Toyota Motor Corporation continues to work its way through a veritable slog of litigation tied to the avalanche of recalls and injuries stemming from its so-called “unintended acceleration” lawsuits in the United States.
Tragically, some outcomes of car accidents in which sudden acceleration was at issue resulted in fatal or serious personal injuries. The recall associated with the problem and assorted other issues exceeded 10 million vehicles and affected consumers in every state of the country, including Ohio.
The personal injury and wrongful death litigation continues its progression through the courts, with the very first case just recently coming to trial. Another aspect associated with the unwanted-acceleration has just reached closure, after lengthy negotiations and settlement maneuvering.
Specifically, that relates to the compensation that a huge pool of Toyota owners has been demanding for several years. Their complaint: Vehicles they owned that were noted in the recall were especially difficult to sell or trade in for reasonable value, given the pricing hit they took owing to negative publicity.
A judge overseeing a class-action suit has just given his stamp of approval on a settlement that seeks to compensate those prior owners for the diminution of value they suffered when parting with their vehicles.
In earlier stages of the negotiations, Toyota had offered $1.1 billion to settle issues relating to repair problems and losses in value on sold and traded-in vehicles. The final settlement amount last week upped that amount to $1.6 billion.
Representatives for the plaintiffs termed the agreement a “landmark” settlement.
Source: Cars Guide, “Class action against Toyota settled for $1.6b,” Richard Read, July 22, 2013