Toyota and Lexus Importer Sued in Israel Over Costly Brake Defect Repairs

A class action request filed with the Lod District Court alleges that Israeli Toyota and Lexus owners are paying thousands of shekels for a known brake defect that is repaired free in the United States. The petition names Union Motors and Lexus Motors, the official importers and distributors in Israel, and says the companies should have extended the same warranty treatment to local customers.

At the center of the case is the eBooster braking system used in Toyota and Lexus hybrid vehicles. The petition says internal faults in the system are identified by four trouble codes, C1256, C1253, C1252 and C1391, and that repairs can cost tens of thousands of shekels depending on the model and the parts replaced. The filing says that between 2016 and 2025, Toyota and Lexus issued at least 11 warranty-extension programs in the United States covering more than 2.47 million vehicles, first sometimes without mileage or age limits and later for up to 10 years or 240,000 kilometers.

According to expert opinion attached to the filing, the eBooster units installed in hybrid Toyota and Lexus vehicles in Israel are built on the same principles, components and design as the ones covered by the U.S. programs. Based on Transport Ministry data, the potential Israeli class is said to include more than 100,000 vehicles, among them various Toyota Prius, Yaris, Auris, Camry, Highlander, RAV4 and C-HR models, as well as Lexus CT200h, ES300h, NX300h, RX450h and GS450h.

The petition highlights one case of a Lexus CT200h owner who paid 7,500 shekels after a diagnostic test found one of the relevant fault codes and the garage replaced the ABS pump and brake-booster auxiliary pump. The filing says the defect was diagnosed while the U.S. warranty extension was in effect, meaning the same repair would have been free there. Union Motors said it would study the request carefully and respond in the proper legal forum.