Toyota Paint Problems Class Action: Tacoma, Corolla, Warranties

Toyota is facing a paint peeling class action in Australia over Corolla sedans and hatchbacks painted in factory white, and a separate federal class action in the United States targeting Tacoma trucks with the same color. Both cases are active, and Toyota has separately acknowledged the underlying defect by running warranty extension programs covering roughly 1.9 million vehicles across the United States, Canada, and Australia.

Which Australian Corollas Are Covered

The Australian case, Mary Elizabeth Fabian v Toyota Motor Corporation Australia Limited, was filed on July 8, 2025, in the Federal Court of Australia (NSD1142/2025) and assigned to Justice Wigney.¹ William Roberts Lawyers is running the case, with Omni Bridgeway funding it on a no-win, no-pay basis.²

Your car is covered if it is a Corolla with factory color code 040 white paint (sold under names including Super White, Glacier White, and Glacier Pure Super White) and falls within these build dates:

Corolla sedans built between July 12, 2010, and March 24, 2014 — Ascent, Ascent Sport, Conquest, Ultima, Sedan SX, and Sedan ZR trims.³
Corolla hatchbacks built between January 10, 2012, and September 30, 2014 — Ascent, Ascent Sport, Conquest, Levin SX, and Levin ZR trims.³

You qualify if you bought or were supplied one of these vehicles on or after January 1, 2011, new or secondhand. Former owners who have since sold the car can still join, and so can owners whose paint has not yet started peeling.⁴ The case is being run as an “open class,” so everyone meeting the criteria is automatically a group member whether or not they sign a funding agreement.³

Toyota Rukus owners with vehicles built between August 22, 2011, and December 25, 2015, in the same white paint have been invited to register their interest, but the Rukus is not formally part of the class action at this stage.³

Which US Toyotas Are Covered

The US case is Greif v. Toyota Motor North America, Inc. (Case No. 2:24-cv-04098), now in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California after Toyota removed it from state court in May 2024.⁵ The complaint alleges that the paint and clear coat on Tacoma trucks are poor quality or were applied incorrectly, causing the clear coat to break down, the paint to oxidize and dull, and body panels to rust. Repair costs are estimated at $500 to $6,000 per vehicle.⁶

The named vehicle in the complaint is the Tacoma, but the proposed class is written broadly enough to cover all US consumers who bought Toyota vehicles affected by the paint defect within the applicable limitations period.⁶ The case claims violations of California’s Unfair Competition Law, False Advertising Law, and Consumers Legal Remedies Act, along with breach of the implied warranty of merchantability, and seeks damages, restitution, disgorgement of profits, punitive damages, and corrective advertising.⁵

What You Can Claim and How to Join

In the Australian case, the lawsuit alleges that the paint defect breaches the guarantee of acceptable quality under section 54 of the Australian Consumer Law. Compensation sought includes the reduction in value of affected vehicles, the cost of repairing peeling paint where it has already appeared, other reasonably foreseeable losses, and damages for distress and disappointment.⁴

You can register through the Omni Bridgeway portal, by email at toyota@omnibridgeway.com, or by phone. Signing the funding agreement gets you legal updates and automatic registration for any future court-ordered processes.³ Group members pay nothing out of pocket. If the case succeeds, Omni Bridgeway takes its costs plus a percentage of the recovery; if it loses, Omni Bridgeway covers any costs awarded to Toyota.⁴ There’s a 21-day cooling-off period after you sign.

The US Greif case is still in early stages in federal court. There is no settlement, and no claim form to fill out.

Toyota’s Warranty Programs If You’re Not in a Lawsuit

Separately from the lawsuits, Toyota has run warranty extension programs covering the same paint defect in several countries. If your vehicle qualifies, these can get the peeling fixed free of charge without waiting for litigation.

Customer Support Program ZKG (US)

Program ZKG covers peeling of factory-applied Blizzard Pearl (color code 070) and Super White (color code 040) paint on exterior metal body panels across roughly 1.74 million vehicles:⁷

4Runner, 2008–2015
Avalon, 2008–2017, and Avalon Hybrid, 2013–2017
Camry and Camry Hybrid, 2008–2017
Corolla, 2009–2019
RAV4, 2008–2017, and RAV4 EV, 2012–2014
Scion iQ, 2011–2015
Scion xB, 2008–2015
Lexus GX 470, 2008–2009

Primary coverage ended December 11, 2022. Secondary coverage runs for 10 years from the vehicle’s date of first use, no mileage cap.⁷ Many of the older vehicles are already past that 10-year mark. Toyota will only honor a claim after expiration if the peeling was diagnosed and photographed at an authorized dealership before the coverage expired, and the repair is completed within 12 months of the expiration date.⁸

Customer Support Program 23TE08 (Tacoma)

For the Tacoma, Program 23TE08 covers about 142,460 trucks from model years 2016–2022 built with Super White paint (code 040) at a specific manufacturing facility.⁹ The program addresses peeling along exterior door window frames, front inner fender edges, and, after a May 2025 expansion, the A-pillars.¹⁰

Repairs began in late September 2024. A dealership or Toyota Certified Collision Center inspects the vehicle, photographs the peeling, and submits images for approval. If peeling is confirmed on any one area on a given side of the truck, all four covered areas on that side get stripped to the electrodeposition layer and refinished.¹⁰ Coverage runs 10 years from the date of first use, no mileage cap, but trucks with branded titles such as salvage or total loss are excluded.¹¹

Canada and Australia

Toyota Canada has a similar warranty enhancement for 2008–2018 models in Blizzard Pearl or Super White. Primary coverage ended February 9, 2022, and secondary coverage runs 10 years from the date the vehicle was first licensed.¹² In Australia, Toyota offers a 12-year warranty extension from the date of first registration on affected Corolla and Rukus vehicles, with free repairs regardless of mileage. Vehicles outside that window are reviewed case by case through Toyota dealers.¹³

What Is Actually Wrong With the Paint

Toyota vehicles are built with a layered paint system: an electrodeposition coating on the bare metal, then a primer, a base coat, and a clear coat. On the affected cars, ultraviolet light from sunlight breaks down the bond between the primer and the electrodeposition layer, so the paint delaminates and lifts away from the body panels.⁷ Toyota Australia confirmed this mechanism publicly on July 12, 2022.¹⁴ Only metal panels are affected. Plastic body components don’t carry the electrodeposition layer and aren’t susceptible.⁸

1
Federal Court of Australia. Class Actions
2
Lawyers Weekly. Toyota Faces Class Action Over Paint Defect in Most Popular Model
3
Omni Bridgeway. Toyota Class Action FAQ
4
William Roberts Lawyers. Toyota Paint Peeling Class Action
5
ClassAction.org. Greif v Toyota Motor North America Complaint
6
ClassAction.org. Toyota Paint Damage Lawsuit Says Tacoma, Other Vehicles Not as Rugged as Advertised
7
NHTSA. Toyota Customer Support Program ZKG
8
NHTSA. Toyota Customer Support Program ZKG Update
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NHTSA. Toyota Customer Support Program 23TE08
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NHTSA. Toyota Customer Support Program 23TE08 Update
11
NHTSA. Toyota Customer Support Program 23TE08 Remedy
12
CBC News. Defects Autos Paint Toyota Warranty Extension
13
Drive. Class Action Proposed Against Toyota for Alleged Paint Peeling
14
Omni Bridgeway. Toyota Class Action Overview