Toyota Must Face Prius Stalling Defect Class Action Lawsuit

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Toyota can’t escape a class action lawsuit alleging certain models of its popular Prius hybrid vehicles contain a defect that causes them to stall.

The plaintiffs contend that Toyota knew of the defect because it had manifest in earlier 2005 models; however, Toyota argues that it was a different defect that caused stalling in the 2010 through 2014 Priuses.

The Toyota Prius engine defect class action lawsuit was trimmed of fraud-based claims, the express warranty claim, and the negligent misrepresentation claim in September 2018. The plaintiffs were allowed a chance to amend their complaint.

U.S. District Court Judge Josephine L. Staton disagreed with Toyota’s argument to dismiss the plaintiffs’ amended complaint, finding that the question remained for later stages of the litigation in the class action lawsuit.

“The court is not persuaded by Toyota’s arguments,” stated the judge in the order. “Whether the true cause of the defect was the lead soldering is a factual issue the court cannot resolve at this stage.”

Despite rejecting Toyota’s argument about the cause of the defect, Judge Staton cut some the claims in the Toyota Prius engine defect class action lawsuit. Specifically, the plaintiffs alleged that a software update issued in response to a recall made the problem worse.

“[The Plaintiffs] have failed to allege that Toyota intentionally and without authorization interfered with Plaintiffs’ possession of their vehicles,” concluded the court order.

According to the Toyota Prius class action lawsuit, 2010 through 2014 Priuses are affected by an inverter defect. The defect allegedly causes the hybrids to overheat.

The vehicles then enter into a so-called “fail-safe” mode. In that mode, the vehicles slow down, and, according to the plaintiffs, even stall.

The plaintiffs contend that Toyota is aware of the defect because of a similar problem in 2005 model-year Priuses.

Despite knowing of the issue, Toyota exacerbated the problem by increasing the voltage of certain models, just as it did in 2005, according to the Toyota Prius class action lawsuit.

Further, contends the Toyota Prius engine defect class action lawsuit, the car maker instituted a recall that failed to solve the problem in 2014 and 2015.

The sudden slow downs of the affected Priuses pose a serious safety concern to all motorists on the road, alleged the Toyota engine defect class action lawsuit.

In fact, the plaintiffs claim that the problem can cause collisions that can lead to death, but Toyota failed to warn owners, lessees, and consumers about the problem.

The drivers are represented by Louis R. (Skip) Miller, Amnon Z. Siegel, Casey B. Sypek and David I. Bosko with Miller Barondess LLP and Jeffrey L. Fazio and Dina E. Micheletti with Fazio Micheletti LLP.

The Toyota Prius Defective Engine Class Action Lawsuit is Remy McCarthy, et al. v. Toyota Motor Corporation, et al., Case No. 8:18-cv-00201, in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

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