Judge to Allow Toyota Lawsuits For Owners Who Say Cars Lost Value

|
AboutLawsuits

Add Your Comments

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.

Do You Know about…

SPORTS BETTING ADDICTION LAWSUITS FOR YOUNG ADULTS

Gambling addiction and severe financial losses have been linked to popular sports betting platforms like DraftKings, FanDuel, and Caesars. Lawsuits are being filed by young adults and students who were targeted by deceptive promotions, addictive app features, and aggressive marketing tactics. See if you qualify for a sports betting addiction lawsuit.

Learn More
SEE IF YOU QUALIFY FOR COMPENSATION
Sports-Betting-Addiction-Lawsuits
Sports-Betting-Addiction-Lawsuits

Do You Know About…

SPORTS BETTING ADDICTION LAWSUITS FOR YOUNG ADULTS

Gambling addiction and severe financial losses have been linked to popular sports betting platforms like DraftKings, FanDuel, and Caesars. Lawsuits are being filed by young adults and students who were targeted by deceptive promotions, addictive app features, and aggressive marketing tactics. See if you qualify for a sports betting addiction lawsuit.

Learn More
SEE IF YOU QUALIFY FOR COMPENSATION

About 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.

Tags: Auto Accident, Lexus, Personal Injury, Toyota, Wrongful Death
Image Credit: |

More Lawsuit Stories

8 Comments

harold
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.
David
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?
Stephanie
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?
Mehmet
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.
thom
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.
Darrell
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.
Jay
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.
Ron
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.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Share Your Comments

This field is hidden when viewing the form
I authorize the above comments be posted on this page
Post Comment
Weekly Digest Opt-In

Want your comments reviewed by a lawyer?

To have an attorney review your comments and contact you about a potential case, provide your contact information below. This will not be published.

NOTE: Providing information for review by an attorney does not form an attorney-client relationship.

MORE TOP STORIES

Amazon Nitrous Oxide Lawsuit Alleges Platform Responsible for Whippet Injuries
A Georgia man has filed a lawsuit claiming that nitrous oxide canisters sold online through Amazon.com contributed to serious injuries and addiction.
Lawyers Call for Hair Relaxer Cancer Lawsuit To Be Set for Trial
Ahead of a case management conference this week, hair relaxer cancer lawsuit lawyers have asked a federal judge to set a date for the first bellwether trial.
Bard-PowerPort-Lawsuit-Settlement
As Bard PowerPort litigation nears its first bellwether trials, the prospect of major jury verdicts over catheter fracture, migration and infection injuries is increasing speculation that settlement talks may intensify, following earlier claims that Becton Dickinson says were resolved in about 18 months before consolidation into a federal MDL.