthand will have reason to be skeptical of its models.

Before all the commotion over Toyota’s recalled vehicles, the models had a consistent and strong reputation among most buyers. CNN reported that Edmunds.com examined more than 200,000 complaints about automobiles filed with the NHTSA and found that Toyota ranked 17th among the top 20 automakers in the number of complaints for each vehicle sold.

This car crisis wouldn’t have such an impact on the typical American driver if U.S. auto companies hadn’t so recently found themselves in such disarray. Now that Toyota has faltered, American drivers can’t necessarily fall back on American companies because of the companies’ still-botched reputations. In May of last year, auto-giant General Motors told 1,100 dealers across the country that it would be severing its connection with them. That figure represents about one-fifth of the total number of dealers in the U.S. Around this time, Chrysler said it would close 1,900 — about one-fourth — of its dealerships in the United States. The American auto companies promise a big turnaround, but they’ve seen enough recent hardship that they still have real obstacles to overcome and customers to potentially win back.

Still, with a blemish to Toyota’s image, American auto companies could benefit from the blow to the competition. With an industry that’s as diverse and competitive as the auto industry, there are bound to be at least some customers who will turn away from Toyota and buy American-brand vehicles. Of course, there’s a litany of other makers to choose from — ones that might not have been as large-scale sellers as Toyota and GM, but ones that haven’t necessarily had marred reputations either.

It remains to be seen what the long-term effects of the recalls will be for Toyota. It already halted sales on eight models because of safety concerns at the end of January and recently halted some vehicle production. Short-term sales will decline, but given its previous reputation, whether the effect will be lasting remains to be seen.