TOYOTA DEALERSHIP PAYS BIG: Toyota of North Miami Agrees To Pay $889k In TCPA Settlement—And Class Members Could Get $85 Per Text!

Hi TCPAWorld! Lei here! A car dealership has driven straight into a TCPA pothole.

FRL Automotive LLC—doing business as Toyota of North Miami—has agreed to hand over the keys to nearly a million dollars to settle a class action involving marketing text messages sent to people who said “STOP.”

And for a class this size, the payout is surprisingly high.

The settlement fund is $889,525.00.

Now, usually when I see numbers like that, I expect a massive class of tens of thousands of people where everyone gets a coupon for an oil change. But not here.

The class is defined as: “All persons within the United States who, from March 10, 2021 through September 20, 2025, (1) were sent a text message as reflected in the text message logs produced in this case, (2) and who opted out of Defendant’s messages but continued to receive text messages 15 days after opting out”.

The parties estimate this class contains only 2,627 individuals.

Do the math. That is $339.00 per class member gross.

After the lawyers take their cut (we’ll get to that), the settlement documents estimate that class members who file a valid claim will receive up to $85.00 per text message they received after opting out.

And getting nearly a hundred bucks for a single text message is a result that should make every dealership general manager sweat.

According to the complaint, the Plaintiff texted “Stop” to the dealership—using their own opt-out instructions—and got an immediate confirmation that he was unsubscribed. But then, the dealership allegedly kept sending him with texts from a different number asking if he wanted to sell his car.

The defendant denies any wrongdoing but decided to settle on a class basis rather than fight it out in court.

Class Counsel (Eisenband Law, Hiraldo P.A., Shamis & Gentile P.A., and Edelsberg Law) are asking for $222,381.25 in fees and costs, which is exactly 25% of the fund.

The named Plaintiff, Jason Karpiel, is set to receive a $5,000.00 service award.

The rest goes to the class members who file claims.

The final approval hearing for this settlement will be on March 25, 2026.

The Florida state court case is Karpiel v. FRL Automotive LLC, Case No. 2025-020201-CA-01, in the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Florida, for anyone who wants to see the docket for themselves.

Anyway, this is a good reminder for all the businesses out there: Honor your opt-outs. If someone says stop, STOP. Otherwise, you might end up paying $85 a text.