Anyone get their Toyota Settlement Check?

Well said Kris, I could not have said it any better. I wonder if I will see anything. Not worried about it, more happy with our NEW 2013 Model 3 we picked up this morning.

Gen III Prius is a new taste for our household.

Ron (dorunron)

 

Taking that money is like blood money. I will be sending mine back to Toyota if it ever shows up...

 

Hear hear. It's for nothing. If you'd been injured or significantly inconvenienced, then sure, take a settlement. But just because of some minor indiscretion or box ticking. Nah. But it's the way of the world. Same as everyone moans about car insurance, yet everyone claims for the ol' sore neck in an accident too.

The thousands of folk who have that wonderful $125 settlement will blow it and think it's great. Cool, a night out on the town courtesy of Toyota. But the few $million paid by Toyota comes from somewhere and it'll be added to the cost of new cars. Sure this individual settlement won't make a dent, but add them all together and it adds up.

So next time someone with their settlement cries fowl when a deliveryman sues them for tripping over their driveway, or similar; just remember what goes around comes around.

 

Sorry for the rant and sorry for raining on anyones parade. I just hate frivolous lawsuits. Used to get people try it on with me in the taxi job all the bloody time, wasting my time. If you're injured, sue. If you're not, get a life.

Rant over

 

I received one check and am still waiting on the other. It is a settlement. That means Toyota didn't fight it. Do I believe there is/was an acceleration problem? No. However, Toyota knows what they did or didn't do and wanted the truth buried. So, maybe that $125 is compensation for their crap computer code. Maybe it is for the disappointing real life fuel economy.

GC, just because I happily take Toyota's money does not mean I file fraudulent or frivolous lawsuits.

BTW, that $125 is 1+ share of XOM or 2.5 shares of BP.

 

Oh Lord, I never said it was fraudulent, but I do personally question whether the claim itself was anything other than frivolous? Do you really think it is helping anyone? All the hassle for $125? All the negatives that go with it? Sure, everyone is different and I'm sure the lawyers said it helped peoples freedom of expression and it was their 'right' to sue etc, but a class action lawsuit to get $100?

Do you need the money? I doubt you do. Is it your personal choice to accept the money? Sure. I also hope it makes you very happy. Everyone has different views. You know mine and I know yours.

 

Just proves the courts are useless unless you are a lawyer. And yes I have been through the "system" personally as have one of my relatives. Even if you do nothing wrong, expect a house-worth of money to be spent on useless "discovery" and back-and-forth communications. The only parties that win in a lawsuit are the lawyers.

 

One of the benefits of being poor is nobody wants to sue you

When people tried to even think of suing me for slightly clipping a curb when pulling up outside their house in the taxi in the snow, I'd just tell them I had no money and if I ever did get any, my ex-wife had first dibs on it and she'd not give it up without a fight. That usually saw off the frivolous suits.

 

Not true in the US if you are any sort of business, even a small one. It is a very common practice for a larger corporation to sue the business as well as the owners personally for no reason other than to bankrupt the business and drown the competition. Even when all the best practices are followed for making a corporate veil, there are certain allegations that pierce it. So even if you have done nothing wrong as the owner of a business, your competition can sue the business and you personally for ungodly sums of money for no reason. Even if it is a frivolous case and would be thrown out of court, by the time you get there, you are out 6 figures. And you don't get any of that money back unless you can prove it was frivolous which again means going to court and arguing which is more lawyers and you don't get that money back! It is really just a joke. And with no caps on the amount that can be dished out, the US breeds injustice and stupid suits.

 

Averaging 5miles per kWh - & at 2.9¢ per kWh cost, that $125 takes me down the road over 20,800 miles on electrons.
I'd take that
.

 

Your total lawyers fees are less than mine's hourly rate.

Just because the $100 is appreciated, doesn't mean you should use it. If you have to deposit it, perhaps donate it. You'll pay for it with the next Toyota purchase you make being more expensive.

 

I respectfully have to disagree. Any biz worth its salt will carry a nice hefty umbrella policy ... both the biz as well as the individuals. And if they don't - they deserve to be run out of business. That's the game ... insurance (and its legal reps). It would just be stupid to not cover for liability. Both my wife & i are each covored for "errors/omissions " 7 figures - & our biz is Mom&Pop sized- bringing in only 6 figures anually.
"even if you do nothing wrong" ??? If you are not insured for alleged screw ups then you DID do something wrong. Litigation is just part of business. You either run with the big dogs or you get out of the kitchen when it's too hot for you. My wife has taken several biz defendants down. She's been through the system more frequently than me - and I'm an attorney. . yea - even to me, there's a creepy factor to that. Look at it this way - our system really ain't that bad ... we could all be living in Rwanda or Somalia or Iran or China etc- where justice is a whole different set of ugly rules . No one said life is guaranteed not to be horribly difficult .
.

 

Ooops ... 2x post

 

That seems to be a big flaw though. To just getting used to the idea of being sued for no reason rather than to stop the act of being sued for no reason. More bandaid type solutions than actual solutions to the problem.

Also many of those insurance policies don't cover things like fraud. It is very common for a big business to go after another and allege fraud which pierces any veil and the insurance policy. Then what do you do? Fight it for lots of money or bankrupt yourself?

It is common decency that needs a return. Just because you are given a cheque for $125 or $12,500, if you don't deserve it you should not take it. Just like just because someone can shower you with gifts, doesn't mean you should accept them. Pretty common in small civil claims where one person tries to buy the other's love. Nothing legally wrong with that, just morally wrong. If more people did the right thing then there would be less desire to file these silly claims.

Just look at all the money Samsung and Apple are wasting. They both infringed on patents because even patents are given out for stupid reasons. They don't care what is right for the consumer, they want to destroy the other one with giant fines and sales bans to increase their own bottom line.

 

I believe that the concept behind the $125 is that amount is supposed to compensate the owner for reduced market value of his/her Toyota, due to the adverse publicity that Toyota and its vehicles received relative to unintended acceleration. So IMO the check is deserved. However you don't have to cash your check if you disagree.

 

maybe they'll send pip owners a check for five grand or so.

 

No, the drop in market value is the "tax" you get to pay for deciding to be on the leading edge of ecologically sound transportation.