Toyota Airbag Control Unit Class Action Settlement

Who Is Eligible?

You may be eligible to file a claim if you:

• You own or lease — or used to own or lease — one of seven Toyota models named in the settlement notice, by model year: Corolla 2011–2019, Corolla Matrix 2011–2013, Avalon 2012–2018, Avalon Hybrid 2013–2018, Tacoma 2012–2019, Tundra 2012–2017 and Sequoia 2012–2017.
• Do not take a year range on trust, ours included. The administrator's site asks for your 17-character VIN and answers the question outright. That is the only check worth relying on.
• One split inside that list matters. The Tacoma, Tundra and Sequoia were never part of the original recall. Owners of those three can register for the residual payment but have no recall expenses to claim back, because there was no recall to attend. The Corolla, Corolla Matrix, Avalon and Avalon Hybrid were recalled, so their owners can do both.
• Former owners and lessees are included. The settlement follows who held the vehicle, not who holds it now.
• The defect at issue is the airbag control unit supplied by ZF-TRW, which plaintiffs alleged could be knocked out by the electrical surge of a crash — the moment the airbag is meant to fire. Toyota denies the claims and no court has found the vehicles defective.
• Vehicles from other manufacturers used the same part and are handled in separate settlements, so a Hyundai or a Mitsubishi does not belong here.

How Much Can You Get?

Four benefits, and the cash one is not the biggest.

Out-of-pocket costs come back first. If completing the recall cost you money, the settlement covers it: towing, getting to and from the dealer, a rental where no loaner was offered, childcare while you waited, wages you lost taking the car in, and any airbag control unit repair you paid for yourself and were never reimbursed. Keep the receipts, invoices, bank statements or order confirmations. Lost the receipt? A signed affidavit stands in its place.

The residual payment is the $250 everyone quotes. It is paid per person out of what remains once the out-of-pocket claims have been met, so the final figure depends on how many people file. That ceiling rises only if the court approves it. Treat $250 as the maximum and nobody's guaranteed number.

The twelve-year warranty is worth the most and gets the least attention. Vehicles that complete the recall receive an extended new-parts warranty on the replacement parts fitted, running from 31 July 2023. Twelve years on a safety component beats a one-off $250 cheque for most owners.

Last, an inspection program. A covered vehicle that went through a frontal crash without the airbag or seatbelt pretensioner deploying qualifies for an inspection under the settlement. Loaner and outreach programs also exist to help owners get the recall completed.

How to File Your Claim

File with the administrator:

• Start with the VIN lookup. Filing runs through AirBagControlUnitSettlement.com, administered by Kroll Settlement Administration. Type in the 17 characters from your windshield or door jamb and the site tells you whether the vehicle is covered.
• From there you claim your out-of-pocket costs, register for the residual payment, or both.
• The deadline needs care. The original notice gave a placeholder rather than a date — "no earlier than December 16, 2026" — because an appeal was still running. That appeal was dismissed on 11 December 2025 and the claim window is reported to close on 11 December 2028. We could not reach the administrator's site from here to confirm it; their servers block automated requests. Read the date on the claim page itself as the real one and treat every figure quoted elsewhere, including ours, as secondhand.
• Gather documents before you start. Towing bills, rental agreements, dealer invoices, bank statements showing what you paid, a note of the hours you lost. The out-of-pocket half of the claim stands on paperwork. The residual payment does not — registering takes the VIN and your contact details.
• Final approval came on 28 November 2023 in the Central District of California, and the appeal that followed was dismissed on 11 December 2025.

Frequently Asked Questions