Could I Sue Toyota Dealer for this? Possible Negligence in Free Recall Service

This is not the correct website to be seeking legal advice.

 

Not legal advise, but financial advice.

Unless you are legally skilled or an attorney, yourself, suing Toyota will cost you at least three times what you paid to have your car repaired.

As Dirty Harry asked, "Do you feel lucky?

Check your warranty. It should state that a salvaged title absorbs Toyota of any warranty.

 

A lot of insurance companies will not write policies for "salvaged title" vehicles.

States also have such regulations.

Even the UK MOT will not certify such a vehicle for road use.

 

I would submit a claim in writing to Toyota corporate for reimbursement. The servicing dealer has little say on this issue. If this was a "recall", the branding of the title really shouldn't affect you getting it serviced. If it's a "warranty" item, then a rebuilt title car would not get any type of free warranty work.

 

Many warranties are voided when the OEM components are modified.

Many shops a/d/or dealers will refuse to work on such vehicles, since just trying to figure out what was modified and the mistakes that may have been made may result in an extraordinary amount of troubleshooting hours.

That's why, with modern cars, I would only recommend only reversible cosmetic mods.

 

You can and might get some credit without regard to a very slim chance.

If you don't submit a claim, the answer is a 100% No!

 

I believe with a recall, they have to assume the equipment that's being recalled is original if there is no proof the recall item has been replaced.

But in this case, I believe it's not a safety recall, it's more of an extended warranty on the inverter. So he may get denied on his claim to Corporate. But I would still try, the worst answer is NO and that's exactly where you're at now.

 

The link is for "Safety Recall 20TA10" which is for a software update in the inverter. It is not for repair or replacement of the inverter.

 

The Toyota communications that do apply to the OP's situation are:

23TE02 23TE03

Between them, they both cover any Prius built from late January 2009 (model year 2010) through late November 2015 (model year 2015), and any Prius v built from late August 2011 (model year 2012) through late November 2017 (model year 2017).

There is no mileage limitation and the coverage extends to 20 years from the date of first use.

If the trouble codes include P0A94, P0A1A, P324E, or P3004, the coverage falls under 23TE03; if they include P0A7A or P0A78, or the cause was a "thermal event", or the cause is unclear and can't be shown not to have been a "thermal event", the coverage falls under 23TE02. The unlimited mileage and 20-year window are the same for both coverages, and the repairs are the same, so the two different coverages only help keep statistics on which kind of thing went wrong.

In this case, the OP has P0A94 and P324E, triggering coverage under 23TE03, and also P0A7A, triggering coverage under 23TE02, Either coverage on its own would be enough to cover the repair.

Both coverages were also clarified, as of June 2023, to confirm that they do apply to cars that have had salvage, total loss, true mileage unknown, or other similar titles. (That's better than some of the normal warranty coverages, which don't apply then.) The clarification was highlighted in red in the update, like this:



"A few weeks ago" sounds like after June 2023, so it seems to me the dealership ought to have understood the coverage applied.

 

so maybe take that document into the dealership and ask to speak with the service manager (not a lowly adviser) to straighten all this out

 

That link is still about an earlier recall that would have updated some of the car's firmware.

For the customer service programs that should have covered your hardware repair, see the links in #14.

 

From what I recall reading through toyotapriusinvertersettlement.com
Remy McCarthy, et al., v. Toyota Motor Corp., et al.
Remy McCarthy, et al., v. Toyota Motor Corp., et al.

You must fill out the appeal form: Appeal Form

@ChapmanF is correct, salvage title vehicles are covered now. Best to submit the appeal form with the required documents.

SM-A536V ?

 

Note the deadline on the http://www.toyotapriusinvertersettlement.com site. Both of the documents linked in #14 instruct the dealer who denied your coverage to give you a copy of the repair order with appeal instructions on it:

Before coverage under this program is denied, Toyota dealers must contact [email protected] to confirm if coverage, loaner or towing should be denied. If it is confirmed that the vehicle should be denied coverage, the dealer must provide a copy of the repair order to the vehicle owner/lessee with the following verbiage:

“To appeal the denial of a loaner, tow or repair related to the Inverter and/or IPM, you must submit an Appeal Form, which can be found at http://www.toyotapriusinvertersettlement.com. Your appeal must be submitted within 45 days from the date of this document.”​

If the dealer did what they were s'posed to do and gave you a copy of the repair order with that on it, then naturally, your appeal must be filed within 45 days of them giving you that.

If they didn't give you that, your appeal must be filed within a year of them denying you coverage.