TORRANCE, Calif. -

Toyota made headlines again as 2012 closed, agreeing to pay $1.1 billion to resolve economic loss litigation in the U.S. stemming from the major recalls centered on unintended acceleration.

However, when Auto Remarketing contacted several analysts Wednesday to get their assessment of what the development might do to the brand’s used-vehicle standing, the responses all described the impact as minimal, if any.

“The impact to residual values stemming from Toyota’s lawsuit settlement is negligible," said Larry Dominique, president of ALG. “Our internal metrics show that while there was a short-term impact on the brand perception around the time of heavy media coverage in 2010, the perception of Toyota’s brand has bounced back quickly, as we expected.”

Black Book managing editor Ricky Beggs took a similar stance.

“I don’t think there’s going to be any effect on the wholesale values of the product,  because the issue itself is really behind us … This is just the legal part that’s getting taken care of now,” Beggs said.

“When I saw that number ($1.1 billion), I thought, ‘Wow, that’s a lot of money,’” he continued. “But at the same time, I’m sure that Toyota put the funds aside at the time when all this was going on to say, ‘Hey, we know we’re going to have to take care of this, and this is the way to put an end to it.’ That level of money makes it sound so strong that it’s almost like (Toyota is saying), ‘Yeah, we’re standing up to this. We’re making it good; we’re paying our part. We’re going to cover the issues that are out there.’ And I think that’s a way to actually get a little more customer confidence and strength to the brand itself.”

Edmunds.com senior analyst Michelle Krebs agreed with Beggs about the impact beyond what might be seen in the auction lanes.

“This settlement is a nod to loyal Toyota owners whose car resale values were hurt by the unintended acceleration issue and the intense publicity that followed,” Krebs said. “A billion dollar payment will sting any company, even a major international automaker like Toyota. But by announcing the settlement, Toyota hopes to leave these troubles behind and move forward in the new year.

“Toyota’s other big news this week — it’s poised to overtake General Motors and reclaim the crown as the world's biggest automaker — should help to offset any bad publicity that this settlement will generate,” she went on to say.

Bad publicity hit Toyota hard back in late 2009 when reports of unintended acceleration of popular models such as the Prius generated Congressional hearings, vehicle testing by several federal agencies, civil lawsuits and more.

Alec Gutierrez, senior market analyst of automotive insights for Kelley Blue Book told Auto Remarketing that when the recall was initially announced back in late 2009, the firm did see a modest dip in values of impacted Toyota models that went beyond what can be attributed to typical seasonal trends. 

“However, by the end of 2010, Toyota had recouped most if not all of their lost value and since that time, Toyota has reemerged as one of the premier brands in terms of used-vehicle values,” Gutierrez said.

“Kelley Blue Book believes that the recently announced settlement will have little if any impact to values of used Toyotas today and down the road,” he continued.

“In fact, we believe some consumers may view the settlement as a positive for Toyota since it may give the perception to some that Toyota is being proactive in trying to resolve these issues,” Gutierrez went on to say.

“As it stands today, Toyota continues to rank among the most researched brands on KBB.com, and their values are among the strongest in the industry. We don’t see this settlement having a negative impact to either of these desirable benchmarks,” he concluded.

Complete details of Toyota’s economic loss settlement can be found at www.toyotaelsettlement.com.

Auto Remarketing Editor Joe Overby contributed to this report.