Toyota Class Action distribution scheme

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Welcome to the portal for group members of the class action relating to certain Toyota HiLux, Prado and Fortuner diesel vehicles.

November 2024

High Court of Australia confirms entitlement to damages for the reduction in value of the Relevant Vehicles

On 6 November 2024, the High Court of Australia delivered an important judgment in favour of the applicants (and Group Members) in this class action. 

The High Court upheld an appeal filed by the applicants (on behalf of Group Members) from an earlier judgment of the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia and dismissed Toyota’s appeal from the Full Court’s judgment.  

The following key findings were not challenged on appeal to the High Court and remain binding on the applicant, Group Members and Toyota:

  • The Relevant Vehicles were not of acceptable quality because they were fitted with a defective diesel particulate filter (DPF) system;
  • Toyota engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct in connection with marketing and selling the Relevant Vehicles; and
  • the value of the Relevant Vehicles at the time they were initially supplied was reduced because of their defective DPF systems.

However, the High Court held that in assessing the amount of damages (money) for reduction in value that eligible Group Members are entitled to be paid, it is necessary to take into account the fact that, by the time of trial, an effective repair for the defect existed. 

Given this, the High Court has returned the matter to the trial judge, Justice Lee, for his Honour to reassess the amount of damages (money) for reduction in value that eligible Group Members are entitled to be paid, taking into account the fact that, by the time of trial, an effective repair for the defect existed. 

Importantly, the High Court also found that Group Members who have sold (or who sell) their Relevant Vehicle are no longer entitled to receive damages for reduction in value under section 272(1)(a) of the Australian Consumer Law. Accordingly, if you sell your Relevant Vehicle, you will lose any entitlement to reduction in value damages that you may otherwise have under section 272(1)(a) of the Australian Consumer Law.  However, these Group Members may still be entitled to receive money to compensate them for:

  • any loss or damage they suffered because of the misleading or deceptive conduct which Toyota engaged in in connection with marketing and selling the Relevant Vehicles; and
  • any reasonably foreseeable consequential losses they suffered as a result of the Relevant Vehicles not being of acceptable quality. These losses might include any excess GST, stamp duty, luxury car tax and/or financing charges Group Members paid as a result of having overpaid for their Relevant Vehicles and any income Group Members lost as a result of having to take time off work to have the DPF system in their Relevant Vehicle serviced, inspected or repaired.

The class action has been listed for case management on 29 January 2025.  It is anticipated that at that hearing, orders will be made providing for steps to be taken to prepare the class action for a hearing at which the matters which remain to be determined can be determined. A further update will be posted to the Toyota Class Action Website and this Group Member Registration Portal following the January 2025 hearing.

A more detailed update about the High Court’s judgment and the next stages of the class action are available here.

Please note that we will not be responding to individual group member queries at this time. However, your query will be recorded and responded to in due course. 

In the meantime, group members can continue to register their interest to receive damages in the Toyota class action. If you think you are a group member and have not already done so, you can register your interest here.  If you do not register, you will not be able to receive any damages to which you may otherwise be entitled.

Group members who have already submitted their registration forms do not need to do anything else at this stage.  If you have registered, but not yet submitted your completed forms, please do so in order to complete the process.

This is not a scam.

If you are concerned about accessing this portal or registering for the distribution scheme, you can verify that this is a genuine process and obtain further information about the Toyota Class Action and distribution scheme by:

  1. visiting (or searching for) the matter on the Federal Court of Australia’s website (https://www.comcourts.gov.au/file/Federal/P/NSD1210/2019/actions);
  2. visiting the website managed by the lawyers running the Class Action, Quinn Emanuel (https://www.toyotaclassaction.com.au/); or
  3. visiting Toyota Australia’s website (https://www.toyota.com.au/support/dpfinformation).

It has been brought to our attention that scammers are impersonating Deloitte and are attempting to collect personal and/or confidential data. Please be advised that Deloitte will not be contacting individuals by phone asking for personal and/or confidential data. Any requests for additional information will be sent via the message function on the Group Member Portal.