Honda Sued Over Hybrid Mileage

Now here’s one of those stories you just know the ending to: A man from California is suing Honda in a class-action case because he’s getting worse mileage than the figures on the sticker. He says he’s averaging 32 mpg, while the sticker posts 49/51 mpg city/highway.

We scoff a bit because Honda doesn’t set the figures on the sticker, the Environmental Protection Agency does. We’re no legal experts, but we don’t understand how an automaker can be at fault for being forced to put EPA figures on a sticker. The EPA also admitted that the tests that led to 2007 and earlier figures were not accurate and instituted new tests, resulting in lower mileage figures.

Mileage also varies due to driver habits, especially with hybrids. Automotive journalists can tell you that driving a car at its limits for a week won’t return the normal day-to-day commute numbers that owners experience.

Maybe we’re a bit slanted because we’ve been covering the change in EPA mileage figures for the past year — as well as some poor real-world mileage for the Toyota Prius —  and try to get the message out to car shoppers about what to look out for. It’s too bad this guy wasn’t a regular reader. 

Hybrid Owner Sues Honda Over Mileage Claims (The Detroit News)

Related
2008 Adjusted Mileage: Honda Civic Hybrid (FuelEconomy.gov)
EPA Releases Official 2008 Mileage Calculator (KickingTires)
2007 Toyota Prius: Real-World Mileage (KickingTires)
New Hybrid Vehicles Buying Guide (Cars.com)

Comments

The information on the Honda Civic Hybrid gas mileage has been public knowledge for quite some time. If they guy had taken sometime to do a little research, i'm sure he would have heard of this issue before his purchase.

Their argument rests on the definition of "may"?

pretty much yeah.

Hey, if we can have a judge who sued (though lost) a dry-cleaner because of that "Satisfaction Guarantee" slogan, then there is defintely more merit on this lawsuit than the dry-cleaner one. :)

(This is a gonner. The disclaimer essentially put this one to RIP.)

However, there is 1 thg that I do hope to see from this lawsuit, or bring up from this lawsuit, and that is:

Why don't we see the ACTUAL MILEAGE from the manufacturuers?

All we can see currently are from either EPA or auto reviews (estimated). However, the ONLY one that can qualify to give us the actual (test) mileage is from the manufacturers. They have to test their vehicles in ALL conditions (snow, rain, desert, mud, etc.) in order to release their vehicles and sell them to ALL markets. For example, Nissan always tests their vehicles in various weather and track conditions. Thus, manufacturers are the best sources of info on this issue. I don't see why this can't be done, esp if they always put disclaimer on every pcs of info available on their vehicles..

Dave T., can u chip in?

The federal govt. mandates that the EPA numbers are what is put on the window sticker and that it is the # used in product information provided by the manufacturer. The fact that it may be better than normal driving conditions by a majority of the population probably makes the automaker happy to slap them on their cars.

Fueleconomy.gov is now letting users put in their real world mileage and then averages that number as well. Sites like ours have consumer reviews where people routinely talk about the mileage they're getting, especially if it doesn't live up to the stickers.

I suggest shoppers use as many of these tools as possible to make sure they don't run into the same problems as this Honda owner.

To bolster Dave's point about the manufacturers' use of EPA figures, I asked Toyota's VP of marketing about the issue a few years ago when hybrid backlash began, and he said they would actually have liked to publish more realistic fuel economy numbers to temper buyers' expectations. The automakers are prohibited from doing so. You might think it would be OK to publish numbers _lower_ than the EPA figures, but the law imposes blanket adherence to the government estimates. Asked about verbal clarification, perhaps at the retail level, he said no dealer was likely to claim lower numbers; to do so would put them at a competitive disadvantage. To be the only brand depressing its mileage estimates would be bad -- even stupid -- business. Hard to argue.

I wonder why this guy is getting such bad results. My 2006 CHC got 43 mpg plus out of the box and has mostly improved up to closer to averaging 47 mpg. Recently, however, my check engine light came on and the mileage is down to about 41-42 mpg.

Maybe the guy who'd trying to sue is a buddy of Al Gore's son and drives his Civic hybrid 100 mph.

I imagine the EPA numbers are mandated in order to ensure a standard, uniform method of testing. While in this case the use of the manufacturers numbers would result in lower MPG ratings, it's not hard to imagine the opposite occuring if the testing were left to the manufacturers instead of a third party such as the US government.

Out of curiosity, Dave T., Joe W., and others who do extensive vehicle testing, do the real world numbers you get reliably hold the ratio of the EPA numbers between models? I.E. if the EPA numbers for vehicle A are double that of vehicle B, do you find that the REAL world mileage of vehicle A is double that of vehicle B? I wonder if EPA numbers can at least be used to compare relative fuel consumption between models, even if they aren't good for absolute consumption.

My only comment to that person are:
1. He is retarded to have come up with the idea of suing the automaker not EPA.
2. He has no clue on know how to drive a car with MPG in mind, because I beat that number with a NON-HYBRID Civic, which according to Honda, only weigh 71 pounds less than his Civic Hybrid and I drive 100% in the city.

One more comment
I just read the article in the Detroit Press by clicking the link above.
He plunked down $28,470 for that Civic Hybrid?! And it is at least $7,000 more than a comparable non-hybrid Civic EX?!
First of all, I don't know about California's car dealers, but if the Civic Hybrid is about $4,000 over the MSRP, then the Civic EX should be the same. So it should be just about $3,000 more than the EX.
Second, he simply just got ripped-off by certain dealer.

My main concern about this situation is that the automakers and the dealers have made a lot of money with misleading information. All hybrid owners should be given money back.

I have an 06 Civic Hybrid, and I also have a lead foot. But, I also spend a lot of time in stop and go traffic and city driving. I still manage about 38-39 mpg even under these conditions. Recently, I went on a long road trip and managed to pull off 46 mpg. That's driving at an average speed of 75 mph! If this guy drove 17 mph in the city without stopping and 45 mph on the highway without stopping, then sure, file your lawsuit that you are not getting the mileage you should be getting. But c'mon! There's no way anyone could ever drive under the ideal conditions set forth by the EPA. This guy should move to Berkeley, CA. Then this would sound like a legit lawsuit from some greenie-wacko.

I consistantly get better MPG than what was on the sticker in my non-hybrid vehicle. Am I gonna sue? Of course not. My secret? Don't use the gas pedal like an on/off switch, accelerate/brake slowly and keep my vehicle in tune. My commute is 100% stop/go short distance (4-5 miles) in town as well. I'd like to see the Honda Hybrid driver's habits.

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