— A ToyotaCare Plus lawsuit has been put on hold because Toyota argues the plaintiff signed a valid arbitration agreement.
ToyotaCare Plus is a maintenance plan offered by Toyota that will allegedly pay for scheduled services at specific mileage periods.
According to Toyota's advertising, ToyotaCare Plus will cost about $1,000, but paying for separate maintenance services will allegedly cost $1,900. Toyota says a typical service visit will cost $100 and other service visits may cost $400 each.
The ToyotaCare Plus lawsuit alleges a customer will be better off by paying for the services separately and out-of-pocket than purchasing the ToyotaCare Plus plan.
Plaintiff Teresa Solis paid $1,025 for the ToyotaCare Plus plan, but she contends Toyota performed scheduled maintenance too early or allegedly simply skipped the service.
For example, the class action alleges the plaintiff took her vehicle to a dealership for the 20,000 mile scheduled maintenance service but technicians allegedly performed the 30,000 mile service.
And the plaintiff asserts the "major service" Toyota originally said would cost about $400 in fact cost about $200.
She also claims another service visit was $30 when Toyota's ToyotaCare Plus brochure said it would cost $100. According to the plaintiff, she could have paid the bill herself and saved money by not using the maintenance plan.
"Ultimately, Ms. Solis realized she would have only paid between $800 and $900 – less than the total price she paid for the Maintenance Plan." — ToyotaCare Plus lawsuit
The cost of replacement cabin and air filters was also allegedly not covered by the ToyotaCare Plus plan.
Toyota responded to the class action lawsuit by telling the judge the plaintiff had no right to file the ToyotaCare Plus lawsuit because she signed a valid arbitration agreement. Toyota argued her claims about the maintenance plan must be argued in front of an arbitrator, not a federal district court judge.
After hearing arguments from Toyota and the plaintiff, Judge Dana M. Sabraw ruled in favor of Toyota and granted its motion to compel arbitration and stay (pause temporarily or indefinitely) the class action lawsuit pending arbitration.
The ToyotaCare Plus lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California: Teresa Solis v. Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc., et al.
The plaintiff is represented by Singleton Schreiber.