Toyota class action claims automaker falsely advertises maintenance plan

Toyota class action lawsuit overview:

• Who: Plaintiff Teresa Solis is suing Toyota over its prepaid ToyotaCare Plus maintenance plan.
• Why: Solis claims Toyota deceived her with “fraudulent and misleading representations,” leading her to pay $1,025 for a maintenance plan that she says is not worth the cost.
• Where: The Toyota maintenance plan class action was filed in California federal court.

Toyota falsely advertises the value of its prepaid ToyotaCare Plus maintenance plan, misleading consumers into believing the plan will save them money, a Toyota class action lawsuit claims.

Plaintiff Teresa Solis alleges she was deceived by Toyota’s “fraudulent and misleading representations” when she paid $1,025 for the Toyota maintenance plan when she purchased a used RAV4 vehicle in October 2020. The plan was supposed to cover her vehicle up to 55,000 miles, the Toyota lawsuit says.

A salesperson allegedly told Solis the maintenance plan would cover 10 maintenance services that would occur every 5,000 miles and were collectively valued at $1,900. Therefore, Solis says she believed she would save at least $875 in costs by purchasing the plan.

Toyota maintenance plan not worth the cost, plaintiff says

Solis said when she brought her vehicle in for scheduled maintenance, she began to realize that certain maintenance was sometimes skipped or performed ahead of schedule. She also noticed that the dealership was billing Toyota for far less than the purported value of the service, according to the class action lawsuit.

For example, the plaintiff says she brought her vehicle in for a scheduled 20,000-mile regular service, but Toyota reportedly performed a major service that should not have been done until the car reached 30,000 miles.

Solis also claims the dealership billed Toyota approximately $200 less than the purported $400 value for a major service, and that she learned she would have only been billed $380 if she had paid with cash, still less than the purported $400 value.

The plaintiff says because Toyota performed services ahead of schedule, she ended up receiving far fewer services than she had purchased pursuant to the maintenance plan. She also realized she allegedly would have only paid $800 to $900 for all of the services if she had paid cash for all the services.

Solis filed the Toyota lawsuit on behalf of herself, a proposed nationwide class and a California subclass of consumers who bought a Toyota maintenance plan within 90 days of purchasing a vehicle from the defendants.

The Toyota class action lawsuit asserts claims for unjust enrichment, fraud, negligent misrepresentation, breach of contract and other violations.

Toyota Motor Credit Corp. recently agreed to pay $60 million to settle allegations it sold vehicle loan add-ons and prevented refunds from borrowers who attempted to cancel the add-ons.

Did you purchase a Toyota maintenance plan when you purchased your vehicle? Tell us about your experience in the comments.

Solis is represented by John Ternieden, Christopher R. Rodriguez, Andrew D. Bluth and Trent Nelson of Singleton Schreiber LLP.

The Toyota maintenance plan lawsuit is Teresa Solis v. Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc., Case No. 2:24-cv-00980, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

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