Toyota Faces Up To $1.5 Billion Payout To Owners Over Diesel Lawsuit In Australia | Carscoops
Court rules Toyota must compensate the owners of more than 200,000 vehicles in Australia over bad particular filters
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Toyota was accused of installing faulty diesel particulate filters in a class-action lawsuit. The suit covers more than 264,000 Hilux, Fortuner, and Prado vehicles sold between October 2015 and April 2020.
Diesel particulate filters are designed to burn off harmful pollutants before they leave the vehicle’s tailpipe but faulty ones were found to allow foul-smelling white smoke to make its way into the air. Per the class action, the bad part also decreased fuel efficiency while increasing wear and tear on the engine.
The court found, reduced the value of affected vehicles by around 17.5 percent on average, which amounts to more than AU$7,000 ($5,230 USD) per vehicle. Some drivers may, in addition, be entitled to more compensation if they had to take time off work to fix their vehicles or for the lost fuel efficiency. If all impacted drivers claim their damages, the total that Toyota is forced to pay out will amount to more than $2 billion AUD ($1.5 billion USD).
How did they work those numbers, and I wonder how much Toyota will reduce the costs on an appeal?