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Toyota sells Toyota Highlanders, model years 2020 to 2021, without disclosing that the vehicles’ fuel systems are defective, a nationwide class action lawsuit alleges.
Plaintiffs Cheryl Tavares, Paulo Tavares, and Charles Deffendall filed the class action lawsuit against Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc., Toyota Motor North America, Inc., and Toyota Motor Corporation Friday in a California federal court alleging violations of federal warranty law and state consumer laws.
The class action says the vehicles are equipped with and advertised as having 17.1 gallon fuel tanks, and being able to achieve 36 miles per gallon (MPG) for city driving, 35 MPG for highway driving, and 36 MPG for combined driving. This would provide a range of approximately 615 miles on a single tank of gas.
However, the drivers allege the vehicles are defective in that the fuel tank cannot be filled to its advertised capacity. This compromises the promised driving range of the vehicles, increases emissions and the risk of overflow during fueling, the claim states.
“Since its introduction, this redesigned Highlander Hybrid has been the subject of hundreds of complaints by consumers, who have been unable to fill up their vehicles to the advertised capacity of 17.1 gallons,” the class action says.
“When refueling, consumers report that the automatic shut-off activates well before the tank is full, usually after a mere 12-14 gallons have been added to an empty tank.”
Consumers can attempt to force the tank to accept more fuel by slowly adding gas after the automatic shut-off has been triggered, the claim states, 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 Fuel Tank Defect presents a safety risk for Plaintiffs, members of the Class, and the general public because the fuel systems in Class Vehicles are not properly vented, leading to increased emissions from the car damaging the fuel system components due to higher internal pressure, and increasing the risk of fuel spilling out of the vehicle while being re-fueled,” the class action says.
The class action says the defect has resulted in numerous complaints to authorized dealers throughout the country and to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for vehicles that only began to be sold in February 2020.
Despite acknowledging the defect internally and to authorized dealers, the claim states, Toyota continues to market and sell the cars promising 36 miles per gallon for city driving.
The group is looking to represent anyone in the United States who bought or leased any model year 2020 to 2021 Toyota Highlander equipped with a hybrid powertrain, plus a California and Texas subclass.
The group is suing for fraud, violation of California and Texas consumer law and breach of warranty. They are seeking certification of the class, an order forcing a voluntary recall of the vehicles, damages, fees, costs and a jury trial.
Meanwhile, Toyota is also facing a class action lawsuit alleging it switched to a soy-based covering for wires in its vehicles, which attracted rats and led them to eat through the wires.
Do you have one of the affected vehicles? Let us know about your experience in the comments!
The plaintiffs are represented by Tarek H. Zohdy and Cody R. Padgett of Capstone Law APC.
The Toyota Highlander Fuel Tank Class Action Lawsuit is Tavares et al., v. Toyota Motor Sales, Case No. 3:21-cv-04534 in the U.S. District Court Northern District of California.
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14 thoughts onToyota Sells New Model Highlanders With Defective Fuel Systems, Class Action Lawsuit Claims
I have ‘21 XLE hybrid. I skyways fill up at half tank, only get 7 gallons in, and the fuel gauge rarely gets to full. Last time was the worst. As I pulled away from the pump, I noticed that the gauge was only at 3/4. I swung around, went to a different pump, and was able to get two more gallons in.