Toyota Airbag Control Unit Settlement Frequently Asked Questions

The notice explains the litigation, the Settlement, and your legal rights. Judge John A. Kronstadt 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 In re ZF-TRW Airbag Control Units Products Liability Litigation, Case No. 2:19-ml-02905-JAK-MRW.

If you have any questions, please contact the Settlement Notice Administrator at 1-833-747-5737.

This lawsuit alleges that Toyota designed and sold vehicles with a defective ZF-TRW ACU. The ACU is an electrical component that controls the functions of various safety features, including airbags. Plaintiffs allege the ZF-TRW ACUs in the Subject Vehicles (defined in Question 4 below) are vulnerable to an electrical overstress condition that can cause the vehicles’ airbags and other passenger safety systems to malfunction during a collision, which may result in airbag non-deployment or other safety failures.

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

The Settlement applies to the following Subject Vehicles that were sold or leased in the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and all other United States territories and/or possessions:

·         2011–2019 Toyota Corolla;

·         2011–2013 Toyota Corolla Matrix;

·         2012–2018 Toyota Avalon;

·         2013–2018 Toyota Avalon HV;

·         2012–2019 Toyota Tacoma;

·         2012–2017 Toyota Tundra; and

·         2012–2017 Toyota Sequoia.

To determine whether your vehicle is part of the Settlement, please use the VIN lookup tool 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 with your phone, so you have easy access to the number when you’re filing a claim or registering for a residual payment.

In a class action, people called “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. The opt out process is described in FAQs 24-26.

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. The Class Representatives and Settlement Class Counsel believe that the Settlement is in the best interests of all Class Members.

The Settlement Agreement sets forth in greater detail the rights and obligations of the Parties.  To access the Settlement Agreement and other important case documents, please visit the Documents section of this Settlement website. 

You are included in the Class if you own, lease, or previously owned or leased a Subject Vehicle as of July 31, 2023

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

·         Settlement Class Counsel, Plaintiffs’ counsel, and their employees; 

·         Judicial officers and their immediate family members and associated court staff assigned to this case; and 

·         Persons or entities who or which 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 1-833-747-5737 or visit "VIN Lookup" page, which contains further information and a VIN lookup tool to determine if your vehicle is part of the Class.

If the Court grants final approval of the Settlement, Plaintiffs and Toyota have agreed to a settlement amount of $78.5 million in payments and credits (the “Settlement Amount”). The Settlement Amount will fund numerous Settlement benefits for Class Members.  

FAQs 11–21 describe the various benefits available to Class Members. The Settlement benefits include:

·         Reimbursement for certain reasonable out-of-pocket expenses related to the Recall (described in FAQs 11-16);

·         Potential Residual Distribution payments of up to $250 for all Subject Vehicles, including those that were not part of the Recall (described in FAQ 17);

·         A robust Subject Vehicle inspection program (described in FAQ 18);

·         An Extended New Parts Warranty for vehicles that complete the Recall (described in FAQ 19);

·         An outreach program to notify Class Members of the Recall (described in FAQ 20); and

·         A potential rental car reimbursement, loaner vehicle, and outreach program for any related future ZF-TRW ACU recall(s) affecting Subject Vehicles (described in FAQ 21).

The Settlement Fund may also be utilized for additional outreach and notice costs that the Parties jointly agree, after consulting with the Settlement Special Master, Patrick A. Juneau, is necessary in furtherance of the terms of the Settlement.  

To receive the compensation benefits, you must submit a claim by the claims deadline. The deadline to submit your reimbursement claim is yet to be determined, but this date will be no earlier than December 16, 2026.  If you do nothing, you may not receive certain benefits from the Settlement, and, as a Class Member, you will not be able to sue Toyota about the issues in the lawsuit.

On January 17, 2020, Toyota recalled the following Subject Vehicles in NHTSA Recall No. 20V-024 (the “Recall”) to address issues relating to electrical overstress in the ZF-TRW ACUs:

·       2011–2019 Toyota Corolla;

·       2011–2013 Toyota Corolla Matrix;

·       2012–2018 Toyota Avalon; and

·       2013–2018 Toyota Avalon HV

If you have one of these Recalled Vehicles you may seek reimbursement for certain reasonable out-of-pocket expenses that you incurred to complete the Recall, as follows:

·       Rental car or other transportation expenses that you paid to travel to/from a Toyota Dealer to complete the Recall, including for reasonable rental car costs you incur during completion of the Recall between the Effective Date and the Claims Deadline if you are not provided with a loaner vehicle while the Recall is being completed. The Effective Date and Claims Deadline are yet to be determined but the period between both will be no less than 3 years;

·       Towing charges you paid to tow your Subject Vehicle to a Toyota Dealer to complete the Recall;

·       Childcare expenses you had to pay while you were waiting for a Toyota Dealer to complete the Recall on your Subject Vehicle;

·       Unreimbursed costs you incurred to repair your Subject Vehicle’s ZF-TRW ACU; and

·       Lost wages for the time you had to take off from work to drop off and/or pickup of your Subject Vehicle at a Toyota Dealer to complete the Recall.

You must submit a claim by the claims deadline to seek reimbursement for your reasonable out-of-pocket expenses.  The deadline to submit your claim is yet to be determined, but this date will be no earlier than December 16, 2026. After you submit your claim, the court-appointed Settlement Special 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 Special Administrator’s decisions regarding claims for reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses shall be final and not appealable.

For more information about how to submit a claim, please review FAQ 13.

You cannot submit a claim for reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses if your Subject Vehicle has not been recalled due to the ZF-TRW ACU. Toyota has not issued a ZF-TRW ACU recall for following Subject Vehicles:

·         2012–2019 Toyota Tacoma;

·         2012–2017 Toyota Tundra; and

·         2012–2017 Toyota Sequoia

If you have one of the above Unrecalled Vehicles, you will be eligible to submit a claim for reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses if a recall is issued for the ZF-TRW ACU in your Subject Vehicle(s) before the Claims Period expires.

Even if there is no ZF-TRW ACU recall for your Subject Vehicle(s), you may still submit a claim for a Residual Distribution payment under the Settlement.  All Class Members may submit a Residual Distribution claim, regardless of whether their Subject Vehicle was recalled.  

Please review FAQ 17 for more information.

The Out-of-Pocket Claims Process is easy to complete and will require basic documentation to show your out-of-pocket expenses, such as a receipt or invoice, or a signed affidavit if you don’t have a receipt or invoice. To submit your claim, please visit "VIN Lookup", input your Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), and fill out the Claim Form.

If you would prefer to submit your Claim Form and supporting documentation by mail, you can download and print forms from this Settlement website or request a hardcopy form to be mailed to you by calling 1-833-747-5737. For faster claims processing, you should submit your claim using this Settlement website, rather than by mail. 

Submit claims online here.

OR

Submit claims via mail:

Toyota Airbag Control Unit Settlement

c/o Kroll Settlement Administration LLC

PO Box 225391

New York, NY 10150-5391

The Settlement Special Administrator will begin issuing payments on a rolling basis within 60 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 Settlement website for updates on Settlement payments.

You may submit a claim for out-of-pocket expenses for each Recalled Vehicle you own(ed) or lease(d), as long as your out-of-pocket expenses are not duplicative. For example, if you have two Recalled Vehicles you may submit a separate claim for the expenses you incurred to complete the Recall for each vehicle, but you may not seek reimbursement twice for the same out-of-pocket expense. 

Class Members must submit their claims for reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses within three years after the Court grants final approval of the Settlement and all appeals of the Final Approval Order are resolved (defined in the Settlement Agreement as the “Effective Date”).  Under the current schedule, the claims deadline is no earlier than December 16, 2026.  Please check this Settlement website for updates on the claims deadline, which may change.

It is likely that there will be Settlement funds that remain after all out-of-pocket expense payments and other settlement costs have been paid.  If there are any such funds, they shall be distributed on a per capita basis to Class Members who (a) submitted out-of-pocket claims; or (b) registered only for a Residual Distribution payment.  

All Class Members may submit a claim for a Residual Distribution, regardless of whether their Subject Vehicle was included in the Recall. You must submit your claim for a Residual Distribution by the Claims Deadline. The Claims Deadline has yet to be determined but will be no earlier than December 16, 2026.

Residual Distribution payments shall be up to $250.00 unless the Parties agree to a higher cap and jointly recommend the amount to the Settlement Special Administrator for approval.

If there are any funds remaining in the Settlement Fund after making the payments described in the Out-of-Pocket Process section above, and if it is not feasible and/or economically reasonable to distribute the remaining funds to Class Members who submitted claims and/or registered for Residual Distribution payments, then the balance shall be distributed cy pres. See FAQ 22 for more information regarding cy pres.

Once the Court grants final approval of the Settlement, Toyota shall institute an Inspection Program to inspect Subject Vehicles when (1) the Subject Vehicle was involved in a frontal crash and (2) Toyota was notified that the vehicle's seatbelt pretensioner and/or airbag did not deploy.

For more information, please review the Inspection Program Protocol that is attached as Exhibit 3 to the Settlement Agreement in the Documents section of this site.

Once the Court grants final approval of the Settlement, Toyota will implement an outreach program designed to significantly increase recall completion rates for Subject Vehicles included in the Recall (the “Outreach Program”).

The goal of the Outreach Program is to maximize the completion of the Recall. To do so, Toyota will implement various methods of outreach to encourage owners of the Subject Vehicles to complete the recall, and Toyota will evaluate and modify these outreach methods as needed. The budget for the Outreach Program is $3,500,000, and the costs of the Outreach Program must be approved by the Settlement Special Administrator.

If a Class Member who, after the Effective Date, seeks the Recall from a Toyota Dealer before the Claims Deadline and is not provided with a loaner vehicle while the Recall is being performed, then that Class Member may submit a claim for reimbursement from the Settlement Fund for reasonable rental car costs if the Class Member completes and submits a Registration/Claim Form. The Effective Date and Claims Deadline are yet to be determined but the period between both will be no less than 3 years.

If there is a ZF-TRW ACU recall for Unrecalled Vehicles before the Claims Deadline, Class Members of such Unrecalled Vehicles may request a courtesy loaner vehicle while a Toyota Dealer completes the ZF-TRW ACU recall, or alternatively may submit a claim for reimbursement of reasonable rental car costs from the Settlement Fund during the Claims Period. Toyota shall also provide outreach related to any such recalls for the Unrecalled Vehicles. The Claims Deadline is yet to be determined but will be no earlier than December 16, 2026.

Toyota shall receive a credit of $10,000,000.00 against the Settlement Amount for providing Future Loaner Vehicles and Future Outreach Programs. The Settlement Special Administrator shall have the right to audit and confirm such compliance.

If there are any Settlement funds that remain after paying all eligible claims and other settlement costs, and making all Residual Distribution payments (as described in FAQs 11-17), and if it is not feasible and/or economically reasonable to distribute the remaining funds to Class Members who submitted claims and/or registered, then the remaining balance shall be distributed “cy pres,” which means they are paid to charitable causes that indirectly benefit the Class.  

The cy pres recipient(s) in this case, if any, is subject to the agreement of the Parties and Court approval.  Please check this Settlement website after the Claims Deadline for updates about any cy pres distribution. The Claims Deadline is yet to be determined but will be no earlier than December 16, 2026.

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 (except for physical property damage to the ZF-TRW ACU in your Subject Vehicle itself). 

The Settlement Agreement at Section VII and Appendix A of the Long Form Notice describes the released claims in necessary legal terminology, so read it carefully.  The Settlement Agreement is available here.  You can talk to one of the lawyers listed in FAQ 27 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, and telephone number;

·         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 October 20, 2023 to: 

Toyota Airbag Control Unit Settlement

c/o Kroll Settlement Administration LLC

PO Box 225391

New York, NY 10150-5391

Your letter with your exclusion request must be postmarked no later than October 20, 2023, to be considered by the Court. The deadlines found in the notice may be changed by the Court.  Please check this Settlement website regularly for updates regarding the settlement.

Yes. The Court has appointed lawyers from the law firms Baron & Budd, P.C. and Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP to represent you and other Class Members. These lawyers are called “Co-Lead Counsel.” Their contact information is as follows: 

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

Co-Lead Counsel will ask the Court to award the attorneys representing the Class up to 33% percent of the Settlement Amount (i.e. up to $25,905,000) to compensate them for their Attorneys’ Fees and expenses in litigating this case and securing this nationwide Settlement for the Class. Co-Lead Counsel will also ask the Court to award each of the 11 proposed Settlement Class Representatives a service award of up to $2,500 each for their work in this litigation.

The Court must approve Class Counsel’s requests for fees, expenses, and Settlement Class Representative service awards, before it is paid from the Settlement Fund. Co-Lead Counsel will submit their request by September 22, 2023, and that document will be available here 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 Settlement Class Representative service awards, as explained further in FAQ 29.

Please check back here 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 Co-Lead Counsel’s request for Attorneys’ Fees, Costs, and Expenses, and the request for Settlement Class Representative service awards, you or your attorney must submit your written objection to the Court with the following information:

·         The MDL case name “In re ZF-TRW Airbag Control Units Products Liability Litigation”;

·         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; and

·         Your personal signature.

·         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 Co-Lead Counsel and to Toyota’s Counsel, and file with the Court, on or before October 20, 2023:

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 Co-Lead Counsel and to Toyota’s Counsel at the addresses listed above, and file that notice with the Court, at least 10 days before the Fairness Hearing. See FAQ 33 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 Settlement Class Representative 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” at 11:00 am on November 16, 2023, at the United States District Courthouse, Central District of California, First Street Courthouse, 350 W. First Street, Courtroom 10B, 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 Class Representative service awards.  If there are objections, the Court will consider them and may listen to people who have asked to speak at the hearing (see FAQ 33).  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 the Settlement website for further updates.

No, you do not need to attend the Fairness Hearing. Co-Lead 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 (see Question 33 below). 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 November 3, 2023 and send a copy of that notice to Co-Lead Counsel and to Toyota’s Counsel at the addresses listed in FAQ 29.

Anyone who has requested permission to speak must be present at the start of the Fairness hearing at 11:00 AM on November 16, 2023. The Court may reschedule the Fairness Hearing, so check the Settlement website for further updates.  

The FAQs summarize the proposed Settlement. More details are in the Settlement Agreement.  You can get a copy of the Settlement Agreement and other documents and information about the Settlement on the Documents section of this website. You can also call the toll-free number, 1-833-747-5737 or write the Settlement Special Administrator at Toyota Airbag Control Unit Settlement, c/o Kroll Settlement Administration, LLC PO Box 225391, New York, NY 10150-5391

The following vehicles are Subject Vehicles that are part of this class action settlement:

• 2011–2019 Toyota Corolla;
• 2011–2013 Toyota Corolla Matrix;
• 2012–2018 Toyota Avalon;
• 2013–2018 Toyota Avalon HV;
• 2012–2019 Toyota Tacoma;
• 2012–2017 Toyota Tundra; and
• 2012–2017 Toyota Sequoia.

If you are not a current or former owner or lessee of one of the Subject Vehicles listed above, you are NOT included in the settlement class.

A corrective notice was sent to individuals with 2020 – 2023 model year Toyota Tacomas and/or 2018 model year Tundras to clarify that they are NOT included in the settlement class.  Some of these individuals may have inadvertently received an initial notice about this settlement, even though they are not a class member in the settlement.  The corrective notice makes clear that current and former owners of 2020 – 2023 model year Tacoma and/or 2018 model year Tundras are not included in the settlement class.

If you received a corrective notice for your 2020 – 2023 model year Toyota Tacoma and/or 2018 model year Tundra, you do not need to do anything further.  Because your vehicle is not included in the settlement, your rights are not affected by this class action settlement and none of your potential legal claims have been released for those vehicles. 

This also means you are not eligible to participate in the Settlement, because 2020 – 2023 model year Toyota Tacomas and/or 2018 model year Tundras are not Subject Vehicles included in the settlement and therefore you are NOT included in the settlement class. If you submitted any Registration/Claim Forms for a 2020 – 2023 model year Toyota Tacoma and/or a 2018 model year Toyota Tundra vehicle, that claim will be withdrawn, and no settlement benefits will be provided for those particular vehicles. 

For more information on who is included in the Class, please see FAQ 7.  If you are a current or former owner/lessee of a Subject Vehicle, you may still submit a Registration/Claim Form to receive settlement benefits for that vehicle.