— Subaru Solterra and Toyota bZ4x dead 12v batteries caused two class action lawsuits that were consolidated into one, but Subaru and Toyota argue the plaintiffs don't have a claim to stand on.
Included in the 12v dead battery class action lawsuit are 2023-2025 Subaru Solterra and 2023-2025 Toyota bZ4x electric vehicles.
The Toyota bZ4X and Subaru Solterra are electric SUVs equipped with high voltage rechargeable batteries that power the vehicles.
But standard 12v batteries operate switches between the high voltage EV batteries and the drive motors, and those separate 12v batteries also power the windshield wipers, lights, power windows and seats, and the air conditioning.
According to the lawsuit, Subaru Solterra dead 12v battery problems are as bad as Toyota bZ4X dead 12v batteries because the vehicles are built with the same powertrains and platforms.
The customers who sued contend their 12-volt batteries drained and died because the “the 12-volt charging and battery systems in [their vehicles] are defective.”
Motion to Dismiss the Subaru/Toyota Dead 12v Battery Lawsuit
The plaintiffs have filed a class action lawsuit representing vehicles nationwide, but Toyota and Subaru argue the plaintiffs cannot represent customers in states "to which they have no connection," which means the "claims are fundamentally flawed."
In the motion to dismiss, both automakers contend the identical claims are only "conclusory allegations" from customers who purchased different vehicles at different times, in different states and from different dealerships.
The class action lawsuit allegedly simply fails to plausibly allege a defect in the Subaru and Toyota 12-volt batteries. In addition, the automakers argue "speculative allegations of symptoms and effects are insufficient."
While the lawsuit alleges the dead 12v battery problems make the vehicles "unmerchantable," Toyota told the judge 12v battery problems were taken care of by dealerships.
One 2023 Toyota bZ4X owner complained about a dead 12v battery, in fact he says he dealt with three drained and dead batteries. One battery was jump-started without issue and two were replaced free of charge and under warranty.
Another plaintiff complains the 2024 Toyota bZ4X 12v battery died several times and each time he was able to either jump start his vehicle or he received a free replacement battery. A Toyota dealer told him that to prevent against potential battery drain, he should remove his profile from the Toyota app servers and to delete the Toyota app connected to the vehicle.
Toyota notes he "does not allege a problem since doing so."
Other plaintiffs describe similar dead 12v battery problems, including problems with the Toyota app and drained batteries. But Toyota says the plaintiffs do not provide any facts about the Toyota app theory or explain how it constitutes a battery defect.
According to Toyota, the plaintiffs never claim they performed any testing on their vehicles or that anyone told them their 12-volt batteries have defects.
"Apart from listing effects, Plaintiffs do not explain how that is so, including what component constitutes the purported defect or how it causes the inadequate charging or draining. Plaintiffs must identify 'specific components or systems containing the alleged defect and allege[] facts that plausibly and causally connect[] the allegedly defective components or systems to specific observed problems or symptoms.'" — Toyota
Toyota also argues under a section of the class action titled, “The Battery Defect,” the plaintiffs list only "effects" but not any specific supposed defect.
And Toyota told the judge all fraud claims should be dismissed because the allegations are not specific enough to support those claims.
"Plaintiffs do not identify what about the 12-volt battery design is allegedly defective, including what particular component parts of the 12-volt battery do not work, why they malfunctioned (or that they malfunctioned due to a purported defect), or how they failed to interact with the electrical system to drain the batteries."
According to the 12v dead battery lawsuit, Toyota knew about the alleged battery problems because technical service bulletins were issued to dealerships. But Toyota argues it's all nonsense because the TSBs don't mention anything about 12v battery defects.
"One TSB pertains to pre-delivery services that dealerships should perform before a vehicle is sold to a consumer. The other TSB addresses the best practices for dealerships to follow when they store 2024 vehicles off-site because '[l]ong-term or off-site storage requires special care to keep vehicles factory fresh and ready for delivery.'” — Toyota's motion to dismiss
The Subaru and Toyota 12v dead battery lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California (Sacramento Division): John Wade v. Toyota Motor North America Inc., et al.
The plaintiffs are represented by Keller Rohrback L.L.P., Shub Johns & Holbrook LLP, and Wittels McInturff Palikovic.