New Topic
You remember maybe a year or two ago when Toyota vehicles were accelerating on their own and causing accidents?
Apparently Toyota is being sued in a class action suit alleging that Toyota (and Lexus/Scion) vehicles are defective, and that Toyota is liable for the costs that owners incurred when they sold a vehicle because the value took a hit, or the owner returned the leased vehicle early, or some other economic loss because the incidents were highly publicized.
You can read all about it here:
http://toyotaelsettlement.com/I found out about this because my mother was included in the suit, and received a post card that she might be getting some compensation as part of the upcoming settlement. Since she knows nothing about cars, she asked me to investigate.
What I found pissed me off, and made me wonder how this suit wasn't thrown out on day 1.
Apparently even though the NHSTA and NASA concluded in very extensive investigation that Toyota vehicles were not defective, someone figured out they could probably use a civil suit to extort millions from Toyota.
Its clear to me from the list of "subject vehicles" that someone is trying to make the case bigger than it should be if it were just about the vehicles that were reported to be accelerating on their own. I highly doubt that 1998 Supras (included in the suit) have drive by wire, and if they did, I doubt even more that the DBW in a Supra is as sophisticated as one in a 2010 Prius. I remember when this was going on, and the NHSTA had a list of vehicles that were possible defective, before the investigation was completed. My mother's Camry was not listed at the time, yet she's been added to this suit. Her car doesn't have DBW, nor as far as I can tell were any Camry's of her model year ever reported as experiencing this unintended acceleration.
Another reason it looks like the numbers in the class are being inflated to me: its extremely easy to submit a claim to get some of the settlement money, you just fill out a simple form on the above website, but if you want to opt-out, and retain your right to sue Toyota now or in the future, you have to write a letter with specific details, and mail it in. You can't sent an email, or fax the letter, or anything else that would be easy in this day and age.
I figured out that assuming my mother was even eligible, the most she could get would be $37.50 and an extended warranty on parts that almost never break. According to the above website, the lawyers get $200 million, plus expenses.
If this is how a class action suit "should be", I want no part of it, and I think it might be best if class action suits are abolished.
