Hey just following up on a story posted here pretty recently. Someone posted that a woman sued Honda in small claims court because her civic hybrid didnt get 50mpg

Well... she won

Woman wins small-claims suit over Honda Civic Hybrid - Yahoo! Autos

 

The new precedent is that small claims court will be as clogged as my small bowel after all-you-can-eat prime rib night.

 

https://www.i-club.com/forums/bay-ar...-court-238067/

Here's the link to the original thread.

 

That makes my o-ring hurt just thinking about it.

 

?!?!!?!!?!!?!

 

Pushing out the "all you can eat steak buffet" the day after.

 

WHAT THE F***

Thats so stupid! seriously! I mean these gas mileage ratings dont even go through honda. Im like 90% sure they bring the car to a place to measure gas mileage.

Anyways, im pretty sure her obesity is killing that mileage down to who knows what it may be.

 

I don't know if it's as simple as that. Honda also tried to argue "A Honda technical expert who testified at an earlier hearing said the company was required by federal law to post the sticker estimating the highest mileage the car could get." But that's evading the question, which is whether such estimates are correct in the first place.

And while there are standards for determining EPA mileage estimates, it's hard to imagine that Honda is entirely un-involved in the process. Don't they try to achieve the highest MPG possible? If the testing results are abnormally low, won't Honda raise cain and try to get it re-tested? Doesn't Honda provide the test vehicle(s) and have control over aspects of the setup, tune, battery pack, etc. used? Isn't Honda in the best position to know what true mileage estimates are, and don't they design cars (especially hybrids) specifically with mileage performance in mind? To say that Honda has no control or liability over mileage claims is a real stretch IMO.

That said, I have no idea from the article how they determined the verdict. With no attorneys, expert witnesses, discovery, etc., what did it come down to? Did they survey owners? Take her word over Honda's? Put up a poll on the vtec forums?

All I know is that I've never seen a Civic hybrid get 50mpg short of hypermiling. The Prius gets a lot closer. In contrast, at best my WRX (with bike rack) gets 25-26, which actually BEATS the highway mileage on the sticker.

 

Easy money

 

I think that is because they started giving more conservative mpg estimates on the sticker only a few years ago

 

how did she even get a chance in court.
Isn't there a disclaimer on the EPA mileage ratings sticker on a NEW vehicle that says: "Actual Mileage will vary depend on how you DRIVE and MAINTAIN your car"

 

[QUOTE=PikkaGTR;3199860]how did she even get a chance in court.
Isn't there a disclaimer on the EPA mileage ratings sticker on a NEW vehicle that says: "Actual Mileage will vary depend on how you DRIVE and MAINTAIN your car" /QUOTE]

My guess is that she presented credible evidence that she drove it and maintained it optimally, and it still got nowhere close to the claimed numbers (you presented conditions, I met those conditions, turns out you were still lying).

 

The woman knew how to play the game and won. Simple as that.

 

Wow dude, she's not even fat.....