Toyota Motor has become involved in a diesel engine scandal: in Australia, it is accused of selling cars with faulty particulate filters. The company has been sued in a class-action lawsuit that could pay out more than $1.5 billion. The Federal Court of Australia ruled in the case - found the claims of the plaintiffs justified.
Presumably defective particulate filters were installed on Hilux pickups, as well as Fortuner and Land Cruiser Prado SUVs sold between October 2015 and April 2020. In total - 264,000 cars.
Particulate filters are metal cylinders with a ceramic honeycomb structure inside. They are designed to capture the smallest soot particles that appear during the combustion of diesel fuel. To remove accumulated soot, a regeneration process (that is, burning soot) is provided. It was with this that the filters used had problems: the honeycombs clogged, the flow of exhaust gases became difficult, the power dropped, and fuel consumption increased.
On Toyotas, automatic filter burning did not work. In 2018, the company began installing a button on its vehicles to activate manual regeneration.
A federal court ruling Thursday said Toyota customers purchased defective vehicles, causing their value to drop 17.5% from the average retail price, or more than $5,230.
At the same time, some motorists may also qualify for a larger payment if they prove that they had to take time off from work to fix the car. For example, federal judge Michael Lee ordered Toyota to pay Prado owner Kenneth Williams $9,846 in damages.
The judge said the buyer had a right to expect that the car was in good condition when he bought it. Since this turned out not to be the case, it is likely that the client would not have paid the same price if he knew about the shortcomings.
The lawyers who filed the class-action lawsuit noted that if all victims demanded damages, the total amount of compensation would exceed $1.5 billion.
A spokesman for Toyota did not comment on the ruling. While lawyers are studying the decision of the court. The company can still appeal.
Toyota may pay $1.5 billion for faulty diesel particulate filters
