Toyota RAV4 Defective Battery Stalling and Fires Class Action

One of the most crucial parts in an electric car is the battery. This class action brings suit against four intertwined Toyota companies, including Toyota Motor Corporation, alleging certain Toyota RAV4 vehicles have defective batteries that can cause the vehicle to stall or burst into flames.

The Nationwide Class for this action is all persons or entities in the US who are current or former owners or lessees of a 2013-2018 Toyota RAV4 vehicles. There is also a Michigan class for those in Michigan who bought or leased their RAV4s in Michigan.

According to the complaint, the vehicle has a “significant design and/or manufacturing defect in the 12-volt battery B+ terminal, which shorts to the battery hold down frame… When this short occurs, it can cause a catastrophic failure of the battery…” The vehicle may then lose electrical power, stall, or possibly even catch fire.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) began a preliminary evaluation investigation into the problem on February 25, 2021. NHTSA had received complaints from members of the public and Early Warning Report information from Toyota, the complaint says, “suggesting that there is a tendency for thermal events to originate in the left side of the engine compartment of the Class Vehicles.”

The complaint reproduces a number of the NHTSA postings that include the following:

• “Car randomly stopped accelerating while on the freeway.”
• “…[T]he car shut off completely and turned on and off repeatedly … (like it was blinking) super fast….”
• “…[A]ll the lights on the dashboard flashed on, then off. Vehicle immediately lost all engine and electrical power. …I raised the hood. The area at or near the battery was on fire…”
• “The car burst into flames spontaneously in the parking lot…”

The complaint alleges that Toyota knew about the battery defect from

The complaint alleges that Toyota knew about the battery defect from a number of sources: the NHTSA postings, its own records of customer complaints, dealership repair records, warranty claims, pre-sale testing and part sales, and other Internet postings. According to the complaint, Toyota should have warned consumers about the problem before selling them RAV4 vehicles.

Customers who bought the vehicles, the complaint says, “have suffered an ascertainable loss” because their vehicles are now dangerous and worth less. The causes of action include breaches of warranties and violation of consumer protection laws.

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Automobile
Tags: Battery, Defective Automobile, Fire