The owner of model years 2003-8 Honda Civic Hybrids that filed suit against the manufacturer in a class-action lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California in 2007 contend that the car does not get the gas mileage that the company claims. Consumer groups and state Attorney Generals around the country have honed in on this issue as the consumer plaintiff’s claim they are only getting around 31 miles per gallon, instead of the claimed 49 in the city and 51 on the highway. After two year of litigation over the matter a settlement proposal has been advanced and is scheduled for the Court’s approval in January 2010.
John True of Ontario California and Gonzalo Delgado of Chino Hills, California and 120,000 other Civic Hybrid owners allege that Honda advertising makes misleading statements that indicate that the Civic Hybrid gets much better fuel economy than it is actually likely to achieve under real-world conditions. In what many have viewed as something of a concession Honda has, beginning with the 2008 model year used the E.P.A.’s revised fuel-economy numbers to make the advertising claims more realistic. The 2008-10 Civic Hybrids are rated at 40 miles per gallon in the city and 45 on the highway.
For more information regarding consumer protection laws please contact the attorneys at Bahe Cook Cantley and Nefzger, PLC at (502) 587-2002.