Toyota agreed to settle a class action lawsuit for $3.4 billion to U.S. pickup truck and SUV owners who claimed their vehicle frames lacked adequate rust protection that could effect structural integrity.
The settlement will cover about 1.5 million vehicles and applies to Tacoma trucks made from 2005 to 2010, Sequoias from 2005 to 2008 and Tundras from 2007 to 2008, whose frames were supplied by Dana Holding Corp.
The price tag of replacing or refurbishing a frame? Around $15,000 per vehicle. And Toyota is willing to pay that, if "eligible" after a 12 year vehicle inspection from initial sale or lease date.
"Probably about 15 percent of the frames that get inspected will end up needing to be replaced," Timothy Blood of Blood Hurst & O'Reardon in San Diego, one of three law firms in two states that successfully sued Toyota, told Automotive News. "There are a lot of steps to it. And it is labor-intensive."
Replacing the frame is big job by many standards. The labor-intensive job can require multiple technicians, more than one service bay and a hydraulic lift to disassemble the vehicle, replace the frame and reassemble the vehicle.
This video shows the a frame replacement of a Toyota Tacoma uploaded to Youtube by user Lee Auto Mall: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibfjzXwY8GE
“We want our customers to have a great ownership experience, so we are pleased to resolve this litigation in a way that benefits them and demonstrates that we stand behind the quality and reliability of our vehicles,” Toyota said in a statement, according to the Los Angeles Times.
