Salas v. Toyota

A federal court authorized the notice to inform you of a proposed class action settlement. You are NOT being sued. The notice explains the litigation, the Settlement, and your legal rights. Judge Hernan D. Vera of the United States District Court for the Central District of California is overseeing this case and has exclusive jurisdiction over the Settlement. This litigation is known as Alfred Salas et al. v. Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc., Case No. 2:15-cv-08629-HDV-E.

If you have any questions after reviewing this website, you may contact the Settlement Notice Administrator at 1-888-907-6966.

This lawsuit alleges that Toyota designed and sold vehicles with a defective heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system (“HVAC System”). Plaintiffs allege the HVAC Systems in the Subject Vehicles (defined below) cause moisture accumulation, which, in turn, leads to the emission of noxious and foul odors and possibly mold growth.

Toyota denies all claims and allegations of wrongdoing and denies that it violated any law or duty that would give rise to liability. The Court has not decided who is right.

The Settlement applies to model year 2012 to 2015 Toyota Camry XV50 vehicles purchased or leased in California.

To determine whether your vehicle is part of the Settlement, please use the VIN lookup tool here to check the eligibility of your vehicle. If you do not know your VIN, please check the driver’s side dashboard and/or driver’s side door post, which will contain the 17-digit VIN for your vehicle. You should take a photo of the VIN, so you have easy access to the number when you’re filing a claim.

In a class action, people called “plaintiffs” or “class representatives” sue on behalf of other people who have similar claims. All of these people together are known as the “Class” or “Class Members,” and the Court must approve this procedure. When a class action is settled, the Court resolves the issues in the lawsuit for all Class Members, except for those who request to be excluded from (or “opt out” of) the class. Opting out means that you will not receive benefits under the Settlement.

Both sides in the lawsuit agreed to the Settlement to avoid the cost and risk of further litigation, including a potential trial. The Settlement provides benefits to Class Members in exchange for releasing Toyota from liability. The Settlement does not mean that Toyota broke any laws or did anything wrong, and the Court did not decide which side was right. Plaintiffs and the lawyers representing the Class believe that the Settlement is in the best interests of all Class Members.

The notice summarizes the essential terms of the Settlement. The Settlement Agreement sets forth in greater detail the rights and obligations of the parties. You can access the Settlement Agreement and other important case documents here.

You are included in the Class if you are an individual who reside(d) in California and own, lease, or previously owned or leased a Subject Vehicle (as defined in FAQ 3) as of May 31, 2024.

To check whether you have a Subject Vehicle, please enter your Vehicle Identification Number in the VIN lookup tool here.

The following entities and individuals are excluded from the Class:

• Toyota, its officers, directors, employees, and outside counsel; its affiliates and affiliates’ officers, directors, and employees; its distributors and distributors’ officers and directors, and Toyota’s Dealers and their officers and directors;
• Class Counsel and their employees;
• Judicial officers and their immediate family members and associated court staff assigned to this case; and
• Persons who timely and properly exclude themselves from the Class.

For more information, please review the Settlement Agreement available here.

If you are not sure whether you are included in the Class, you may contact the Settlement Notice Administrator at 1-888-907-6966 or use the VIN lookup tool here to determine if your vehicle is part of the Class.

If the Court grants final approval of the Settlement, Plaintiffs and Toyota have agreed that Toyota will provide Class Members with the following benefits:

• Reimbursement for certain reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred on or before May 31, 2024; and
• Up to $100 reimbursement for certain reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred after May 31, 2024.

To receive the compensation benefits, you must submit your claim(s) by the corresponding deadlines. If you do nothing, you may not receive benefits from the Settlement, and, as a Class Member, you will not be able to sue Toyota about the issues in the lawsuit.

If you own or lease or previously owned or leased a model year 2012 to 2015 Toyota Camry XV50 vehicle in California before May 31, 2024, you may seek reimbursement for certain reasonable, unreimbursed out-of-pocket expenses that you incurred or will incur, as follows:

• FOR OUT-OF-POCKET EXPENSES INCURRED ON OR BEFORE MAY 31, 2024: (a) Out-of-pocket expenses to replace and install a charcoal filter in a Subject Vehicle; and (b) Out-of-pocket expenses related to the evaporator being flushed on a Subject Vehicle.
• UP TO $100 FOR OUT-OF-POCKET EXPENSES INCURRED AFTER MAY 31, 2024: Out-of-pocket expenses to replace and install a charcoal filter in a Subject Vehicle.

You must submit a Claim by a certain deadline to seek reimbursement for the above reasonable out-of-pocket expenses:

• Claims relating to expenses incurred on or before May 31, 2024, must be postmarked (in the case of mailed claims) or filed with the Settlement Notice Administrator (in the case of electronic claims) by May 31, 2025.
• For Claims related to expenses incurred after May 31, 2024:
  • For model year 2014-2015 Subject Vehicles, claims for out-of-pocket expenses incurred after May 31, 2024, must be postmarked (in the case of mailed claims) or filed with the Settlement Notice Administrator (in the case of electronic claims) by May 31, 2026.
  • For model year 2012-2013 Subject Vehicles, claims for out-of-pocket expenses incurred after May 31, 2024, must be postmarked (in the case of mailed claims) or filed with the Settlement Notice Administrator (in the case of electronic claims) by May 31, 2025.

After you submit your Claim, the court-appointed Settlement Claims Administrator will review your claim materials to verify your out-of-pocket expenses and determine the reimbursement payment you will be eligible to receive. The Settlement Claims Administrator’s decisions regarding claims for reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses shall be final and not appealable. However, Toyota has the discretion to decide to approve Claims without review by the Settlement Claims Administrator; and Class Counsel and Toyota’s Counsel may meet and confer to resolve any denied Claims.

The claims process is easy to complete and will require basic documentation to show your out-of-pocket expenses, such as a receipt or invoice. To submit your claim, you can visit the online claim portal here, input your Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), and fill out the Claim Form and submit supporting documentation.

If you would prefer to submit your Claim Form and supporting documentation by mail, you can download and print forms from the Settlement website or request a hardcopy form be mailed to you by calling 1-888-907-6966.

Submit claims online here

OR

Submit claims via mail:
Salas v. Toyota Settlement
Settlement Notice Administrator
P.O. Box 2682
Portland, OR 97208-2682

The Settlement Claims Administrator will begin issuing payments on a rolling basis within 90 days after the Court grants final approval of the Settlement and any appeals of that final approval order are resolved in favor of the Settlement. Payments will continue on a rolling basis as claims are submitted and approved. Please check this website for updates on Settlement payments.

For each Subject Vehicle you own(ed) or lease(d), you may submit one Claim for out-of-pocket expenses incurred on or before May 31, 2024, and one Claim for out-of-pocket expenses incurred after May 31, 2024. However, the out-of-pocket expenses for which you are making a claim for reimbursement cannot be duplicative. For example, if you have two Subject Vehicles you may submit separate claims for the expenses you incurred for each vehicle, but you may not seek reimbursement twice for the same out-of-pocket expense.

Class Members may only submit one Claim Form for reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred on or before May 31, 2024, and one Claim Form for reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred after May 31, 2024.

The deadlines for Claim Form submission are as follows:

• For Claims related to expenses incurred on or before May 31, 2024, Claims must be postmarked (in the case of mailed claims) or filed with the Settlement Notice Administrator (in the case of electronic claims) by May 31, 2025.
• For Claims related to expenses incurred after May 31, 2024:
  • For model year 2014-2015 Subject Vehicles, claims for out-of-pocket expenses incurred after May 31, 2024, must be postmarked (in the case of mailed claims) or filed with the Settlement Notice Administrator (in the case of electronic claims) by May 31, 2026.
  • For model year 2012-2013 Subject Vehicles, claims for out-of-pocket expenses incurred after May 31, 2024, must be postmarked (in the case of mailed claims) or filed with the Settlement Notice Administrator (in the case of electronic claims) by May 31, 2025.

If the Settlement becomes final and you do not exclude yourself, you will release Toyota and the Released Parties from liability and will not be able to sue Toyota about the issues in the lawsuit.

Under the Settlement, you are not releasing any claims for personal injury, wrongful death, or physical property damage from the Subject Vehicle.

The Settlement Agreement at Section VII and Appendix A of the Long Form Notice describe the released claims in legal terminology, so read it carefully. The Settlement Agreement is available here. You can talk to one of the lawyers listed in FAQ 19 below for free or you can, of course, talk to your own lawyer at your own expense if you have questions about the released claims or what they mean.

If you wish to keep the right to sue or continue to sue Toyota over the legal issues in this lawsuit, then you must take steps to exclude yourself from the Settlement. This is also known as “opting out” of the Class.

If you exclude yourself, you will not receive any Settlement benefits and you will not be bound by anything that happens in this lawsuit. If you ask to be excluded, you also cannot object to the Settlement because you will no longer be part of the Class.

If you timely and properly request exclusion from the Settlement, you will not release your claims resolved under the Settlement and will retain the right to sue Toyota about the issues in this lawsuit.

To exclude yourself from the Settlement, you must submit a written request stating that you want to be excluded from the Settlement. Your written request must include:

• Your name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address, if available;
• The VIN(s) of the Subject Vehicle(s) forming the basis of your inclusion in the Class;
• The date(s) of purchase or lease of any such Subject Vehicle(s);
• A statement indicating your request to be excluded from the Class; and
• Your handwritten signature (an electronic signature is insufficient).

You cannot ask to be excluded over the phone or at the Settlement website. You must mail your letter with your exclusion request postmarked no later than September 30, 2024, to:

Salas v. Toyota Settlement
Settlement Notice Administrator
P.O. Box 2682
Portland, OR 97208-2682

Your letter with your exclusion request must be postmarked no later than September 30, 2024, to be considered by the Court. The deadlines found in the notice may be changed by the Court. Please check this website regularly for updates regarding the settlement.

Yes. The Court has appointed lawyers from the law firms Capstone Law APC and Kiesel Law LLP to represent you and other Class Members. These lawyers are called “Class Counsel.” Their contact information is as follows:

Class Counsel
Tarek Zohdy Capstone Law APC 1875 Century Park East, Suite 1000 Los Angeles, CA 90067  1-310-556-4811  tarek.zohdy@capstonelawyers.com	Paul Kiesel Kiesel Law LLP 8648 Wilshire Blvd. Beverly Hills, CA 90211  1-310-854-4444  kiesel@kiesel.law

If you want to be represented by another lawyer, you may hire one to appear in Court for you at your own expense.

Class Counsel will ask the Court to award the attorneys representing the Class fees up to $4.1 million and litigation expenses up to $350,000 to compensate them for their work litigating this case and securing this Settlement for the Class. Class Counsel will also ask the Court to award each of the Plaintiffs a service award of up to $7,500 for their work in this litigation.

The Court must approve Class Counsel’s requests for fees, expenses, and Plaintiff service awards, before it is paid by Toyota. Class Counsel will submit their request by September 1, 2024, and that document will be available on the Important Documents page of this website shortly after it is filed with the Court. Class Members will have an opportunity to comment on and/or object to the request for attorneys’ fees and expenses and Plaintiff service awards, as explained further in FAQ 21.

Please check this website regularly for updates regarding Class Counsel’s request for attorneys’ fees and expenses.

If you do not exclude yourself from the Settlement, you may object to it. The Court will consider your views in deciding whether to approve or reject this Settlement. If the Court does not approve the Settlement, no settlement payments will be sent, and the lawsuit will continue. To comment on or to object to the Settlement or to Class Counsel’s request for Attorneys’ Fees, Costs, and Expenses, and the request for Plaintiff service awards, you or your attorney must submit your written objection to the Court with the following information:

• The case name “Alfred Salas et al. v. Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.”;
• Your name, actual address, and telephone number;
• The VIN(s) of your Subject Vehicle(s);
• The date(s) of purchase or lease of any such Subject Vehicle(s);
• A written statement of your objections. Your objection must also state whether it applies only to you, to a specific subset of the Class, or to the entire Class, and state with specificity the grounds for the objection. The statement must also indicate whether you are represented by a lawyer in submitting your objection;
• Your handwritten signature (an electronic signature is insufficient); and
• Any documents supporting your objection must also be attached to the objection.

If an objection is made through a lawyer, the objection must also include (in addition to the above items):

• The number of times the objector has objected to a class action settlement within the five years preceding the date that the objector files the objection;
• The caption of each case in which the objector has made such objection; and
• A statement of the nature of the objection.

The lawyer(s) asserting the objection must also:

• File a notice of appearance with the Court before the deadline to submit objections;
• File a sworn declaration attesting to his or her representation of each Class Member on whose behalf the objection is being filed, and specify the number of times during the prior five-year period that the lawyer or their law firm has objected to a class action settlement; and
• Comply with the written objection requirements described in Section VI.A. of the Settlement Agreement.

You must deliver your written objection to Class Counsel and to Toyota’s Counsel, and file with the Court, on or before September 30, 2024:

If you intend to appear at the Fairness Hearing, either in person or through personal counsel hired at your expense, you or your attorney(s) who intend to appear must also deliver a notice of intention to appear to Class Counsel and to Toyota’s Counsel at the addresses listed above, and file that notice with the Court by September 30, 2024. See FAQ 24 for more information.

Excluding yourself is telling the Court that you do not want to be part of the Class and do not want to receive any benefits under the Settlement. If you exclude yourself, you have no basis to object because the Settlement no longer affects you. Objecting is telling the Court that you do not like something about the Settlement, the requested fees, costs, and expenses, and/or Plaintiff service awards. You may object only if you stay in the Class. If you make an objection, you must still submit a claim to receive compensation under the Settlement.

The Court will hold the final approval or “Fairness Hearing” on October 30, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. PDT, at the United States District Courthouse, Central District of California, First Street Courthouse, 350 W. First Street, Courtroom 5B, Los Angeles, CA 90012. At this hearing, the Court will consider whether the Settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate, and whether to approve the request for attorneys’ fees and expenses, and the request for Plaintiff service awards. If there are objections, the Court will consider them and may listen to people who have asked to speak at the hearing. The Court will decide whether to grant final approval of the Settlement, and, if so, how much to pay the lawyers representing you and the Class. We do not know how long these decisions will take. The Court may reschedule the Fairness Hearing, so check this website for further updates.

No, you do not need to attend the Fairness Hearing. Class Counsel will answer any questions the Court may have. If you wish to attend the hearing, you are welcome to come at your own expense. If you submit an objection to the Settlement, you do not have to come to Court to talk about it, but you have the option to do so if you provide advance notice of your intention to appear. As long as you submitted a written objection with all of the required information on time with the Court, the Court will consider it. You may have your own lawyer attend at your expense, but it is not required.

You or your attorney may ask the Court for permission to speak at the Fairness Hearing. To do so, you must file with the Court a written notice of your intent to appear by September 30, 2024, and send a copy of that notice to Class Counsel and to Toyota’s Counsel at the addresses listed in FAQ 21.

Anyone who has requested permission to speak must be present at the start of the Fairness Hearing on October 30, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. PDT. The Court may reschedule the Fairness Hearing, so check this Settlement website for further updates.

This website summarizes the proposed Settlement. More details are in the Settlement Agreement. You can also call the toll-free number, 1-888-907-6966 or write the Settlement Notice Administrator at:

Salas v. Toyota Settlement
Settlement Notice Administrator
P.O. Box 2682
Portland, OR 97208-2682