Toyota Facing Class-Action Over Transmissions Allegedly ‘Plagued’ By Defects
Toyota routinely ranks: The most reliable car brands on the planetThe Japanese giant and Volkswagen have competed for the title of the world’s best-selling brand in recent years. Even RAV4 Ford surpasses F-150 as America’s best-selling vehicle In 2024, of any kind, this indicates global endorsement of the brand and a shift in buyers’ preferences. But Toyota’s strong sales and reputation for quality don’t mean that all of its buyers are happy with their cars.
In mid-December 2025, James LeBoutheller’s attorneys filed a class-action lawsuit. East Texas District court He alleged that Toyota “knowingly sold cars with defects in their UA80 8-speed automatic transmissions and torque converters (collectively referred to as the “Transmission Group”) and associated software.” The eight-speed transmission is used in some of the manufacturer’s most popular models, including the Toyota RAV4, Camry and Highlander, and the Lexus ES 250/350. NX250/350. The lawsuit alleges that the UA80, which first appeared in 2017 to replace the old six-speed transmission, suffers from problems with this evolution.
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Toyota will update software on some models
Front view of blue and white Toyota Highlanders parked in driveway of Spanish style house – Toyota
The new transmission was lighter and shorter than the model it replaced and was supposed to help reduce CO2 emissions. The valve stem was moved forward and the shifting mechanism was simplified, but the lawsuit claims this actually caused more problems. The new software also initiated earlier upshifts to save fuel, which the proposed lawsuit said caused the transmission fluid to overheat. This reduces the fluid’s ability to lubricate properly and leads to failures due to wear and degradation. He also claims that Toyota did not make any changes to the UA80 after complaints surfaced nearly a decade ago, but that the company did respond to complaints at the time. In December 2017, Toyota released a Technical Service Bulletin Noting that some 2018 Camry models behave erratically when decelerating or accelerating, he recommended a software update for affected vehicles. We reviewed the 2018 Camry about six months before this directive was issued, but we have not encountered such a problem in the time we have been dealing with it.
In April 2019, Toyota issued a separate notice to dealership service departments extending the warranty on some vehicles with UA80 transmissions to 10 years from first use. The National Highway Transportation Safety Association (NHTSA) has not issued any safety recalls for the UA80 as of this writing, but erratic acceleration is potentially dangerous and could one day lead to such an action. The class action also seeks compensation for diminished resale value; This trend continues the longer Toyota goes without fixing the underlying problems.
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