September 12, 2023 — A Toyota Tundra fuel line recall has caused a class action lawsuit that alleges 2022-2023 Tundra trucks are at a risk of fires and the Tundra recall is nothing more than a waste of time.
According to the Toyota Tundra fuel line recall, the truck is equipped with a plastic fuel tube that is held in place by a clamp and routed near metallic brake lines at the top of the fuel tank. Plastic Coupling
The clamp can allow the fuel tube to contact the brake line under certain driving conditions.
Over time, vibrations from driving can cause the fuel tube to rub against the brake line, allowing fuel to leak if the fuel tube wall wears through.
As of August 7, 2023, Toyota's engineers knew of 14 technical reports and 27 warranty claims out of 168,000 trucks in the U.S.
When the Tundra fuel line recall was announced, Toyota said it was preparing the parts necessary to fix the trucks. For now as a temporary fix, dealers are to install protective materials and clamps on the fuel tubes.
Once Toyota dealers have replacement parts, dealers will replace the fuel tubes with improved lines and add more clamps.
As part of the fuel line recall, Toyota offers reimbursement to Tundra owners who paid for repairs due to the Tundra fuel lines.
Toyota says Tundra customers will be contacted by October 9, 2023.
The class action lawsuit includes:
"All persons in the United States who purchased or leased any 2022-2023 Toyota Tundra Vehicles."
As with many class action lawsuits, this one wasn't filed until after the automaker announced the recall to repair the vehicles.
The Tundra class action was filed by Mississippi plaintiff Benjamin Murphy who purchased his 2022 Toyota Tundra in September 2022. The plaintiff doesn't allege his Tundra fuel lines leaked, but he asserts his Tundra is "now worthless and unsafe."
In filing the lawsuit for more than $5 million, the plaintiff contends he has been "greatly inconvenienced" by the Tundra recall.
According to the plaintiff, even though Toyota is performing the repairs for free, the repair can allegedly take up to six hours but no less than two hours of his time.
The plaintiff also claims the recall "does not offer any reasonably foreseeable guarantee" the truck will be fixed permanently.
The Tundra fuel line recall will also allegedly cause the trucks to suffer diminished values.
The plaintiff further contends Toyota "does not appear to truly know what is wrong with its vehicles," and it's likely the fuel lines will leak again once they are replaced. The class action alleges the fuel lines will continue to leak until Toyota issues "a more comprehensive recall to truly fix the root cause" of the fuel line leaks.
"Defendant's Recall is no more than a repeatedly ineffective waste of time as there is no true fix for the Fuel Line Defect." — Toyota Tundra fuel line lawsuit
The plaintiff also references the time it will take for repairs.
"Transitioning back to the repair itself, at a bare minimum, this two-hour repair time means that it will take Defendant roughly 340,000 hours to repair the Class Vehicles. In a more comprehensible term, 340,000 hours amounts to 38.8 years."
And according to the plaintiff, he must spend time and money to transport himself and his defective truck to a Toyota dealership.
But then the plaintiff argues he will be faced "with another difficult expense, the price of towing his vehicle," which he has estimated to be $237.50.
"Given the additional time it takes for a tow truck to arrive, roughly thirty minutes, Plaintiff's total time spent solely on transporting his vehicle amounts to three hours, unless of course one is to assume that Plaintiff drives his potentially explosive Class Vehicle to the dealership." — Toyota Tundra class action
According to the class action lawsuit, the Toyota Tundra fuel line recall, "amounts to tens of thousands of hours and dollars needlessly taken from Plaintiff and other Class Vehicle owners."
The Toyota Tundra fuel line class action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas (Lufkin Division): Benjamin Murphy v. Toyota Motor North America Inc.
The plaintiff is represented by Provost Umphrey Law Firm, LLP, and Poulin | Willey | Anastopoulo.
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