Florida Couple Wins against Toyota in Lemon Law Case
Is recalling an auto enough to avoid being sued?
Lemon Laws were established to protect car owners, and in some states car leasers, from getting stuck with—or worse, injured or killed by—their recently acquired vehicle. Though unfortunately Lemon Laws cannot always prevent accidents caused by mechanical failure, they can always assist customers in obtaining fair and just compensation. With strong, experienced Lemon Law attorneys at your side, you are well-equipped to succeed in confrontations even with enormous auto companies. A recent case in Hernnado, Florida serves as an example.
Case in Point
After being badly injured by a rear-end collision last year, Bob Kuzniewski, a disabled Air Force veteran, was determined to purchase an automobile with all available up-to-date safety features. He purchased a Toyota Avalon equipped with a pre-collision avoidance system. This car is designed for the brakes to work automatically to avoid impact in dangerous situations.
The safety feature, however, was recalled last November because the supposed “safety” feature was engaging at inappropriate times. The recall was for 30,000 vehicles from 2013 to 2015, including Avalon, Avalon Hybrid, Lexus ES250 and ES300h sedans.
Kuzniewski first knew he had a problem when his new car “interpreted a manhole cover as a threat.” Since, as Kuzniewski put it, “People were getting rear-ended,” he brought his car back to his Toyota dealership. According to his account, the dealership did not explain the difficulty and, instead of repairing the problem, simply turned off the malfunctioning system. Once they disabled the collision-avoidance system, they put a sticker on his care and advised him not to remove it. Now Bob and his wife were in the position of having paid $1900 for a safety feature that no longer worked. It was at this point that they sought legal assistance and went after Toyota legally, eventually winning a Lemon Law hearing against the automaker.
Obviously, Toyota’s attorney was unhappy with the court’s decision, fearing it made way for more Lemon Law cases resulting from recalls. One of Toyota’s board members made a firm recommendation that Toyota become busier repairing recalls since the only alternative was becoming busier fending off lawsuits.
Results of Winning a Lemon Law Case
In the aftermath of his win against Toyota, Bob Kuzneiswki will be able to return his Avalon for a full refund. He and his wife plan to use the refund money for purchasing another car. You can bet, however, that their next vehicle will not be a Toyota. Kuzneiswki says that he might have reacted differently if Toyota had taken responsibility and settled out of court. “They didn’t have to go and threaten us with attorneys and engineers,” he said.
If you find yourself with a car that is a “lemon” don’t try to fight against a large auto manufacturer alone. Instead, make the wise decision to hire one of our high power attorneys to fight your case through litigation or negotiation. You pay nothing unless we are successful. We focus exclusively on such cases and are highly experienced in the field. You can count on us to make the best deal possible; we always do.