One of California’s largest dealers says that Toyota Prius vehicles that were part of a 2016 recall to fix a key electronic component haven’t been repaired because they are still overheating and losing power, stranding drivers in traffic. According to a news report in the Los Angeles Times, Toyota said the problem in the model years 2010-2014 had been taken care of with a software change.
Lawsuit Over Unresolved Defect by Toyota
However, Roger Hogan, whose family owns Claremont Toyota and Capistrano Toyota, says he has seen more than 100 post-recall failures. He has warned customers about the issue and has refused to resell used Prius vehicles he’d gotten as trade-ins. Today, he says, 70 of these cars, collectively worth about $1 million, remain parked at his dealerships. Last year, Hogan filed a lawsuit in Orange County Superior Court stating that the Prius hybrid system has an unresolved safety defect that could leave cars without power.
Hogan also filed a complaint with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) investigators, telling the agency in a Dec. 14 letter that lives are being put needlessly at risk because of these unresolved safety defects. Toyota has rejected Hogan’s allegations, saying that his complaint is without merit. Hogan filed his lawsuit alleging breach of contract and fraud. Toyota sought to have the case thrown out, but a judge ruled in December that it could go forward. Trial has been set for January 2019.
Software Didn’t Fix the Problem in the Cars
Toyota’s solution to the problem was to introduce changes to the vehicles’ software. The automaker has not said precisely how the software reduces overheating. Hogan’s suit alleges that the software fix was a cheap way out that did not remedy the safety defect. Martha Anderson, a schoolteacher in South Orange County told the Times that she was driving home from a shopping center when her 2012 Prius, which had the software fix, lost power at a busy intersection in Laguna Niguel.
She was able to pull over into a parking space on a side street. Anderson claimed that when the car lost power, it shook her and made her thankful that she wasn’t on the freeway. Anderson brought the car into Hogan’s dealership, where mechanics found that the inverter had overheated so badly that two holes had been blown through the aluminum case, and the steel bolts had melted. Hogan refuses to sell cars such as Anderson’s because it threatens consumers.
Our auto defect lawyers in Orange County commend Hogan for standing up to Toyota. As attorneys specializing in auto defect cases, we strongly advocate for Toyota to take responsibility and implement a suitable solution for these recalled vehicles. Expecting consumers to drive away in vehicles that could put them in harm’s way is unacceptable.
Source: http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-fi-toyota-prius-defect-20180207-story.html
