A federal judge has ruled that lawsuits filed against Toyota for the manufacturer's unintended acceleration issues can move forward based on the fact that the drivers' vehicles may have lost value due to the flaws.

Toyota's once-sterling reputation has taken a plunge after it was forced to recall more than 10 million vehicles in the past year for a variety of safety issues, the most visible of which was a sudden acceleration defect that affected numerous used Toyotas. Multiple families of car accident victims and other drivers seeking compensation have filed numerous lawsuits against the automaker, which were combined into one case heard by U.S. District Judge James Selna in California.

The Associated Press reports that lawyers for Toyota asked the judge to throw out many of the suits for a variety of reasons. Some drivers were not actually involved in accidents and simply claimed that their vehicle lost value thanks to the issue. Others cited the vehicles' electronic control feature, which Toyota says cannot be conclusively linked to the defect.

Yet Selna has ruled that the suits may continue, which could have far-reaching consequences for the automaker. Lawyer Cari Dawson told the news source that Selna's decision could "open the floodgates" to further litigation against Toyota, since theoretically every person who owns a Toyota could file a suit.