Legal News

There are many Toyota customers who are getting red in the face over declining blue book values they feel have been caused by the recalls recently plaguing Toyota. Some are suing the carmaker over their economic loss.

ABC News reports that P. Tim Howard, a Northeastern University law professor, wants to gain class action status for various lawsuits that are pending against Toyota for the dip in Toyota resale value. He told ABC News that the economic loss sustained by Toyota owners is estimated at more than $2 billion dollars in resale value. He said that there have been over a dozen economic loss lawsuits filed so far.

And these owners may be just the beginning of a wave of lawsuits.

According to Kelley Blue Book's Director of Vehicle Valuation, Mr. Juan Flores, the recalls were predicted to cause a drop in Toyota resale value. He said: "On the used-car values side of the business, Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com would not be surprised if there was some incremental softening in Toyota values among the models that are two or three years into their product cycle and in need of a refresh."

ABC News reports that there will be a hearing on March 25, 2010 in order to decide whether or not to consolidate the lawsuits into one class action lawsuit against Toyota. Consolidating the lawsuits into one class action is a way for plaintiffs to merge their efforts and minimize the workload on the courts. Richard Cupp, a law professor at Pepperdine University told ABC News: "If plaintiffs lawyers can band together, that gives them a lot more resources to pool their strengths and ... fight closer on the same terms than a big manufacturer like Toyota could."

So far, Toyota has not commented on this effort to seek class action status. 

Related Resources:

• NHTSA, Toyota Have Been Looking at Unintended Acceleration for Years (FindLaw's Common Law)
• Toyota Accused of Playing Down Toyota Defects in Safety (FindLaw's Injured)
• Toyota Recalls and Sales Halt Indicate Potential Safety Hazards (FindLaw's Common Law)
• Vehicle Defect Recalls (provided by Solomon & Relihan, P.C.)