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Toyota Highlander Fuel Tank Defect Class Action Lawsuit Overview:
- Who: Samuel J. and Belinda A. Prince filed a class action lawsuit against Toyota Motor Sales, USA.
- Why: The Princes claim Toyota fails to disclose that the fuel tanks in its 2020-2021 Toyota Highlander vehicles are defective.
- Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in New Jersey federal court.
Toyota sells model year 2020-2021 Toyota Highlander vehicles with defective fuel tanks that can’t be filled to their advertised capacity, a new class action lawsuit alleges.
Plaintiffs Samuel J. and Belinda A. Prince claim the alleged fuel tank defect increases emissions, alters the vehicle’s promised driving range and increases risk of overflow while gassing up.
Toyota fails to disclose the alleged fuel tank defect to consumers prior to them purchasing the vehicles, the class action lawsuit alleges.
The Princes claim that, despite the 2020-2021 Toyota Highlander vehicles having an advertised fuel tank capacity of 17.1 gallons, gas pumps will automatically shut off at between 12 to 14 gallons when filling up an empty tank.
Toyota has acknowledged that only approximately 14.2 gallons of the fuel tank are usable even though the fuel tanks technically have a capacity of 17.1 gallons, according to the class action lawsuit.
“Consumers can attempt to force the tank to accept more fuel by slowly adding gas after the automatic shut-off has been triggered, but many have reported gas then spilling out of the vehicle well before the tank has actually been filled to the advertised capacity of 17.1 gallons,” the class action lawsuit states.
Toyota Highlanders Don’t Reach Promised 615 Miles, Class Action Says
The Princes claim the alleged fuel tank defect causes the Toyota Highlander vehicles to fall below their advertised driving range of 615 miles on a full tank.
Further, they argue Toyota continues to advertise that the vehicles have a 17.1 gallon fuel tank capacity despite knowing that not all of the space is usable.
The Princes claim Toyota is guilty of breach of express warranty and breach of implied warranty of merchantability, and in violation of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act and the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act.
They want to represent a New Jersey class of consumers who purchased or leased a 2020-2021 Toyota Highlander equipped with a hybrid powertrain.
Plaintiffs are demanding a jury trial and requesting declaratory relief along with compensatory, statutory and exemplary damages for themselves and all class members.
A similar class action lawsuit was filed last June by consumers in California who claim Toyota failed to disclose that the fuel systems in its 2020-2021 Toyota Highlander vehicles are defective.
Have you purchased or leased a model year 2020-21 Toyota Highlander? Let us know in the comments!
The plaintiffs are represented by Simon B. Paris and Patrick Howard of Saltz Mongeluzzi & Bendesky, PC, and Daniel E. Gustafson, David M. Goodwin and Ling S. Wang of Gustafson Gluek PLLC.
The Toyota Highlander Fuel Tank Defect Class Action Lawsuit is Prince, et al., v. Toyota Motor Sales, USA, et al., Case No. 2:22-cv-01682, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
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114 thoughts onToyota Class Action Alleges Highlander Fuel Tanks Don’t Fill All The Way
I have this problem with 2021 Highlander hybrid platinum
I have always had an issue with my 2020 Highlander. It is suppose to have a 17 gallon gas tank but I have never gotten over 13 gallons in it. It tells me that I have 160 miles to empty and that is on a good day. If I try to add more gas It over flows.
I have never been able to fill my 2021 highlander v6 with more than 13.2 gallons of gas . Have complained to penn Toyota numerous times , they have said Toyota has not yet told them what to do? I only get 195 miles to a full tank. When will Toyota correct there screw up?
Yes I have same problem 2021 highlander hybrid platinum
I have same issues with my 2023 Highlander Hybrid
We have a 2021 Toyota Highlander Hybrid, and we have this problem.
Same with my 2023 Highlander Hybrid. Fuel fill gives no more than 450 mile range.
Same issue. Just bought a 2021 and filling to capacity the guage shows 200 miles to empty!
I just purchased a 2024 Grand Highlander Hybrid Max Limited and can only fill the tank from near empty to about 10 gallons. The range that pops up on the full tank is about 370 miles. The user manual and what toyota advertises is that I should have a 17.16 Gallon Tank and about 450 Miles range. When the dealership filled up the vehicle on an empty tank, they had to have known it only filled up about 10 gallons. This vehicle is about $60K and while overall, the vehicle is amazing, this is just plain false advertising, blatant lying, or blatantly not disclosing there is a problem and it needs to be fixed.
I just purchased a 2022 Toyota Hylander. I have had as few as 10 miles until empty. I fill it up and even filled it past the automatic shut off at the pump and the most gas I’ve been able to fill to is 14 gallons. This is false advertising and I hate the smaller tank. I am spending more time gassing up than I anticipated!
We have the sane issue with our 2020 Highlander
We have same issue for 2021 highlander Hybrid XLE