Toyota class action claims some RAV4 vehicles contain defective panoramic roofs

Toyota roofs class action lawsuit overview: 

• Who: Arecely Gamez and Jeffrey Takili filed a class action lawsuit against Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A Inc. and Toyota North America Inc. 
• Why: Gamez and Takili claim Toyota manufactured and sold 2021 Toyota RAV4 vehicles equipped with defective panoramic sunroofs they argue are prone to shattering. 
• Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in Texas federal court.
• What are my options: CarShield provides vehicle service protection to brands like Toyota.

Toyota manufactured and sold model year 2021 Toyota RAV4 vehicles equipped with defective panoramic sunroofs that were prone to spontaneously shattering, a new class action lawsuit alleges. 

Plaintiffs Arecely Gamez and Jeffrey Takili claim Toyota failed to meet the additional “associated manufacturing challenges” presented when manufacturing a panoramic sunroof, rather than a more-generic sunroof or moonroof. 

“Class Vehicles contain one or more defects in the way the vehicles are manufactured and/or made that causes the panoramic roofs to fracture and/or shatter,” the Toyota class action states. 

Gamez and Takili argue the Toyota RAV4 panoramic roofs are defective because of either “deficient” materials being used to construct them, a deficient manufacturing process, and/or “a deficiency in the structure of the Class Vehicles.” 

“The shattering is so powerful that startled drivers have compared it to the sound of a gunshot, followed by a rain of glass falling on the occupants of the vehicle, sometimes while driving at highway speeds,” the Toyota class action states. 

Gamez and Takili want to represent a nationwide class and California class of all persons or entities who are current owners and/or lessees of a 2021 Toyota RAV4 vehicle. 

Toyota refuses to repair or replace ‘defective’ panoramic sunroofs under its warranty, says class action

More than 100 Toyota RAV4 owners have filed reports with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and “complained on various Internet venues that their panoramic roofs shattered,” according to the Toyota class action. 

Gamez and Takili argue Toyota, meanwhile, has both refused to repair or replace the allegedly defective panoramic sunroofs under its warranty, causing vehicle owners to have to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars in repairs. 

Toyota is accused of unjust enrichment and of violating the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act and Cailfornia’s Consumers Legal Remedies Act and Unfair Competition Law, among other things. 

Plaintiffs are demanding a jury trial and requesting declaratory and injunctive relief, along with an award of actual, incidental, consequential and punitive damages for themselves and all class members. 

A pair of consumers filed a separate class action lawsuit against Toyota in November, arguing the automaker sold vehicles containing “obsolete” telematics equipment requiring now-discontinued 3G wireless networks to function. 

Do you own or lease a 2021 Toyota RAV4 vehicle equipped with a panoramic sunroof? Let us know in the comments! 

The plaintiffs are represented by Jody B. Burton of Lemberg Law LLC. 

The Toyota roofs class action lawsuit is Gamez, et al. v. Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc., et al., Case No. 4:23-cv-00262, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

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