Prius Gen 3 and v inverter class action legal settlement

The title of our Prius has both our names (mine and my wife's) on it, so we each got a card.

 

what does 'initialed to' mean?

 

That last bit seems to be saying that the case is settled, stay tuned?

I'm guessing he meant "entitled".

 

I got for both ours.. (for a 2011 Liftback and a 2012V)
IDK what we are supposed to do either... we've already had the 2011 inverter fail at 70k miles.. they did the repair and gave us the rental car to drive...

It lists 4 options, the final option is to File a Claim for Reimbursement.
Since our 1st failure was handled for us,
IDK if we are supposed to submit a claim for any future failures that have not yet happened or not?

It also says the court will hold a hearing on Jan 23rd, 2023 to hear any objections, determine if the settlement is fair, and considered the Settlement Special Masters recommendations that the Class Counsel be awarded $19.6 million..

I'm confused as to why we don't get something from Toyota directly for this news?

At some point, I'm expecting the V to fail, it has 40k more miles than the Liftback... but who really knows I guess.

 

For Reference;
Here is the information (.pdf) from the QR code on the card. IDK if valid only in the US (or Canada too?)

I'm gathering that we will basically have a 20 year warranty on the inverter once this is settled.
and that the dealership will have to honor it.. or ???

See attached

 

You do nothing to qualify for a free repair if and when it breaks. There is an option to refuse the enhanced coverage. That would be foolish. Keep the card protected in the glove box.

Toyota would do the repair or in some cases reimburse a qualified independent if the work was already done.

 

I agree, don't refuse..
Thanks for the advise and we can hope for the best..
Prior to this, I was thinking that with already having 1 failure at 70k, that I'd need to plan to unload it before it hit 15 years..
we like the car(s) otherwise, and this will allow for us to keep it a little longer and not fret..

 

@rjparker , this is amazing: 2012 Prius v Model 3 (425,000 km July 2022 and not used for work)

 

It is kilometers, not US miles. I converted it for the Canadians in the crowd with their low mileage garage queens. But it is a lot of miles (265,000) which were piled on from 2012-2019. So I was having problems before most of these guys changed oil four times. Antenna preamp before Toyota could test it. Inverter and brake booster before the v wagon qualified. Oil consumption after the powertrain warranty expired but before most had heard of it. Since then I have an independent mechanic who makes a living fixing Prius as a specialty. He has a crate of cleaned up egr coolers. Brake booster and head gaskets failures weekly. Plus a dealer mechanic friend who sees gen3 issues every week. Both have defaulted to rebuilt engines to resolve the root cause of Prius engine failures. Piston Rings.

 

WOW... I did realize kilometers and not miles, but still a lot as you note.
So, double WOW,
the Antenna preamp? (like maybe why my Sirius Radio reception on the V failed a few years ago?) FM still works... so I left it.

the Brake Booster? Is that why I'd still burning up front brake pads on the drivers side? The dealer wasn't as anxious to condem the front calipers, it's going back on Monday (again) $700 later..

the oil consumption.. I have had to add a QT every 10k miles if I want to keep it on the marks.. but I haven't done anything (yet) with the egr cooler you mentioned.. <sigh> both cars are still running okay other than the inverter failure on the 2011 liftback. (to be fair, I was on the accelerator a little hard when it failed, but still I had it in ECO mode)

 

Exactly. I posted a multipage repair pdf years ago. What burned me was the dealer's "News to me" attitude and they did not even want to price the part. Went to another dealer who said they would check into it. Crickets. All while the car was still under warranty. Often the dealer service advisers and managers are the least qualified in the building. Simon and Garfunkle made a song predicting this dealer behavior. The Sound of Silence.

Doubtful. More likely bad workmanship. The brake booster will code.

One quart every 10,000 oil consumption is fine but its not so good if you are getting oil changes at 10k miles. A quart every 1200 miles or worse was the Toyota requirement for warranty replacement of pistons and rings. They updated pistons and rings in new production by mid 2014.

Oil is consumed in all engines. Some of the consumption is hidden by fuel and condensate accumulating in the oil. Without serious high load operation on a regular basis, the fuel and condensate does not evaporate off. Makes it look like the garage queen is perfect. Add oil to the burn and you increase blowby and end up with muck in the intake and carbon everywhere including the infamous priuschat mantra, the egr cooler. Uma, uma, uma; egr, egr, egr.

Oil changes at 5,000 miles early on and repeated religiously is the only real help short of new rings. Before things are clogged up.

 

Yeah sorry my brain spazed out meant entitled to

 

Talk about unreliable, I've had to change the oil, the tires and the headlight bulb has died twice. 190k miles.

This lawsuit is frivolous. It increases your next cost of vehicle across the board.

 

well, if it didn't cause cars to stall on the highway, possibly causing fatal injuries, i might agree

 

I don't think I've ever owned a car with a guarantee that nothing on it could fail, cause a stall on the highway, or possibly fatal injuries. Especially for people driving it significantly beyond the time and mile limits of its longest original warranty.

 

do you have to file for reimbursement or can the dealers replace the parts and pay the expenses, billing it to toyota?

 

Reimbursement is for someone who already paid for the work.

 

With filters that last forever!

 

Got the postcard as well....so my question is do I have to do anything to have it extended to 20 years, or will it be automatic?

 

Yikes....sorry, see it posted 5 times, and no way to delete. I only wanted to ask once whether have to do anything to get the extension to 20 years on the inverter failure possibility

 

It is automatic. However IF you have already paid out of pocket for this repair, THEN you want to register for reimbursement. Exactly how it reads.

Bonus information not on the postcard
Toyota is already covering it for 15 year unlimited miles. For a 2011 that means through 2026. Now its 2031.