Toyota Class Action Says Fuel Tanks Are Defective

Toyota has been hit with a class action lawsuit by vehicle owners who claim that the 2019 and 2020 RAV4 Hybrids have defective fuel tank systems.

The plaintiffs say that Toyota advertises the fuel tank in RAV4 Hybrid vehicles as having a capacity of 14.5 gallons, but the tank in these vehicles can only be filled to the nine or 10 gallon mark.

One of the class action plaintiffs, Cole Coleman, says he purchased a new 2019 RAV4 Hybrid for around $31,889. He argues that, based on the defendant’s reported 14.5 gallon fuel tank capacity, he was led to believe that he would have been able to go more than 500 miles on one full tank of gas.

“Some consumers, like Plaintiffs and Class members, are willing to pay more for a hybrid vehicle that offers better gas mileage and is easier on the environment than its gas-only counterpart,” the Toyota class action lawsuit says.

As a result of an alleged defect in his Rav4 Hybrid, Coleman claims that he has to refuel his vehicle more frequently that he would have to if the gas tank didn’t have the defect.

He brought his RAv4 to a local Toyota dealership and was told that there was nothing they could do about the problem until Toyota comes out with a solution, the Toyota class action lawsuit maintains. Coleman alleges that the gas tank in his RAV4 only fills to about eight to 10 gallons, even when the full light indicates that the tank is not full.

The shape of the fuel tank causes the fuel pump to shut off before reaching the purported 14.5 gallons, according to the plaintiffs.

The defect in the fuel tank reduces the total driving distance of the vehicles, the plaintiffs maintain. They state that Toyota advertises that the RAV4 can go 580 miles on a single “full” tank of gas. However, in reality, drivers can only travel 400 miles on a “full” tank, because of the defect in the fuel tank, the Toyota class action lawsuit alleges.

The plaintiffs argue that Toyota has known or should have known about this defect because of numerous complaints by consumers, pre-release testing, and feedback from dealerships.

“Without the superior knowledge Toyota possesses about the defect, unsuspecting consumers continue to purchase the RAV4, expecting to be able to fill their vehicles with 14.5 gallons of fuel and to travel the mileage range Toyota advertises,” the plaintiffs maintain.

The plaintiffs also state that Toyota has not offered an option to fix the fuel tank defect. The Toyota class action plaintiffs claim that if they had known about the defect in the RAV4, they would not have bought the vehicles or would have paid less for them.

The Toyota class action lawsuit notes that Toyota redesigned the fuel tank in the RAV4 in 2019 and, since then, vehicle owners have filed complaints with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reporting that they have not been able to fill the gas tanks on their vehicles.

A similar lawsuit was filed in January of this year by RAV4 owners who claim that they were unable to fully fill their gas tanks to the 14.5 gallon mark.

Have you encountered a problem with the gas tank in your RAV4? Leave a message in the comments section below.

The plaintiffs are represented by Lesley E. Weaver, Angelica M. Ornelas, and Joshua S. Samra of Bleichmar Fonti & Auld and Michael K. Yarnoff of Kehoe Law Firm PC.

The Toyota RAV4 Gas Tank Class Action Lawsuit is Coleman, et al. v. Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc., Case No. 3:20-cv-01663, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

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