Woman Sues Toyota For Making Edible Wiring

Toyota, which uses soy-based insulation in its vehicles, is facing a law suit after a woman in Florida, USA discovered that the wiring in the engine compartment of her 2015 RAV4 had been chewed.

Janice Toler filed a class-action lawsuit against Toyota earlier this week after it refused to repair the damage, which totalled around $5,500, under warranty, reports Action News JAX.

According to the suit, Toler was told rodents had caused the damage when she took her car to a Toyota service centre in October. She was shown the evidence, including their waste products.

Toler was told that “the car would require a total rewiring because rodents had chewed up almost every wire in the engine compartment,” the filing claims.

It goes on to say that Toyota regards such damage caused by animals, including rodents,  as “an environmental condition that is not covered under the warranty”.

toyota

Toler disagrees with that assertion, considering Toyota’s soy-based wiring insulation a defect. The automaker switched from petroleum-based insulation to the organic alternative a few years. The suit argues that Toyota did so “in the name of profit and cost-cutting”.

Toyota would probably counter that environmental concerns played a bigger part in the decision, but the company has yet to officially comment on Toler’s lawsuit. It also isn’t clear whether or not any other complainants have joined her in the suit.