By Shawn Henry 
Toyota’s got a $5.7 billion mess on its hands in California. A class-action lawsuit just dropped, with three furious Mirai owners leading the charge for everyone who bought or leased these hydrogen-fuel-cell rides from 2016 onward. And let’s just say, Toyota’s big hydrogen dream? It’s looking more like a gaslighting nightmare.
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The suit throws punches at Toyota, its dealers, and even its finance wing, slamming them for allegedly pushing cars tied to what owners describe as a broken refuelling network. Hidden defects? Oh, they’re all over the place—failed fills, hydrogen leaks, sketchy acceleration—while Toyota kept hyping the Mirai as some eco-friendly chariot. Reality check? Owners say half the stations were ghost towns, turning their shiny “zero-emission” rides into driveway décor.
Here’s the kicker: Toyota swore the Mirai could fuel up in “about five minutes.” Cue the laughter. Drivers ended up hunting for working stations like it was some post-apocalyptic road trip, only to face hours-long lines or straight-up empty pumps. Then Shell nuked its hydrogen spots last year, shrinking the network to a skeleton crew. Good luck finding fuel now.
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Oh, and things get spicy—plaintiffs tossed the RICO Act into the mix, claiming Toyota ran a full-blown “deception campaign” to juice sales while ignoring the infrastructure dumpster fire. Marketing spun tales of hydrogen’s golden age, but drivers got stuck holding the bag—err, the useless lease papers.
Toyota admits hydrogen access is “a challenge” and even paused Mirai sales in places like Sacramento. They’re tossing out service credits and rental cars like consolation prizes, but owners aren’t buying it. One thing’s clear: when your car can’t even move, a coupon just doesn’t cut it.
John