Judge to Allow Toyota Lawsuits For Owners Who Say Cars Lost Value
A federal judge has again rejected attempts by Toyota to dismiss lawsuits brought by car owners, who claim that their vehicles lost value due to the potential risk of sudden unintended acceleration (SUA), which led to the recall of several million vehicles in recent years.
On Friday, Judge James Selna filed a tentative ruling allowing a Toyota class action lawsuit over the acceleration problems to move forward. Judge Selna acknowledged that the lawsuits, which have not yet been awarded class status, have enough merit to proceed. Selna said that there was enough evidence that plaintiffs could argue that the vehicles were defective.
Judge Selna previously rejected attempts by Toyota to get the lawsuits dismissed in December after the Japanese automaker argued that the claims had no merit because they did not identify a specific defect.
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Learn MoreAbout 8.5 million Toyota vehicles have been recalled since September 2009 due to complaints that they accelerate out of control. The recalls were issued in waves, starting with 4.2 million recalled for floormat problems. Some later recalls claimed SUA was caused by mechanical problems or problems with the gas pedals.
Many of the claims filed by owners have focused on the vehicles’ electronic throttle systems, which some say may allow Toyota and Lexus vehicles to accelerate out of control, potentially resulting in an auto accident.
Toyota has denied that there is a problem with the throttle system and denied that the vehicles are actually defective in any way. Toyota officials have said that most of the problems were caused by overly thick all-weather floor mats.
In addition to class action lawsuits over the recalls, Toyota also faces a number of lawsuits over accidents caused by uncontrolled acceleration of Toyota vehicles, including personal injury lawsuits and wrongful death lawsuits filed by family members of people allegedly killed when their vehicles accelerated out of control. In some of those cases, Toyota has reportedly paid millions to settle the lawsuits.
In April 2010, all federal Toyota sudden acceleration lawsuits were consolidated and centralized before Judge Selna as part of a multidistrict litigation (MDL) for pretrial proceedings.
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8 Comments
haroldAugust 9, 2014 at 2:39 pm
May Rav 4 2010 model year was hit by another car August 29,2011. $10,000 in damages to Rav 4 and a bent frame. No air bags want off and my wife and I suffered life changing injuries of which I am still being treated. We treaded in our 2010 Rav 4 but were told since frame was bent we would be punished by paying $70 a month more for a much smaller Scion XD. 36 months times $70 is alot of money f[Show More]May Rav 4 2010 model year was hit by another car August 29,2011. $10,000 in damages to Rav 4 and a bent frame. No air bags want off and my wife and I suffered life changing injuries of which I am still being treated. We treaded in our 2010 Rav 4 but were told since frame was bent we would be punished by paying $70 a month more for a much smaller Scion XD. 36 months times $70 is alot of money for two disabled senior citizens. To this day Toyota says the faulty air bag system is not their fault. Beware of Toyota--again--putting profits before the public safety.
DavidJanuary 4, 2013 at 7:13 pm
I traded two Toyota's in this summer and now am upside down because of the value of the trade in, does anyone think I have a claim?
StephanieDecember 28, 2012 at 12:09 am
We own 2 Avalons and at time when the recalls were happening, attempted to sale them only to learn the resale value had dropped almost 3% per vehicle. We still own our cars and would like to be included in the lawsuit. Who do we contact?
MehmetNovember 23, 2012 at 12:31 pm
I had a sudden brake acceleration with 2009 Toyota Corolla on 08/10/2012 and with the same vehicle I had the same issue on 2010.
thomJune 4, 2011 at 9:47 pm
Thank you judge Selana. I still believe that the NHTSA officials should have been held accountable. They employed two people who were involved in the early stages of complaints against Toyota. However, both of those NHTSA people became employees of Toyota. I filed a complaint against Toyota with the NHTSA in February 2010 and I have not heard one word. I tried to send NHTSA some additional inform[Show More]Thank you judge Selana. I still believe that the NHTSA officials should have been held accountable. They employed two people who were involved in the early stages of complaints against Toyota. However, both of those NHTSA people became employees of Toyota. I filed a complaint against Toyota with the NHTSA in February 2010 and I have not heard one word. I tried to send NHTSA some additional information to prove my case and absolutely no response.
DarrellMay 18, 2011 at 1:45 am
Thank you Judge for your recent refusal to dismiss Toyota's repeated attempts to have these lawsuits thrown out, bottom line is that Toyota knew defects were present, had prior knowledge of those defects, and failed to disclose any of those defects before the sale was finalized, as far as i'm concerned failure to disclose is a criminal act.
JayMay 6, 2011 at 2:34 am
Thank you to Judge Selana for standing up for us, who did not have faced the defects yet, but will suffer fianncially due to decresed resale values of the car 2010 RAV4.
RonMay 2, 2011 at 7:04 pm
No doublt that owners are entitled to claim, and not be denied. Toyota has made their bed so to speak. They did this in not being honest and a transparent corporation. They are truly strangers to the truth it seems. As for the sudden acceleration issues and the like, it has been proven that Toyota was aware of this in other markets years before. We lost our son in a 1 month old Toyota Tundra and[Show More]No doublt that owners are entitled to claim, and not be denied. Toyota has made their bed so to speak. They did this in not being honest and a transparent corporation. They are truly strangers to the truth it seems. As for the sudden acceleration issues and the like, it has been proven that Toyota was aware of this in other markets years before. We lost our son in a 1 month old Toyota Tundra and only asked that the EDR be read and the information disclosed. This was an uphill battle (well documented if you Google "Chris Eves Toyota". As for Toyota we should all find alternatives to their product such as BMW or other alternatives. Pearl Harbor is just a small example of how the japanese can create large problems for themselves. The japanese are great imitators but not innovators. Examples being the therory of flight or personal computors. If you want generally a high quality product, less parts and expense give it to them to recreate. They will return it better, with higher quality and marketability.