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Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. was hit with a class action lawsuit alleging that its 2012 Camry vehicles have a defective air conditioning system that causes mold to grow.
Plaintiff Alan Forsley of Califronia filed his Toyota class action lawsuit in a California state court on March 30. Forsley says he purchased a 2012 Toyota Camry in May 2012 from a Los Angeles area Toyota dealership.
Forsley alleges that the 2012 Toyota Camry’s defective air conditioning system emits “noxious and foul odors from mold growth in the HVAC system” because of a “uniform and widespread defect.”
“Exposure to such smells and mold is extremely dangerous and can lead to sickness and other health related issues,” the California man explained in his Toyota Camry defective air conditioning class action lawsuit.
Forsley cites the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO) and other research institutions that detail the health and safety risk associated with mold exposure.
“Molds can cause symptoms such as nasal stuffiness, eye irritation, wheezing, or skin irritation,” the CDC has stated, according to the class action lawsuit.
According to WHO, exposure to mold has been “clinically associated with respiratory symptoms, allergies, asthma, and immunological reactions.”
The mold problem in the 2012 Camry allegedly “grows on a component called the evaporator, located inside the vehicle’s dashboard. As the cold refrigerant passes into the evaporator, it absorbs heat from the air in the passenger compartment and also collects moisture because of condensation on the evaporator’s surface,” the Toyota class action lawsuit says.
“The moisture, along with pollen, dead insects in the air, and bits of leaves that enter the HVAC system from the outside vents, leads to an environment favorable to mold growth,” it adds.
However, Forsley says that any attempt to fix the allegedly defective HVAC system “merely replaces the defective HVAC components with the same defective components, which never repairs the HVAC defect as warranted.
And it may come to “impermanent repairs which do not address the issue,” such as repeatedly replacing air filters or performing “repeated foam flushes.”
According to Forsley, Toyota knew or should have known about this problem with its air conditioning system, and that it “has acknowledged that the HVAC system used in the Class Vehicles and its attendant problems are the same as the odor issues occurring in other Toyota vehicles” dating back to at least 2005.
In 2005, it was allegedly stated in a Toyota technician training manual that “A/C system odors are a common complaint among users, especially after start up.”
The manual explains that the odors could come from “‘[m]icrobes [i.e., mold] growing on the evaporator surface’ that are ‘small living bacteria carried into the evaporator case [that] grow in the warm, moist environment.'”
“Additionally, it states that there is ‘no permanent mechanical repair’ for this issue,” the Toyota class action lawsuit states.
In February 2014, after putting almost 19,000 miles on the vehicle, Forsley brought his 2012 Camry to the dealership where he purchased the car in Marina del Rey, “complaining that the vehicle’s HVAC system was giving off an odor when the heat or air conditioning were turned on.”
No repair was performed when he brought his Camry in, the service adviser only gave him a pamphlet to read, explaining that there is “‘no permanent mechanical repair'” for these types of odors,” according to his Toyota Camry class action lawsuit.
However, the dealership did repair the air conditioner radiator case, which was part of a recall for “the drain hose for the air conditioner condenser which could become clogged, causing water to accumulate at the bottom of the air conditioning condenser unit housing,” which could potentially cause “air bags to become disabled or inadvertently deploy,” among other problems.
But the repair did nothing to fix the moldy odor coming from the allegedly defective air conditioning unit, the class action lawsuit explains.
Forsley cites complaints by other Toyota Camry owners filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), who had similar problems with the air conditioning systems in their Toyota Camry vehicles.
Forsley wants to represent a class of those who have either owned or leased 2012 Toyota Camry vehicles.
The Toyota class action lawsuit alleges violations of California’s Consumer Legal Remedies Act, violations of the state’s Unfair Competition Law, breach of implied warranty, breach of express warranty and unjust enrichment.
The plaintiffs are represented by Jordan L. Lurie, Robert Friedl, Tarek H. Zohdy and Cody R. Padgett of Capstone Law APC.
Counsel information for Toyota is not yet available.
The Toyota Camry Class Action Lawsuit is Forsley et al v. Toyota Motors Sales USA Inc. et al, Case No. BC577240, in the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Los Angeles.
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149 thoughts onToyota Hit With Class Action Over Moldy Smell in Camry AC System
Just bought a 2014 camry xle and having the same problem – Toyota dealership is pretending like it is not a big deal and just told me they flushed it or something like that. I am now experiencing asthma symptoms. Can Toyota issue a recall and do something about this or do we have to get a lawsuit going for something to happen?
2013 Camry… Same as most here… Stinks like hell upon start up. I’ll join this class action suit. Especially if there is no fix!
I have read all the post and thought I was going crazy!!!! I purchased a 2014.5 Camry in October 2014 and maybe about a month ago I started to notice this foul odor when I start the car, it goes away maybe after maybe 5-10 mins. I have allergies ans my son asthma which is a huge concern. I called the dealer and was told that they would change the charcoal filter (something like that) and flush it with some kind of solution. Not to excited after reading all these complaints….what makes it worse is that this issue is national…everyone has purchased their car from different states.
I took our 2014 Camey SE in for service at the Sandy Springs Toyota here in Georgia and was given the runaround on the foul odor coming from our AC vent. I was told that it was not a commonly reported issue and that I could pay to have them kill the mildew smell. Ryan then proceeded to tell me to drive the car with the AC turned off (which he was not able to show me how after trying for 5 minutes), then told me to read the manual. I have young children, a 2 yr old and a newborn coming in a couple months and am scared to know what this could do to them health-wise. Please let me know what I can do to help resolve or pursue legal action if Toyota refuses to step up and fix.
OMG!!! I called Sandy Springs today with the same issue and I was told that it would cost me $200 to change filter and flush which should solve this common problem……which I stated if its so common why not just fix it but its not covered under warranty.
If you can’t turn your own A/C off, and you can’t read the manual to learn now to turn it off — it sounds like there is some owner/user responsibility here.
If there is a problem, you need to know how to operate the car well enough to help the technician isolate the problem during a test drive. Mechanics aren’t magical, nor are cars. They need to understand what the customer is perceiving, as well.
It’s not unreasonable for a technician to suggest you read the manual if you can’t turn the A/C off.
And there’s no shame in needing to read the manual. Cars are now complex and some controls and indicators aren’t intuitive. I had to read the manual to learn that my heating rearview mirrors are turned on by turning on the rear window defroster. Makes sense after reading the manual, but not at ALL intuitive to me — I was looking for a separate switch/button.
1999 TOYOTA Camry Belonged to M n D garage kept till 2012. I got and now out side but from Day One MOLD smell with AC on or a Rank Stench when Heat comes on. Just kept Heat off. no Biggie eventually that went away. Hmmm Mouse? Bugs? Dont know. But MOLD I do know now have Sever Eye Allergies and seems to Get really intolerable when I drive this Camry. Not only me but my 7 year Old Son Has the same symptoms and is really highly sensitive when he rides in the car even for ten minutes. Me 30 minuets every day to and from work gets me in trouble when I get to work and when I return home.
Have you had a good mechanic (or two) examine the car? This kind of problem isn’t that uncommon on older cars, where a drainage hose may get backed up. Or, a rodent may crawl into the engine compartment and die.
A competent mechanic should be able to inspect the system and find the root cause and fix it.
Your problem with an old car where there is lots of time for gunk to gradually foul a drainage line sounds like a different class of problem than many Toyotas having such problems after only roughly 10K miles.
I apologize for my misspelling of the word odor not oder :/, but my keyboard has a glitch and have not been able to get it fixed. Either way I am sure everyone is intelligent enough to figure it out. :)
I have a 2014 Highlander that has that horrible smell. Toyota has replaced 2 separate filters and also sprayed that anti mold stuff in the vents… I just had sweet smelling mold for a day and now the horrible smell is back. Toyota HQ in CA told me that they consider this to be an environmental problem not a mechanical one. they also told me that it is only in 3 states, LA FL and TX. I was interested to see CA included. hmmmmm perhaps it is bigger than they thought. How do we get included in the class action suit against Toyota?
I live in Ohio and have the same problem with my new 2015 Toyota Highlander . Purchase on May 17 and now can not drive. Smells very bad and making me and kids sick.
I live in NC and have the same Oder after my 2004 Highlander gets hot. No oil leaks. ????
I have the same problem with my 2012 Toyota Camry. My Son also has the same problem with his 2009 Toyota Camry. My concern is our health…I have asthma…and I have two Grandchildren. The baby’s being exposed to mold and all of us being exposed to mold is NOT healthy. I’d like got us to be included in this class act law suit.
I agree! We need to rally together to get Toyota to do the right thing for all the cars they sold with this HVAC problem. Its very unhealthy and unfair for them to sit back and not do anything. I paid hard earned money for my Camry, and I deserve to be able to live with it.
Yes! I also started smelling the moldy oder from my 2014 Camry SE when it hit about the 8k mile. This is the second Camry I purchased the first was a 2012 (preowned with only 8k miles) and few months after purchasing when the summer months hit and I turned on the AC it also had a moldy smell that was making my kids and I sick. It was especially bad for me because I am allergic to mold. I was forced to trade it in thinking it was an isolated event. I traded it in after complaining to the Sale’s person who sold it to me and he convinced me to purchase a brand new 2014 Camry SE. I paid more, but at that point with the bad moldy smell from previous car, I was just happy to be rid of that problem. So, with my brand new Camry starting at 0 miles on it, all seemed well… Than low and behold when my car hit the 8k miles, and into the warmer months when I start using the AC…There it was again! That stinky moldy smell making me sick, I could hardly believe it! Why would my now brand new Camry be doing the same thing? Does Toyota not know about the issue? I decided to google it and that’s when I realized that there are many complaints about this same HVAC Camry issue. Toyota surely must have known about this malfunction and yet they continue to sell these cars putting people at health risk. From all I read on this issue I know there is no \permanent fix\ solution. I have seen that some folks have ended up having to file a lawsuit. Before going this route I went to Lost Pines Toyota the dealership I purchased it from to see if they would resolve this matter for me. When I arrived the dealership and explained thoroughly the issue with HVAC. They tried to get me to do a trade in sale AGAIN. I asked to talk with the manager, who basically told me that the history with my previous Camry was irrelevant and that I should first take it in to service to see if they could help resolve the problem. Basically, I am being put through the same protocol, which did not help before. For documentation purposes I am taking the steps again with my 2014 Camry. This is so unfair to be put through this again. It is costing me so much time and money not to mention stress… But, this time I am at least more aware its not an isolated problem. Its obviously a malfunction in the car model.
Got my Camry in Aug of 2014..It was Brand New… Before 10,000 Miles I noticed a bad smell from vents. I took it in and I swear the guy that helped me said that there was mold on the Air filter but they will only replace it at no cost this ONE time.. he kept stressing that.. They also sprayed something to deodorizer the vents.. He also told my husband that the car was made in Japan and a lot of these cars were having issues because of how they had to transport them into the US.. 3 days after I got my car back the smell is back,,I called the Corporate office and complained and they said they would create a case for me..The dealership had me bring my car in and they had a Tech that would be looking it and he found nothing.. No mold and no smell.. The service manager denied that there was mold on the air filter the first time, when the other guy I dealt with did indeed tell me that.. He said that they found a french fry under the seat and I also had a perfume bottle in my console that was so strong smelling.. He said maybe those 2 things were making me sick!!! Ha!!! Oh yea, because I had told them I have been dealing with bad sinus infections and Ive been sick.. I think its from this car! I can’t believe he was trying to blame other things in my car!! Are you kidding me????????? What a joke. He then told me that when I dropped my car off I left the AC on full blast.. I always power down everything before I shut my car off.. The guy who took the car from me must have turned it on and left it on.. What is he trying to do by saying all of this stuff? Its NONSENSE.. I can’t tel you how pissed off that I am.. I will have to pursue this further.. IM sure my that smell will come back and I don’t trust anyone at toyota.. I feel like I have been treated poorly and lied to..
There are other dealers. There are a huge number of competent, honest mechanics in any city.
Get another opinion. A/C problems are not that uncommon with many makes/models of cars. Generally, water is getting backed up somewhere (like a drainage hose) and the water is letting mold/mildew, etc. to grow, and the A/C will certainly stink when that happens — and blow it right into your car.
Or maybe they actually fixed it and the problem is now gone?
It’s unfortunate if a dealer treats you badly, but you should report it to Toyota (who doesn’t own the dealers, but should be able to raise he** with them when they mistreat Toyota customers).
I’ve been a Toyota customer for 35 years now and while no car company is perfect — for ordinary reliable and durable consumer vehicles, they do mighty well by their customers overall, as their success shows.