Toyota Prius and Other Hybrids Braking Problem Class Action

In this class action against Toyota Motor Corporation and Toyota Motor Sales USA, Inc., the complaint claims that it was one of Toyota’s own dealers that asked the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to investigate the braking defect alleged in this case. It claimed that the braking defect had been “causing crashes” that were “injuring people.”

The Nationwide Consumer Class is all individuals or entities in the US who are current or former owners or lessees of defective class vehicles. California and Washington State consumer classes have also been proposed.

The Class Vehicles include the following:

• 2010-2015 Prius and Prius PHV
• 2012-2015 Prius V
• 2012-2015 Avalon Camry Hybrid
• 2013-2015 Avalon Hybrid vehicles

The complaint alleges that the brakes on the class vehicles have a defect arising from brake booster pump assemblies with the master cylinder that were designed or manufactured defectively and that can cause the brakes to fail.

According to the complaint, the NHTSA has received over a thousand complaints from consumers about the brake defect, saying that the brakes malfunction and have caused crashes and injuries.

The petition to the NHTSA was filed by Roger Horgan, in September 2019, after his dealership was asked to perform a partial repair on a 2013 Toyota Prius that had been involved in a serious accident. According to the complaint, “[t]he driver reportedly exited a freeway in a Los Angeles neighborhood and struck [] three teens at a crosswalk. At least one of the girls hit the windshield and was thrown into the roadway, causing traumatic brain injuries.” The driver said that the brakes on the rented car had failed, causing him to hit the teens.

According to the complaint, Horgan was previously “a Prius loyalist.” However, the complaint says he “began noticing a pattern of complaints from Toyota customers about the braking system on certain models” and came to believe that Toyota was “mishandling” the problem.

Toyota has issued “two limited safety (or non-compliance) recalls on hybrid vehicles containing these defective brake components—one in 2013 … and one in 2019” but Horgan claims that the recalls should be recalling “hundreds of thousands” of vehicles that he believes have the braking problem.

In March 2019, Toyota announced a Phase II of its post-brake failure repair program, under which it will offer reimbursement for repair only after the brakes have failed. The complaint charges, “Toyota is now exposing owners of the defective class vehicles to potential life-threatening brake failure before Toyota will provide the replacement brake components needed to make the vehicle[s] safe.”

The complaint alleges that Toyota knows about the braking defects and insists that it should undertake a full recall of all vehicles that have the defective systems. It calls the efforts Toyota has undertaken to date “woefully inadequate” to address the problem. It claims that Toyota has refused to repair the vehicles under warranty before the problem occurs.

The complaint alleges breaches of warranties, among other things.

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Automobile
Tags: Brakes, Defective Automobile