— The size of the Toyota Highlander Hybrid gas tank is the focus of a class action lawsuit because New Jersey owners claim the fuel tanks cannot hold 17.1 gallons of gas as advertised.
This decreases the number of miles possible on a single tank of gas.
The Toyota Highlander Hybrid class action lawsuit includes:
"All individuals in the State of New Jersey who purchased or leased a 2020 to 2021 Toyota Highlander Hybrid vehicle."
According to the plaintiffs who sued, the vehicles are advertised as achieving an estimated 36 miles per gallon city driving, 35 mpg highway and 36 mpg for combined driving. Additionally, a single tank of gas should provide an estimated range of 615 miles.
But the lawsuit says the advertised Toyota Highlander Hybrid gas tank size is wrong because the tanks won't hold anywhere near 17.1 gallons. This allegedly makes the promised range incorrect and increases the risk of overflow when fueling the Toyota.
The class action alleges the Highlander Hybrid fuel tank size and capacity issues have caused hundreds of consumer complaints from customers who could not fill their tanks to the advertised levels.
Toyota Highlander Hybrid owners allege the automatic shutoff of a gas pump activates after only 12 to 14 gallons of fuel have been added to an empty tank. Customers say they try to slowly manually force more gas into the Highlander Hybrid tanks, but all this allegedly does is cause fuel to spill onto the ground.
And according to the plaintiffs, even though the gas tanks won't hold more fuel, the gas gauges don't indicate the tanks are full and the "distance-to-empty" readings are well below the expected 615-mile range.
In addition to the Highlander Hybrid gas tank size issue, the class action lawsuit alleges the vehicles are dangerous because the fuel systems are allegedly not properly vented which increases emissions.
This also allegedly damages the fuel system components due to internal pressure, increasing the risk of fuel spilling out when filling the gas tank.
Customers report Toyota admits the Highlander Hybrid gas tanks can hold only 14.2 gallons of fuel, yet the plaintiffs say the automaker won't recall the 2020-2021 Toyota Highlander Hybrids.
The Toyota Highlander Hybrid gas tank size lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey: Samuel J. Prince and Belinda A Prince, v. Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., et al.
The plaintiffs are represented by Saltz Mongeluzzi & Bendesky, and Gustafson Gluek PLLC.
