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A group of plaintiffs from five different states have filed a Toyota oil defect class action lawsuit, alleging that a defect in the design of pistons in a four-cylinder engine used in many of the company’s vehicles as well as its Scion subsidiary led to excessive oil consumption and the potential for serious accidents.
According to the class action lawsuit, the 2AZ-FE engines have been known to have oil consumption issues that Toyota was aware of since at least 2008. However, the alleged design defect does not generally occur until after the warranty period for new car buyers and so Toyota has repeatedly refused to repair the vehicles except at the owner’s expense. Owners of the following vehicles in California, Florida, New Jersey, New York and Washington would be members of the class:
2007-2011 Toyota Camry Hybrid;
2007-2009 Toyota Camry;
2009 Toyota Corolla;
2009 Toyota Matrix;
2006-2008 Toyota RAV4;
2007-2008 Toyota Solara;
2007-2009 Scion tC;
and 2008-2009 Scion xB
The problem reportedly manifests itself when owners take their vehicles in for scheduled maintenance including having the oil changed, according to the class action lawsuit. Several of the plaintiffs have alleged that the amount of fluid in the oilpan dropped to nearly nothing over the course of the roughly 5,000 miles between expected maintenance. One alleges that a local service center employee told her “that it was abnormal for a vehicle to be consuming oil at a rate that would deplete the entirety of her oil shorter than Toyota’s recommended maintenance intervals.”
More disturbingly, according to some of the plaintiffs, is when the oil consumption issues lead to no lubrication before a driver realizes it. Some noted that the engine was “making a knocking noise” which can be an indicator of impending failure. A major component of design defect-based class action lawsuits is the impact of the failure on an owner’s safety as well as those of its occupants. The plaintiffs’ class action lawsuit lawyers argue that because an engine failure can lead to serious accidents, it puts too many people at risk.
However, while there were more than a dozen reports to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration regarding the Toyota engine oil consumption issues, the auto maker never directly notified owners. Instead, it issued an internal service bulletin outlining a process where by owners would have to subject their vehicle to several oil consumption tests. If that demonstrated that the pistons were malfunctioning, and the car was under warranty, then the dealership would perform the repairs. Otherwise, the quoted price was several thousand dollars, according to the class action lawsuit.
The group of Toyota and Scion vehicle owners are seeking damages based on the decreased value of their vehicles. The class action lawsuit alleges violations of consumer protection statutes in the five states, breach of express warranty and common law fraud.
The plaintiffs are represented by class action lawsuit lawyers Jae J. Kim and Richard D. McCune, Jr. of McCune Wright LLP
The Toyota Oil Consumption Defect Class Action Lawsuit is April Lax, et al. v. Toyota Motor Corporation, et al., Case No. 14-cv-01490, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
UPDATE: The Toyota Oil Consumption class action lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed on December 16, 2015.
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286 thoughts onToyota Hit with Class Action Lawsuit over Oil Consumption Defect
We bought a 2007 scion TC for our daughter a year ago. I’ve changed the oil 4 times and every time I’ve noticed the oil drained was not the same as what I put in. I was just about to do another oil change over the weekend, my daughter came home Friday night and told me her car didn’t sound good. Saturday morning I looked at it and it was knocking bad. I found that I was 3 quarts low over 3000 miles. My daughter said the low oil light never came on. Now my car is at the Toyota dealer in town. We are waiting for a decision. We are keeping our fingures crossed that Toyota will own up to this issue and repair our car at their cost.
Hi same thing happens to me now my car is stuck in Frazier park I’m in woodland hills what dealership is your car worked at?
Do a search for excessive oil consumption scion tc. We just lost the engine in our scion to this.
I have the same problem for my rav4 2006. It is bad!! :((
my ’07 camry has this issue! Started about 5 months ago. I took it in for the oil consumption test and because in 1100 miles it only lost 1/2 a quart they say it doesn’t qualify! So how much does it have to use before it qualifies?? That would be about 3 quarts between a routine 6000 mile oil change! To me that is excessive! We have older cars that use none! Is the lawsuit ever going to include WI?
IM DEALING WITH THIS SAME ISSUE RIGHT NOW WITH MY 07 SCION TC. . NO OIL/CHECK ENGINE LIGHT HAS EVER CAME UP. NO ONE COULD FIND WHAT WAS WRONG WITH MY CAR UNTIL NOW, COME TO FIND OUT THE ENGINE SEIZED. THIS IS COMPLETE BS. IM NOT EVEN DONE PAYING THE CARNOTE.
I have 2007 TC with oil consumption issues also…a quart every 500 miles. Totally unacceptable of Toyota to turn a blind eye. Sign me up for this lawsuit.
Mi nombre es KELVIN REYES…….
Y tengo un TOYOTA CAMRY 2007 XLE y tengo ese problema de que el carro me consume el aceite cada 2 semanas y les dije a los de la TOYOTA….y me decian que el carro siempre consume aceite y que eso era normal y nunca me lo quisieron reparar y ahora mismo tengo que ir a AUTOZONE a comprar aceite porque esta vacio……..ya no encontramos que solucion buscar……
y para repararlo se necesita dinero
tambien me sucedio que la batteria que traia me comenso a fallar y no me la querian reponer y tuve que pelear con ellos para que me dieran una nueva…..
y con garantia supuestamente…………….
este caro fue comprado aqui en NEW YORK IN HEMPSTEAD LONG ISLAND……………
I have a scion Tc 07. I have the same problem. I only drove for 3k miles since my last oil change, and my oil went to empty. My low oil light didn’t even lights up to warn me of low oil, all it did was blink once every now and then until I realized I had no oil.
Tengo una rav4 2.4 2008 con el mismo problema consume aceite ,tiene 58,000 millas ,puede Puerto Rico estar en la demanda? Como puedo unirme?
I have an 09 scion that had the pistons replaced at 50,000 I had the extended warranty that went to 100,000 or 6 years I’m at 104,000 and the engine the same thing is happening. They told me sorry we won’t work with you it’s over warranty… How can I get involved in the lawsuit.. I am being forced to pay for another engine
Yo tengo un 2007 scion tc me gasta muncho aceite se a apagado un par de veses corriendo como puedo unirme ala demanda