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A Toyota RAV4 panoramic sunroof lawsuit is slowly moving forward in court after certain claims were dismissed and one of the owners who sued dropped his claims.
However, the lawsuit still has not been certified as a class action.
First filed in 2023, the class action lawsuit alleges 2021 Toyota RAV4 panoramic sunroofs are prone to shattering and exploding.
The lawsuit argues Toyota should recall the RAV4 SUVs to replace the sunroofs for free, and without a recall drivers are forced to drive defective and dangerous vehicles.
But Toyota should allegedly install non-defective sunroofs because the plaintiffs complain dealers replace defective sunroofs with equally defective sunroofs.
The panoramic sunroofs can shatter without any impact to the glass, and a RAV4 owner may need to pay $1,000 or more for a replacement.
The Toyota shattered sunroof lawsuit was originally filed by two RAV4 owners, one (Jeffry Takil) who complains the sunroof exploded in his 2021 Toyota RAV4 less than a year after purchase. He contends a dealer told him it would cost more than $1,200 for a RAV4 sunroof replacement.
However, a non-Toyota dealer replaced the sunroof and his insurance company paid for the replacement.
According to court documents, plaintiff Takil has voluntarily dismissed his claims and is no longer a plaintiff in the Toyota RAV4 sunroof class action lawsuit.
Remaining California plaintiff Aracely Gamez complains her 2021 Toyota RAV4 sunroof exploded a month after she purchased the new vehicle.
Typical vehicle warranties do not include glass, so the plaintiff complains she had to pay an insurance deductible of $500 to replace the panoramic sunroof. But the lawsuit says the replacement sunroof also shattered which caused her to pay another $500 deductible.
Judge Dale A. Drozd set the following deadlines and schedule:
- Any motion for class action certification: September 5, 2025
- Discovery completed by: April 9, 2026
- Designation of Expert Witnesses due by: May 8, 2026
- Motions shall be filed by: August 14, 2026
- Final Pretrial Conference set for: January 25, 2027
- Jury Trial set for: March 23, 2027
The Toyota RAV4 trial will likely last two to three days if no class action is certified, but the trial may last two to three weeks if a class action is certified. According to the judge, there must be a court-supervised settlement conference with a settlement judge before the case proceeds to trial.
The Toyota RAV4 shattered panoramic sunroof class action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California: Gamez, et al., v. Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc., et al.
The plaintiffs are represented by Lemberg Law, LLC.
To read shattered sunroof class action lawsuits filed against numerous other automakers, click here.