Woman Takes Honda To Small Claims Court Over Mileage Claims - And WINS!

A Southern California woman took Honda to small-claims court and won in a big way.

Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Douglas Carnahan ruled Wednesday that the automaker misled Heather Peters about the potential fuel economy of her hybrid car and awarded her $9,867 — much more than the couple hundred dollars cash that a proposed class-action settlement is offering.

"At a bare minimum Honda was aware ... that by the time Peters bought her car there were problems with its living up to its advertised mileage," Carnahan wrote in the judgment.

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carsarefun - 2/2/2012 2:05:28 PM

+3 Boost

Gas mileage information shown on the MSRP window sticker are determined and provided by the U.S. Department of Energy's EPA Division.

Why is Honda being sued by a car owner for inaccuracies made by the Federal Government?

CARS ARE FUN

Joe_Limon - 2/2/2012 2:53:02 PM

-1 Boost

"Carnahan included in his 26-page decision a long list of misleading representations by Honda that he said Peters had correctly identified. Among them were that the car would use "amazingly little fuel," "provides plenty of horsepower while still sipping fuel," and that it would "save plenty of money on fuel with up to 50 mpg during city driving.""

Reading the article is fun...

AlleVier - 2/2/2012 3:27:09 PM

+3 Boost

Weak article. I'm no closer to figuring out what the legal reasoning was for fraud as I'm not familiar with the car's actual performance nor can I glean anything from the fuzzy advertising-speak used to perpetrate it. I'm guessing that there were some asterisks next to these claims that promised a certain level of performance over and above those of a baseline model, but as the article stands, I'm left to believe there will be lawsuits against cars promising to be "amazingly fun to drive".

LexSucks - 2/2/2012 6:02:47 PM

0 Boost

That's right AlleVier. Protect that Corporation.

2ndbimmer - 2/3/2012 10:14:53 AM

+1 Boost

This is old news. About 6-7 years ago a lady sued Honda because driving the exact mileage to work everyday changed. All of a sudden she was driving further, so it looked like she was getting more miles per gallon. So, she sued and won because honda knowingly adjusted the settings in each car to be able to claim their vehicles get better gas mileage.
but the japanese can do no wrong. they are the most dependable and fuel efficient vehicles out there...