Toyota Prius Class Action Filed Over Dangerous Stalling Defect

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Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc., the marketing and sales arm of Toyota USA, has been hit with a class action lawsuit alleging that the company’s Prius cars possess a dangerous defect that cause the vehicles to stall while being driven.

In the Toyota Prius class action lawsuit, plaintiff Jevdet Rexhepi seeks damages on behalf of himself and all other similarly affected consumers. Rexhepi alleges that Prius Hybrid models made from 2010 through 2016 are potentially affected by one or more defects in their Intelligent Power Module (IPM), located inside the inverter assembly of the hybrid system.

According to Rexhepi, the defect causes the IPM to fail, creating a serious risk that the engine will stall when being driven at high speeds. He claims that this can cause collisions, and even death, between the Prius driver and other drivers.

The defective Prius class action lawsuit alleges that Toyota was aware of the problem but did not take sufficient measures to correct the problem and protect its customers. According to the Toyota Prius engine stall class action lawsuit, Toyota recalled some Prius vehicles in February 2014 for a “Warranty Enhancement Program,” presumably to address the IPM defect.

However, the Toyota Prius class action lawsuit alleges that the recall was insufficient in correcting the problem, and was “merely a means of masking the true nature of the IPM Defect, which allowed TMS to delay the manifestation of the IPM Defect by reflashing the IPM software.” So, the defective Prius engine class action lawsuit argues that Toyota did not actually fix the engine because of the high cost of such a repair, and instead, updated the car’s software, which was a less costly change, but did not resolve the problem.

Additionally, the Prius engine stall class action lawsuit claims that the software update done during the 2014 recall not only did not solve the engine stalling problem, but caused a different problem. After the recall, the vehicles allegedly were “noticeably sluggish and unable to accelerate normally.”

The Toyota Prius stalled engine class action lawsuit claims that the “sham recall not only allowed a serious stalling problem to continue unabated, but diminished the performance of Class Vehicles to the extent that it put the driver (as well as vehicle occupants) at risk of a collision as a result of the driver being unable to adequately accelerate the engine, thereby creating an additional safety risk.”

Rexhepi argues that Toyota continued to market and sell 2010 through 2016 Prius vehicles despite their knowledge of the problem, with the goal of capitalizing on consumers’ belief that Toyotas are safe and reliable cars. He argues that in the case of the Prius vehicles no longer covered by warranty, Toyota’s practice of selling the cars despite knowing of their defect will cause consumers to lose money to fix the defect, a process which can cost between $3,000 and $10,000. So, according to Rexhepi, not only does Toyota profit from the sale of the defective vehicle, they profit from the sale of the replacement part.

Rexhepi is represented by Jeffrey L. Fazio of Fazio | Micheletti LLP; Charles J. LaDuca of Cuneo Gilbert & LaDuca LLP; Adam J. Levitt and Amy E. Keller of DiCello Levitt & Casey LLC; and W. Daniel “Dee” Miles, III and H. Clay Barnett, III of Beasley Allen Crow Methvin Portis & Miles PC.

The Toyota Prius Defective Engine Class Action Lawsuit is Jevdet Rexhepi v. Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc., Case No. BC692528, in the Superior Court of California , County of Los Angeles.

UPDATE: On April 10, 2019, 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.