Toyota USA sued for hiking maintenance costs

A plaintiff in a putative class action claims Toyota U.S.A. exaggerated the cost of out-of-pocket maintenance services in order to inflate the value of an alternative prepaid plan it offers. The prepaid plan covers costs over a set number of years and/or accumulated mileage, according to the lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court in San Diego.

"Any of us who've purchased a vehicle knows when you sit in a room and these car companies make promises to you about how you're going to be better off if you buy the maintenance up front, or if you buy certain insurances and things like that, you want to feel like you can trust those folks as a consumer. ... Our lawsuit alleges that you can't in this particular instance," the plaintiff's attorney, Singleton Schreiber LLP partner Christopher R. Rodriguez, said in a phone call Friday.

In the complaint, Rodriguez wrote, "Consumers have been misled, induced, and defrauded into spending money and thus harmed by defendants' fraudulent misrepresentations and false advertising."

"Toyota profited from the sale of the maintenance plan by collecting more charges on the increased loan amount, monthly payment and finance charges than they would have received had consumers opted instead to pay for scheduled services individually at the time of those services," the lawsuit stated. Teresa Solis v. Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. et al., 3:24-CV-00251 (S.D. Cal., filed Feb. 7, 2024).

A head of Toyota's corporate communications, Ed Hellwig, said in an email Friday, "We cannot comment on pending litigation."

According to Toyota's website, its prepaid ToyotaCare maintenance plans are offered in different tiers at specific mileage intervals of up to five years from the initial purchase. The plans cover services as an alternative to individually scheduled maintenance appointments a Toyota owner would have to otherwise pay for out of pocket per visit.

On behalf of the plaintiff and putative nationwide class, Rodriguez's lawsuit claimed eight causes of action against Toyota and its credit corporation: unjust enrichment, fraud, negligent misrepresentation, breach of contract, the Magnuson-Moss Act, the Lanham Act and California Business and Professions Code, Sections 17200 and 17500.

According to the lawsuit, in 2020, the named plaintiff claims a Toyota salesperson told her each scheduled service costs $400 per visit, out of pocket, and that she'd be saving approximately $875 with ToyotaCare. As a result, she claimed she paid $1,025 for a five-year, 55,000-mile plan, which covered services for every 5,000 miles, the lawsuit stated.

However, in 2022, the plaintiff claimed, invoices the dealership billed to Toyota had only been charging her $210 per visit. "Plaintiff also learned that had she walked in as a cash customer, she would have been billed $380 dollars -- again, less than the purported $400 value," the lawsuit continued.

Once the plaintiff's plan ended last year, she calculated that she would have only paid a total of $900 for services on her car had she not been a ToyotaCare member.

The plaintiff also claims she did not receive the full coverage of her mileage plan before it ended when a Toyota service employee last year told her she only had one visit left following a 45,000-mile checkup, according to the lawsuit.

"Plaintiff was confused, as her maintenance plan was supposed to cover her car up to 55,000 miles, not 50,000 miles, and all services were supposed to be included," the lawsuit stated.