Recent Toyota Highlander hybrids are advertised to have fuel tanks that hold 17.1 gallons, with their fuel efficiency giving them a range of around 615 miles on a single tank of gas. But the complaint for this class action alleges that the vehicles or their tanks are defective and cannot be filled to hold that amount of gas without the risk of overflowing, which lessens their range. The defendants are Toyota Motor Sales USA, Inc. and Toyota Motor Corporation.
The class for this action is all individuals in New Jersey who bought or leased a 2020 or 2021 Toyota Highlander hybrid vehicle.
The current Highlanders are the fourth hybrid generation. According to the complaint, Toyota makes much of its improvements in design and high efficiency, advertising its “new-generation Toyota Hybrid System” which uses “a high-efficiency 2.5-liter DOHC four-cylinder engine with two electric motors (MG1 and MG2) coaxially rather than in-line.” To accommodate this design, the complaint says, Toyota had to redesign other components of the vehicle, including the fuel tank assembly.
But the redesign appears to have a flaw, and the complaint alleges that “consumers report that the automatic shut-off activates well before the tank is full, usually after a mere 12-14 gallons have been added to an empty tank.”
If they try to add more in small amounts after this, they run the risk of fuel spilling out, still before the advertised 17 gallons have been added to the tank. “Even in those situations,” the complaint alleges, “the gas gauge in Class Vehicles rarely reads full and the computed Distance to Empty (‘DTE’) is usually well below the expected 615-mile range.”
There’s another problem, the complaint claims: The fuel systems “are not properly vented, leading to increased emissions from the car, damaging the fuel system components due to higher internal pressure, and increasing the risk of fuel spilling out of the vehicle while [it is] being [refueled].”
When pressed about the problem, the complaint alleges, Toyota admits that, although the fuel tank is large, only “approximately 14.2 gallons” of it are “useable.” However, the company has not given any notice of this to owners, lessees, or prospective customers, the complaint claims, and continues to market and advertise the vehicles in the same manner, promising the same range.
According to the complaint, Toyota has not fixed the fuel tank defect and does not seem willing or able to do that.
In fact, Toyota has already had experience with a similar problem with its 2019 Toyota RAV4 hybrid, which, the complaint alleges, “also could not be filled to capacity. Indeed, the RAV4 fuel tank defect is the subject of several class action suits consolidated and currently pending…”
Article Type: LawsuitTopic: Automobile
Most Recent Case Event
Toyota Highlander Hybrid Fuel Tank Capacity New Jersey Complaint
March 25, 2022
Recent Toyota Highlander hybrids are advertised to have fuel tanks that hold 17.1 gallons, with their fuel efficiency giving them a range of around 615 miles on a single tank of gas. But the complaint for this class action alleges that the vehicles or their tanks are defective and cannot be filled to hold that amount of gas without the risk of overflowing, which lessens their range. The defendants are Toyota Motor Sales USA, Inc. and Toyota Motor Corporation.
Toyota Highlander Hybrid Fuel Tank Capacity New Jersey ComplaintCase Event History
Toyota Highlander Hybrid Fuel Tank Capacity New Jersey Complaint
March 25, 2022
Recent Toyota Highlander hybrids are advertised to have fuel tanks that hold 17.1 gallons, with their fuel efficiency giving them a range of around 615 miles on a single tank of gas. But the complaint for this class action alleges that the vehicles or their tanks are defective and cannot be filled to hold that amount of gas without the risk of overflowing, which lessens their range. The defendants are Toyota Motor Sales USA, Inc. and Toyota Motor Corporation.
Toyota Highlander Hybrid Fuel Tank Capacity New Jersey Complaint