Singleton Schreiber filed a class action lawsuit in California federal court alleging Toyota Motor Sales greatly misrepresented the cost savings of maintenance plans to consumers. The suit alleges the value of the maintenance plans were inflated and designed by Toyota to cost consumers more than if they had simply paid for repairs and maintenance out of pocket.
According to the release, the ToyotaCare Plus brochure lays out the timeframe for regular service visits to the dealership for maintenance. Toyota sold the package by telling consumers they would save hundreds of dollars. The brochure claimed regular service visits cost $100 and any major service visits would cost $400. They represented the total value of their maintenance package at $1,900 and sold it to consumers for $1025. Teresa Solis paid for the ToyotaCare Plus package cost of $1,025 thinking she would be saving $875 in the long run.
However, as time went on it became quickly apparent to Ms. Solis and other consumers that the $1,900 value was far from accurate. For example, when she took her car into the Carlsbad Toyota dealership, certain work was being performed ahead of schedule or skipped altogether.
According to the complaint:
- In January of 2022, Ms. Solis brought her car in for a 20,000-mile regular service but Toyota did not perform the 20,000-mile service and instead performed the service scheduled for 30,000 miles. The bill for this “major service” was roughly $200, not the $400 she was told it would be.
- In July of 2022, when she brought the vehicle in for the 30,000 major service, she was given the 35,000 regular service and the bill came to $30 (not the $100 she was sold). Had she paid out of pocket, it would have been just $43.
- Ultimately, Ms. Solis realized she would have only paid between $800 and $900 – less than the total price she paid for the Maintenance Plan.
The complaint alleges this overstating of the maintenance package value is a consistent theme for countless car-buyers who were sold the same plan, which was Toyota’s intent to maximize profits by implementing the program.
“Not only were these people sold a bill of goods, they had to pay interest on it,” said attorney Chris Rodriguez of Singleton Schreiber. “These plans are packaged into the car loan, so that $1,025 Ms. Solis paid is actually quite a bit more than that over the course of the loan. We’re bringing this suit to hold Toyota accountable for the ways in which these people were ripped off.”
The case is Teresa Solis et al. v. Toyota Motor Sales, U.S. District Court Southern District of California, Case No. 24CV0251 DMS DEB.
About Singleton Schreiber
With over 80 attorneys and 300 support staff and offices in California, Hawai'i, Colorado, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, and Utah, Gerald Singleton and his team have represented more than 26,000 victims of utility fires and recovered approximately $2.5 billion in settlements and verdicts for its clients. The firm is also a premier personal injury firm led by Brett Schreiber, having obtained top results for clients, including more than $100 million in verdicts and settlements in the last 12 months alone.
