Toyota Must Face Faulty HVAC Class Action

A federal judge determined that Toyota must face a class action lawsuit brought forward by customers who said that the company concealed defects in the cars’ ventilation systems.

U.S. District Judge Federico A. Moreno did trim warranty and fraud claims, but found that Toyota can’t escape the class action in its entirety. 

The Toyota AC class action lawsuit was filed by Javier Cardenas and Kurt Kirton, who claimed that Toyota sold Camry and Camry Hybrids that have defective HVAC systems.

Allegedly, the systems are faulty because they do not remove all humidity and water from the air, which causes foul and toxic odors to be emitted into the passenger compartment, putting passengers at risk for heath problems.

According to the two customers, the company is aware that the vehicles are defective. To support their claims that the company is aware of the defect and chose to conceal it from consumers, the customers cite complaints made to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, as well as a technical service bulletin released by Toyota about the problem.

In response to these claims, Judge Moreno said that customers sufficiently alleged that Toyota had attempted to defraud customers by making “material misrepresentations” about vehicles, or through “omission or concealment” of facts about the vehicles in question.

Additionally, Judge Moreno said that the customers had sufficiently established their allegations that the company had engaged in racketeering and conspiracy to sell as many defective Camry and Camry Hybrid vehicles as possible, in an attempt to maximize revenue.

However, Judge Moreno did dismiss several claims in the Toyota HVAC defect class action lawsuit, including fraudulent concealment claims under the Florida economic loss rule, and fraudulent concealment claims under the Tennessee economic loss doctrine. In so doing, he agreed with Toyota that the customers’ claims of fraud and concealment were barred under the laws’ economic loss rule.

A breach of implied warranty claim in the Toyota class action lawsuit was also dismissed, because one named plaintiff did not purchase his vehicle directly from one of the Toyota entities who are defendants in the HVAC defect class action lawsuit.

The judge rejected Toyota’s attempt to throw out the class action lawsuit entirely, because, as the company claimed, the claims were time-barred. Judge Moreno agreed instead with customers, as he did not believe that their class action claims would indeed be time barred.

Have you had problems with the HVAC system in your Camry or Camry Hybrid? Let us know in the comments below.

Cardenas and Kirton are represented by Peter Prieto, John Gravante, Matthew Weinshall and Alissa Del Riego of Podhurst Orseck; Tyler S. Graden and Natalie Lesser of Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check LLP; and Paul R. Kiesel, Jeffrey A. Koncius and Nicole Ramirez of Kiesel Law LLP.

The Toyota HVAC Defect Class Action Lawsuit is Javier Cardenas, et al. v. Toyota Motor Corp., et al., Case No. 1:18-cv-22798, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

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