When buying a new car we expect that almost everything onthat window sticker is accurate. If it says there is a car cd changer in thecar, we expect there to be a car cd player in the car. The same goes for other advertisedoptions such as power windows, heated seats, or maybe even hybrid technology. Theprice is the only thing on that sticker we expect (and hope) is not 100%accurate. There always seems to be wiggle-room when it comes to the pricing ofthe vehicle, but one Californian woman discovered another ambiguous numberadvertised: the MPG.When Heather Peters bought her 2006 Hybrid Honda Civic shewas excited like most new car owners. Gas prices were shooting up and she nowhad herself a car Honda promised would get her 50 miles per gallon. So shedrove and drove and drove, but she never saw 50mpg. After some time, she wasonly getting 30mpg. Well, fast-forward some time and she has actually suedHonda for this misrepresentation. This week she won the smalls claims lawsuitwhich means Honda has to pay close to $10,000 for not living up to itsadvertised gas mileage to Peters (and maybe some of the 200,000 other 2006Hybrid Honda Civic owners).
I understand frustration with not getting high gas mileage,especially if you’re paying for a car with that specific purpose. But on theother hand, one MPG number can’t be taken accurately across the board. Livingin Southern California myself (like Peters), I understand my car’s gas mileageprobably suffers a bit from the hilly landscape and the fact that 85% of thetime I’m driving in stop-and-go traffic. Peters has now created DontSettleWithHonda.orgtrying to get other owners on board, while Honda is standing firm that they arerequired by law to post the highest mileage the car could get. With thisvictory, I’m interested to see how many others come out with the same complainton the Civic and on other vehicle models. But for now it seems like the scoreremains, Hybrid Owners: 1, Honda: 0.
