twitter google

Dealer Goes Against Toyota; Refuses To Sell Prius

A recent Toyota recall of Prius vehicles has had the company stating that hundreds of thousands of models are fixed; however, a Southern Californian dealer isn’t convinced. So much so, that he is not selling some of the used models of the car as he apparently has concerns around the autos posing a safety risk.

CNET reported that Roger Hogan feels so strongly about this issue that he recently launched a lawsuit against Toyota for about $100,000 million, stating breach of contract and fraud, and has requested that federal officials launch an investigation.

According to Toyota, the lawsuit is more about sour grapes than safety.

The recall on the Prius occurred in 2014 and 2015 and spanned selected hatchbacks (2010-2014), as well as V wagon models (2012-2014). Approximately 800,000 vehicles were affected by the recall. The stem of the problem revolved around sudden loss in the drive power, which pointed to the overheating inverter. The company fixed the problem with a software update and states that the issue was dealt with accordingly. Still, Hogan claims he remains to see the issue within plenty of other Priuses.

In fact, he claims he’s had over 100 models come into his Capistrano Toyota and Claremont Toyota dealerships even after they have had this software ‘fix’. Moreover, Hogan has claimed that he has 50 used Prius cars sitting at his dealership lot, worth approximately one million dollars, that he doesn’t want to sell due to fear of them being unsafe.

Hogan’s also claims in his suit that Toyota is trying to keep him from passing his dealerships onto his sons.

Toyota commented on the issue with Hogan by stating that the company believes his claims have no merit and they intend to vigorously defend against Hogan’s accusations. They added that they remain committed to the security and safety of their clients and the Prius recall was done to increase vehicle safety. The statement also adds that the company believes this lawsuit has stemmed from a separate dispute that Hogan has with Toyota around succession issues and management of his dealership.

According to reports, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is currently watching this situation carefully.

Popular

[hfcm id=”6″]

Recommended

Search