Lawsuit Alleges Toyota Secretly Repurchased Faulty Cars

A recently revised lawsuit brought against Toyota alleges that the car company attempted to hide unintended acceleration problems in their vehicles by secretly repurchasing them back from complaining customers and having them sign confidentiality agreements.

Additionally, the expanded suit claims that internal company documents prove that Toyota has replicated speed-control problems — unrelated to either loose floormats or “sticky” gas pedals — like those reported by some customers.

In response to the repurchasing allegations, Toyota said in a statement that it has indeed bought back vehicles from customers but that the purpose of the purchases was to conduct “further engineering analysis” and not to conceal problems from the public, media or regulators.

Furthermore, a Toyota rep said that the “settlement agreement” signed by customers involved in the repurchases did include a release from liability for the car maker but did not include a requirement of confidentiality for the the customer.

The expanded lawsuit does not currently contain any physical evidence of these agreements.

Toyota also says it has never been able to replicate the “acceleration concerns nor found any related issues or conditions in these vehicles.”

Toyota secretly bought problem cars, lawsuit says [Reuters]

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