Explosive new claims in an ongoing class action lawsuit concerning the Toyota unintended acceleration saga threaten to land a new blow on the beleaguered automaker and raise new questions about its safety record -- and its integrity.
In court papers filed this week, the plaintiffs claim that Toyota secretly bought back cars from consumers who complained about unintended acceleration, then made them sign non-disclosure agreements to prevent the practice from becoming public. The consumers were also allegedly barred from filing suit against Toyota.
Once the cars were back in Toyota's hands, its technicians successfully replicated the acceleration defect, but failed to inform federal investigators, the plaintiffs say.
The claims come in an amended consolidated complaint filed in the mega-suit being heard in federal court in California. The action consists of over 100 federal suits that were consolidated in April and are now being treated as a single proceeding.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the number of suits and issues involved, the amended complaint -- filed Wednesday -- is over 700 pages long, not including hundreds of additional pages of attached exhibits.
Toyota "tried to cover it up": plaintiffs
By way of example, the lawsuit cites a July 2009 incident at an unnamed Toyota dealership. A service manager at the dealership says that a Toyota Tacoma pickup accelerated from 71 to 95 miles per hour even though his foot was off the pedal, according to an account in The Los Angeles Times.
Toyota "knew it had a problem, but they didn't know the cause of the problem," Steve Berman, the plaintiffs' lead attorney, told the Times. "They maintained their silence and tried to cover it up."
Olivia Alair, a spokeswoman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) told The Detroit Free Press that the agency received the reports from Toyota's dealerships this year "as part of our ongoing investigation of unintended acceleration, but we didn't receive complaints directly from the consumers."
Toyota takes issue with some claims
In a statement, Toyota admitted buying back two cars, but, contrary to the plaintiffs' allegations, claimed that it was not able to replicate the defect in those vehicles.
"As part of our commitment to investigate acceleration concerns, we have voluntarily repurchased other vehicles," company spokesman Brian Lyons said. "The repurchase was not mandatory or directed through an arbitration or court process."
Lyons also said that affected consumers were required to sign a "settlement agreement," relieving Toyota of liability, but that no requirements were made with regard to confidentiality.
The allegations are the latest in a long line of seemingly damning claims about the epic disaster. Lawyers for the plaintiffs have also claimed that Toyota knew of the defect as far back as 2003, and called it "extremely dangerous." And in January, a Toyota executive reportedly urged the company to "come clean" about the defect, warning that Toyota "was not protecting our customers by keeping this quiet."
