Federal Court finds Toyota misled customers on DPF defect

Toyota Australia may be forced to pay billions of dollars to customers affected by a mass defect on selected diesel models.

The Federal Court has found an ongoing and widespread problem with diesel particulate filters (DPF) fitted to some Toyota diesel vehicles reduced their value, opening the door for compensation to be paid to hundreds of thousands of owners.

The Honourable Justice Lee said Toyota Australia’s “conduct in marketing the vehicles as being of acceptable quality was misleading”.

In total, 264,170 vehicles built between October 1, 2015, and April 23, 2020 were affected by the issue, across HiLux, Fortuner, and LandCruiser Prado model ranges.

The defect is relevant specifically to cars fitted with either a 2.4-litre ‘2GD-FTV’ or 2.8-litre ‘1GD-FTV’ turbo-diesel four-cylinder engine.

3

The DPF assembly – designed to reduce harmful exhaust emissions – was found to become clogged or blocked, stopping the system from working, and instead creating a “range of consequences including emission of foul-smelling white smoke, the display of excessive DPF notifications, and the need to have the vehicle inspected, serviced and repaired”.

Fuel consumption was also found to have increased when the issue arose.

Toyota’s defence team argued the issues didn’t affect the operation of the vehicles, and drivers were still able to drive from A to B safely, as the DPF system was not essential.

However, the Honourable Justice Lee wholly rejected the arguments, writing “[Toyota’s] attempt to downplay the significance of the core defect and the defect consequences does not withstand scrutiny”.

Despite owners arguing the defects reduced car values by 25 per cent, Justice Lee deemed a 17.5 per cent reduction in the average retail value to be appropriate.

3

“We are in the process of reviewing the court's judgement,” a spokesperson for Toyota Australia told WhichCar.

“At every step, we believe that we have implemented customer focused and technically grounded remedies to resolve customers’ concerns,” they said in a statement.

“Toyota will carefully consider the initial trial judgement before making any further comment.”

The court’s final orders will be handed down in the coming weeks.