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A woman sues Honda for MPG on hybrid

I would expect to get the highway mileage stated on the sticker.
All the cars I've ever owned have.
 
bee_are_bee said:
I may have misheard but the court hearing is here in California. I remember also hearing something about class action.
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There is a class action in CA, this woman chose to opt out of the class action because the settlement is ridiculous - $200 and something like $500 off a new Honda car while the lawyers get $8.7 million. She is suing in small claims for the max amount - $10,000 where no lawyers are involved (Honda will have to send an employee to fight their side).

Good for her! She paid more to get a Hybrid and ended up with a car that delivered less than a regular Civic. Honda failed.
 
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CL65 Captain said:
There is a class action in CA, this woman chose to opt out of the class action because the settlement is ridiculous - $200 and something like $500 off a new Honda car while the lawyers get $8.7 million. She is suing in small claims for the max amount - $10,000 where no lawyers are involved (Honda will have to send an employee to fight their side).

Good for her! She paid more to get a Hybrid and ended up with a car that delivered less than a regular Civic. Honda failed.
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I agree. If I purchased that car I would be pissed if it didn't do what the manufacture claimed. The entire point of those crappy hybrids are to save you money at the pump.
 
DRIFTER said:
I agree. If I purchased that car I would be pissed if it didn't do what the manufacture claimed. The entire point of those crappy hybrids are to save you money at the pump.
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The point about hybrids is not to save money but to help save the "planet". :rolleyes:

Few can justify the additional cost of a hybrid on pure financial reasoning.

Particularly when you factor in the cost of battery replacement.

-Jim
 
Jimbo said:
The point about hybrids is not to save money but to help save the "planet". :rolleyes:
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Don't think so....

http://www.leftlanenews.com/study-prius-production-harmful-to-environment.html
http://www.physorg.com/news10031.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Prius#Environmental_effects
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_vehicle#Environmental_issues

I think it was developed to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels and further automotive innovations & technologies.

Few can justify the additional cost of a hybrid on pure financial reasoning.

Particularly when you factor in the cost of battery replacement.

-Jim
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This is very true, however. I did a basic calculation comparing the cost of a mid trim Corolla vs the mid-trim Prius. With $4 a gallon of gas and 15k miles per year, it'll take me almost 8 years to break even.
 
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I think they were created the same way E85 gas was created. Without research or math.
Hybrids will be great when solar panels are cheap in 20 years. Then you could drive them with low environmental impact. Until then, if you want to save the earth, drive a 30 year old diesel and don't buy new things. If you want to save money on gas, drive a new diesel that gets good gas mileage.
 
solar cells will never be cheap till the oil companies get their hands on them or finds a way to corner the market and then will ALLOW us to convert to solar cars

big corp with big check books can do what ever they want.

Rome fell...... so will.......
 
I thought Consumer Reports did an investigation a while back and found that pretty much all of the mfr's MPG window stickers were overestimated.?
 
I'm surprised at some of these comments with some of you guys being "car guys".

1) Most hybrids are not sold to environmentalists. They are sold to people who are sick of spending all their money on gas. On that premise, they do deliver provided you don't put your impatient foot to the floor everytime the light turns green. I have averaged over 60 MPG in a Prius several times, you're not getting that with a corolla. And I can certainly make that same car get 15. There's some responsibility on the driver here. I can also burn out a clutch in 500 miles and wear out tires in 1000. Should I sue all those guys too?

2) I have yet to see a Prius or another hybrid actually need a battery replacement. They are warrantied for 8-10 years, then are prorated and recycled. I know of original first body style prius's with over 300k miles still on original batteries.

3) Hybrids do save both gas and money. Whether they do for you or not depends on the price of gas, how much you drive, how you drive, and the car's residual value. A Prius is one of THE most economical cars to own. This is all validated by independent consumer magazines like intellichoice and CR.
 
I can get ANY car to not deliver its posted MPG. Hybrid or not. Why don't we all sue every manufacturer? Last I checked MPG figures were a GUIDE not a promise. A hybrid civic will deliver higher MPG than a standard civic for most drivers. That's fact. She should have bought a Prius to start with and someone at Honda should have not ignored her letter. You should not ignore any letter. It's bad PR.

She is suing because she is pissed off having a car that has had some issues, and being ignored. Now Honda has to deal with a lot bigger problem.
 
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Hmm can I sue Honda too? I was sold on the claim Honda was "The Power of Dreams". I've had lots of dreams but yet I need to fill up my tank each week.

Group Buy Class Action Lawsuit:

1. Vega$ NSX
2.
3.
 
Vega$ NSX said:
Hmm can I sue Honda too? I was sold on the claim Honda was "The Power of Dreams". I've had lots of dreams but yet I need to fill up my tank each week.

Group Buy Class Action Lawsuit:

1. Vega$ NSX
2.
3.
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I'm in:biggrin:

Group Buy Class Action Lawsuit:

1. Vega$ NSX
2. LMR
3. <!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

BTW I'm suprised you aren't filling up everyday with that turbo:tongue:
 
ROI on new hybrid vehicles can range from 2-7 years, depending on the vehicle, miles driven, etc. Studies were done comparing hybrid vehicles and their non-hybrid counterparts. In the case of the Prius, a Toyota Matrix was used. ROI on a new Prius takes approximately four years. In this instance, if the owner keeps the vehicle more than four years, it's a good purchase. Also, aren't official mileage estimates from the EPA?? Why the hell is she suing Honda?? This whole thing smells fishy to me.
 
the price of gas could go up to 600 bucks a gallon and i will still drive my NSX.

it 20 years George Jetson will look down at me driving my NSX

or the new one coming out which i will have.
 
I don't get it doesn't mpg really depend on the user driving habit not the car. What if they person drives like a maniac from light to light or does 85-95mph on the highways. She will not get estimated MPG regardless of what car she drives. Also how well she's kept up with maintenance would probably be a big variable on her mpg too.
 
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Mechanically the difference in strictly highway mileage between a regular civic and hybrid civic of the same year should be minute. The hybrid components themselves do almost nothing for steady highway driving; it's the gearing, reduced friction tires, aerodynamic enhancements, etc., that make a difference in highway driving. City driving is where hybrids excel and where the focus should be. As stated previously, most economy cars today can get 40mpg if driven conservatively on the highway which is about the same as most hybrids (they get 40-45mpg on the highway generally).

That being said, if the manufacturer says you should get 50mpg and you can prove in court that under the ideal circumstances you get "significantly" below that you probably have a case.

I like the concept of hybrids because they are overall more efficient (IMO). I don't like wasting energy as I slow down knowing it could be partially reused for acceleration. That being said I have never owned or seriously considered buying a hybrid but might buy a used one as a fuel hedge and just for the heck of it. I like the systems used in the new sonata hybrid which can be purchased for ~$25k and averages 40mpg with 200hp+.
 
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Moses said:
This ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
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This? He is comparing two totally different cars!

How about we do a mid trim Prius, and compare it to a mid trim Tundra. If you want to compare you compare the same car in a hybrid and non-hybrid version. A Prius is not a Corolla. It's not more money just because it's a hybrid. It has more room, has more options, and is a different class of car. If we compare it to a Lexus IS, the ROI is almost instant!

Saying it takes 8 years to recover the money is good for the personal comparison he is making for his own car shopping. That's fine if he feels the two cars are the same.... but it has nothing to do with the ROI rates on hybrids. That is what we were talking about.
 
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remember when mazda coughed up $ when all the rx8 s started dynoing way less then marketed hp? If you advertise and market a figure, then it better be REASONABLEY close. If you advertise 50 mpg and the best you can get is 30 when driven under the best operating practices and conditions (stop and go) then what you sold was a lie. Pay up.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk
 
Jim, it's a standard test set forth by the EPA. It's not some advertising number, marketing number, or something a manufacturer can just fudge by 50%. If that's what's on the window of that car, that's what it got on the standard EPA test. If someone has a problem with that, it's personal. It's their driving habits and conditions.
 

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