On November 18, 2009, we filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, Case Number 09-cv-08478, on behalf of concerned Toyota and Lexus (“Toyota”) car owners which alleges that the electronic throttle control system (“ECT”) installed in Toyota vehicles is defective and can result in unintended and uncontrollable acceleration of the vehicle. The suit further alleges that beginning in the 2001 model year, Toyota eliminated any mechanical linkage between the accelerator and throttle, and further failed to install precautionary failsafe measures that would override the throttle when the brakes were applied. Toyota recently announced that it will include such a failsafe system in vehicles manufactured in 2010, but has not announced any intention to retrofit prior model year vehicles. The lawsuit was filed as a class action, and therefore, if you own a Toyota or Lexus vehicle with an ECT and sold within the last four years, you are included in the current definition of the class.

As a putative class member, you need not do anything further at this time to participate in the lawsuit. If you have experienced unintended acceleration in your Toyota or Lexus vehicle, however, it would assist our investigation if you could send us the specific details of your experience, including the approximate date(s) of such event(s), any steps you took to inform anyone of the event(s), and what, if any, communications you had with Toyota regarding the event(s).

Click here to download a copy of
the official complaint document