2005 Prius Recall

I bought a 2005 Prius last night (see this thread for a summery if my miserable experience) and this morning I called the customer hot line for help setting up the gate opener (anyone else have trouble with that?) when I heard about the defect/recall due to a weakness in the steering shaft assembly that may crack when the tire comes into contact with curb.
On my left front wheel it looks like there may have been an impact of some sort (here's a pic of the wheel).

After being pissed on and told its raining by every single person I have had top interact with I am extremely suspicious of all this. And I am wondering if someone is trying to fleece either me or maybe even the dealership.

Here is what I have been told by the sales man regarding the previous owners.
The are gay
They traded in the 2005 Prius for some other car on 09-19-07.
Less than five minutes into the paperwork portion of the trade-in the guy handling the financing had to leave his office for a form of some sort. He stood up and went out the back door of his small office. Then one of the men got out of his chair opened the back door and yelled down the hall at the fincace agent that he was not going to be treated so rudely and the couple stormed out and completed to tradin via the Internet/email or the like.
They only provided one key to the 2005 Prius they traded in.
They claim to not know where the other key is.
The salesman made seemingly ridiculous reasons why I did not need the other key.
I know that they want to sell the car but their behavior was incredible.
The car was not at the dealership long enough for them to clean it out or even wash it.

What I wondering/afraid of is if the previous owners hit a curb and, being aware of the possible defect and value of a used Prius in Dallas they figured they could easily get it past the staff, whose knowledge of the Prius seems to end at fast turnover rate, know that it's an easy sell. The guy that sold it to me had never driven one more than 50 feet.
Or maybe the dealership knew and took advantage of my wife and my vulnerable position.

I told the dealership I would bring them a check today but now want to get it looked at by an independent mechanic before I hand over dime one.
First: can anyone recommend a qualified mechanic who can accuratkly inspect this car. I would rather it not be anyone who works for Toyota for obvious reasons.
Am I being cautious or paranoid? Does any of this sound fishy to anyone else?
Thank you for any help with this.


Here is the transcript of the recall message from the Toyota hot line.
"Due to insufficient strength a potion of the steering shaft assembly may become loose or may develop a crack under certain operating condition.
Such as when the wheel is turned forcefully to the lock position at low speed or the tire contact roadside curbs while driving
the steering shaft assembly consists of the intermediate shaft and sliding yoke which connects wheel; to the steering gearbox
The campaign will entail the replacement of the intermediate shaft assembly number 2
On all involved vehicles the steering sliding yoke and the steering intermediate extension shaft number 1 will be inspected and replaced only if necessary"