On July 15, 2010, the Los Angeles Superior Court entered an order approving the nationwide class-action settlement Fazio | Micheletti LLP reached in Bauer v. Toyota Motor Sales, Inc., and a final judgment in favor of the plaintiff class.

The Court’s approval of the settlement and entry of final judgment constitute the final milestone in a case that we have prosecuted since early 2007. 

Bauer was brought on behalf of current and former owners and lessees of Scion xB sport utility vehicles whose windshields have cracked and pitted under circumstances that would not normally result in a problem.  Owners have reported that the Scion xB’s windshields are unusually fragile, cracking when small pebbles come into contact with it, and pitting extraordinarily easily. 

Well over a year ago, the parties reached an agreement to settle Bauer on a nationwide basis; that is, although the case was initially brought on behalf of Californians only, we negotiated a settlement on behalf of all current and former owners and lessees of 2006 model-year Scion xBs throughout the United States.  Although a settlement was reached in principle in early 2009, negotiations continued for more than a year thereafter and frequently resulted in bitter, hard-fought battles that required the Court’s assistance on more than one occasion.

When all was said and done, we obtained a settlement that provides the following relief for current and former owners and lessees of Scion xB vehicles throughout the United States:  For a period of six years or 60,000 miles from the date of original retail sale or lease of the vehicle (whichever occurs first) eligible owners and lessees of 2006 model-year Scion xBs (referred to in this notice as “Class Vehicles”) are entitled to one of the following benefits:

• have one Genuine Toyota windshield replaced or repaired by an authorized Toyota dealer at no charge to the customer after the Effective Date of Settlement, provided certain criteria are met; or 
   
• if an eligible Settlement Class Member has already paid to repair or replace a cracked Genuine Toyota windshield covered by the settlement, that Settlement Class Member will be reimbursed for one such repair or replacement upon the submission of a valid Claim Form.

For more information about the case and the settlement, please go to the claims administrator’s website by clicking here.