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A recent Subaru, Toyota class action lawsuit claims that repairs made to vehicles as part of an engine recall are only making the issue worse.
Toyota and Subaru reportedly recalled around 165,000 vehicles for a safety defect that caused engine stalling.
The recall included 2013 Subaru BRZ, 2013 Toyota Scion FR-S, 2013 Subaru XV Crosstrek, and 2012-14 Subaru Impreza vehicles. The affected vehicles were to be taken in for repairs so that they could resolve the defect.
The original issue reportedly affected the valve springs in the vehicle engines. These springs can reportedly fracture which causes the engine to malfunction and can allegedly result in stalling.
Subaru and Toyota allegedly conceded that this defect can “increase the risk of a crash.” To repair the defective springs, a Subaru Toyota recall order directed dealerships to replace the springs with “new ones of an improved design.”
Although the repairs were intended to resolve the problem, repaired vehicles allegedly experience even more issues and are prone to further hazards.
Plaintiff Cristian Nunez recently filed a class action lawsuit against Toyota and Subaru, claiming that the companies negligently put consumers at risk.
“Unfortunately, and upon information and belief, the Recall Work is not remedying the hazard, but instead, is increasing the risk of valve spring and/or other engine malfunction, is causing catastrophic engine damage to the Class Vehicles and is increasing the risk of vehicle crashes caused by vehicles suddenly stalling while being driven,” the Subaru Toyota class action claims.
In some cases, the repaired vehicles reportedly burst into flames. The Subaru Toyota class action features a shocking photo of one of the affected vehicles charred and destroyed in the aftermath of a crash.
Nunez says he experienced the issue with his own 2013 Toyota Scion. He allegedly took his vehicle in for recall repairs in August 2019. Only a week later, Nunez reportedly heard knocking from the engine followed by complete engine failure, allegedly leaving him stranded on the side of the road.
When he took his vehicle in to the dealership, the mechanics reportedly found metal shavings in the engine and concluded falsely that Nunez “must have caused these issues when performing prior engine work himself.”
“This was in spite of the fact that (1) Plaintiff informed the technicians that he did not, and had not, performed any work on his own vehicle; and (2) these metal shavings were not present when the same dealership performed the Recall Work on Plaintiff’s car one week prior to these events,” the Subaru, Toyota class action argues.
To fix the issue, Nunez was told he would need to pay $6,500 out-of-pocket to replace his engine. After a week and a half with no contact from the dealership, Nunez was reportedly told that he would be forced to pay $1,500 to have a Toyota representative travel to inspect the car or he would need to pay to have the vehicle towed and return his loaner vehicle after paying for its usage.
Nunez claims that he and other consumers are being wrongfully slapped with extreme costs due to the fact that the Subaru and Toyota repairs caused further issues.
In his Subaru, Toyota class action, Nunez seeks to represent a Class of consumers who purchased or leased a Class vehicle, had recall repairs done, and suffered engine failure afterwards. He also seeks to represent a Class of the same consumers from Texas.
Do you own any of the vehicles recalled due to engine stalling that were named in the Subaru, Toyota class action? Share your experiences in the comment section below.
Nunez and the proposed Class are represented by Katrina Carroll, Edwin J. Kilpela Jr., and James P. McGraw III of Carlson Lynch LLP; Peter A. Muhic of Levan Law Group LLC; Jonathan M. Jagher, Kimberly A. Justice, William H. London, and Douglas A. Millen of Freed Kanner London & Millen LLC; David P. McLafferty of McLafferty Law Firm PC; and Richard R. Gordon of Gordon Law Office Ltd.
The Subaru, Toyota Engine Stalling Defect Recall Class Action Lawsuit is Nunez v. Subaru of America Inc., et al., Case No. 1:19-cv-18303, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
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45 thoughts onSubaru, Toyota Class Action Lawsuit: Recall Work Causing Engine Fires
I have owned a 2013 Scion FR-S since April 2013 and have had multiple (lost count, but over 4) engines replaced by a Toyota dealership. Of course, they always blamed the failures on me. All vehicle issues have evidence of oil starvation and/or valve spring problems. One engine failed within 12 miles of repair and one within 6 miles. I have the last engine that failed (dealership repair) in my garage and have only pulled the valve cover and found broken components as well as an abundant amount of sealant visible from the outside of the engine.I have put an engine from a wrecked FR-S in the vehicle myself, and it is running well. I have all of my dealership records available. If I can be of any assistance, please contact me via email.
With great uncertainty and cautious fear, I responded to the Valve spring recall. The Toyota dealership assured me they would put their best technician on the job to do it properly, because they knew how much I loved my FRS. I had read many of the previous postings of failures after having this recall work done. I showed some of the threads to the service writer at Toyota. It had been working great since purchase. Dec. 24, 2012. I took it in reluctantly for the valve recall March 2019. About 12 days later March 19, 2019 I got it back. It ran fine until April 2, 2020. While drive about 60 mph on a highway road in Death Valley I heard some metallic knocking noise from the engine. within 1 minute it stalled on the road. It will restart but will not continue to run with at least one blown valve on the exhaust side. luckily I had a good friend with me on this road out in nowhere with a trailer. He owns an automotive shop and will perform the repairs of replacing the engine at a price much lower than any dealership. I hope this class action law suit prevails and i can recover my expenses to repair this attempted repair solution to fix the defective valve problem by a dealership as per safety recall J02. The repair came with a 12 month warranty. The warranty period ended March 19, 2020. The valve failed April 2nd. 2020. Just missed the warranty!!!!!
My husband has a 2013 Scion FRS. He delayed taking his car in for the recall because he was reading so much about failed repairs. He asked the dealership about issues, and they assured him they had NO issues and had their best mechanic assigned to recall work. He took the car in, they made the recall repair, and a day and a half after picking up his car, it kept stalling in the parking lot at work. He called the dealership and told them what was happening, and they told him to drive it in. He did that last Thursday. They still have the car.
Have a 2013 Scion FR-S, no problems ran great went for the factory recall and about a week later my engine failed on the access road of a highway. Being only a couple months out of warranty Toyota would not cover it and insisted that it had nothing to do with the recall. I paid a over 4K out of pocket to fix it. Also when i took the engine back to be looked at, they took it apart and put it back together without my permission just to make sure they werent the ones who messed it up. If there is a class action please reach out to me! I would love to be a part of it.
My 2013 crosstrex had the recall fix on the valve my local dealer handled it set me up with a loaner for the day no issues since. Happy dealing with my guys at the waikem Subaru group.
My 2013 Subaru Impreza went in for the valve spring recall work On September 16,2019. The work was completed and I picked it up on September 25, 2019. As I was driving to work on October 18,2019 the engine stalled, I coasted to a stop light. Within seconds flames were leaping from the hood. Within minutes my car was engulfed in flames. It was a traumatic experience.
I have a 2013 crosstrek xv which I took in for the recall. My gas mileage went from 29 mpg to 22 mpg as of today 11/11/19. Less than 2 months after the recall. My local Subaru dealership claims there is no issue.
I waited to get recall done until dealership had done many cars hoping they would work out the kinks. No problems before valve spring recall, then had idling problems immediately afterwards. Dealer said it needed all new valves and seats. Then developed a knock so dealer basically said needed full top and bottom end rebuild. Rebuilt short block + headwork done and got it home to discover significant oil leak. Leaking at cam seals, dealer fixed that, but cut engine wiring harness by accident which shorted out whole car. Now that is fixed and car runs again without leaking, shorting, knocking, etc. But I am out of money. How do I join this class action?
Update: After driving for another day, the Check Engine Light came on, the cruise control light started flashing, and the no traction control warning light stayed on. Was throwing code for Exhaust Cam timing too far advanced on bank 1. Contacted dealer for appointment to bring it in again but had to wait another day for a loaner car. While waiting, the lights went off and the dealer said they wouldn’t look at the car if the problem (lights on) went away. I am very nervous about my wife driving the kids in this car now. This was the most reliable car we ever had until Subaru forced us to “fix” it.
I am in this exact boat now. The check engine, with cruise control flickering, and They are now saying my car has the code P0024 and they would need to replace the exhaust cam sprockets for $3500. These identical stories are not coincidences. Subaru is refusing to do anything. Please reach out to me. I am keeping all the documentation.
I have a 2013 Scion FR-S. I had the recall work done months ago but after a road trip after passing someone my car threw a rod. The apparent reason is it spun the #4 bearing which in turn failed due to oil starvation. Also, I put off bringing it back in because I couldn’t find evidence to support why but my fuel mileage went down noticeably after the recall work was done; others have experienced this too. I am trying document everything that is going on and get together all the documentation I can on the work and I am about to have a new (used) motor put in my car at a Toyota dealer in TX.
2012 impreza owner, had the recall preformed earlier in the year. since we have been back to the dealership every 4-6 weeks with some oil related issue. Culminating in a new Block installed in October taking the car back on 10/26, which subsequently stalled repeatedly (CVT transmission) brought it back in and Torque converter was deemed necessary due to as the service tech put it “sloshing fluid in torque converter was causing it to bind stalling the engine” , currently getting a new one put in as I write this. But at this point who knows if this will solve the issue or cause more issues.