Toyota Prius headlight class action suit settled

Toyota has announced that they have come to terms in a class-action suit filed by around 2,500 2006-2009 Toyota Prius owners who were having problems with the car’s HID headlights.

The exact terms of the settlement have not been disclosed but according to the LA Times, Toyota will reimburse owners of the 2006-2009 Prius models affected by the problem for past replacements along with extending the warranty on those items from 3-year/36,000 mile to 5-year/50,000 miles. Although the class-action suit only includes around 2,500 Toyota Prius owners, the lawyers for the plaintiffs claim that 320,000 vehicles could be affected by this recall and should the majority of them come forward, this could end of costing the automaker “10s of millions of dollars”.

A quick search of a few auto parts websites suggested that the HID headlights in the 2006-2009 Toyota Prius cost around $125 to replace, so two of them would set you back around $250 (give or take – its likely much more at a dealership). Figure, if 2/3rds of the owners come forward, that is roughly 211,200 people and if Toyota is ONLY reimbursing people for one set of headlights (again, this is 100% speculation for this example), 211,200 people at $250 a pop would be almost $53 million. No dollar value has been stated or suggested with any real background but considering the cost of the parts, I would consider $250 per car to be a very conservative estimate – highlighting how much money Toyota stands to lose over this Prius headlight issue.

The good side for Toyota is that with this settlement, they can most likely put the 2006-2009 Toyota Prius HID headlight problem to rest. This means no court hearings, no recall and once again, they can keep with their claims of no wrongdoing involving another quality control issue. Should more terms of this settlement become available, TorqueNews.com will keep you updated!

Other Toyota News:
Bundled Toyota unintended acceleration lawsuits to begin in 2013
Dana Corp ordered to pay Toyota $25m for frame rust issues
Seven insurance companies suing Toyota for unintended acceleration accidents

Source: LA Times