Honda sued over Civic hybrid mileage claims

Japan's auto giant Honda Motor president Takeo Fukui introduces the new 2006 model of Civic Hybrid. / OSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP/Getty Images

TORRANCE, Calif. - A woman who expected her 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid to be her dream car wants Honda to pay for not delivering the high mileage it promised. But rather than joining other owners in a class-action lawsuit, she is going solo in small claims court, an unusual move that could offer a bigger payout if it doesn't backfire.

A trial is set for Tuesday afternoon in Torrance, where American Honda Motor Co. has its West Coast headquarters.

Heather Peters says her car never came close to getting the promised 50 miles per gallon, and as its battery deteriorated, it was getting only 30 mpg. She wants Honda to pay for her trouble and the extra money she spent on gas.

Peters, a former lawyer who long ago gave up her bar card, has devised a unique legal vehicle to drive Honda into court, a small claims suit that could cost the company up to $10,000 in her case and every other individual case filed in the same manner.

If other claimants follow her lead, she estimates Honda could be forced to pay $2 billion in damages. No high-priced lawyers are involved and the process is streamlined.

"I would not be surprised if she won," said Richard Cupp Jr., who teaches product liability law at Pepperdine University. "The judge will have a lot of discretion and the evidentiary standards are relaxed in small claims court."

A win for Peters could encourage others to take this simplified route, he said.

"There's an old saying among lawyers," Cupp said. "If you want real justice, go to small claims court."

But he questioned whether her move, supported by publicity on the Internet and elsewhere, would start a groundswell of such suits. He suggested that few people would want to expend the time and energy that Peters has put into her suit when the potential payoff is as little as a few thousand dollars.

Peters opted out of a series of class-action lawsuits filed on behalf of similar Honda hybrid owners when she saw a proposed settlement would give owners no more than $200 cash and a rebate of $500 or $1,000 to purchase a new Honda.

The settlement would give trial lawyers $8.5 million, Peters said.

"I was shocked," she said. "I wrote to Honda and said I would take $7,500, which was then the limit on small claims in California. It is going up to $10,000 in 2012."

She said she also offered to trade her hybrid for a comparable car with a manual transmission, the only thing she trusted at that point.

"I wrote the letter and I said, `If you don't respond, I will file a suit in small claims court.' I gave them my phone number," she said. "They never called, and I filed the suit."

She said she also sent emails to top executives at Honda with no response.

Aaron Jacoby, a Los Angeles attorney who heads the automotive industry group at the Arent Fox law firm, said Peters' strategy, while intriguing, is unlikely to change the course of class-action litigation.

"In the class-action, the potential claimants don't have to do anything," Jacoby said. "It's designed to be an efficient way for a court to handle multiple claims of the same type."

He also questioned her criticism of class-action lawyers for the fees they receive. Jacoby, who handles such cases, said lawyers who take on the multiple clients involved do extensive work, sometimes spanning years, and are not in it just for money.

"They're representing the underdog and they believe they are performing a public duty," he said. "Many of these people could not get lawyers to represent them individually."

American Honda's offices were closed for the holidays and no one could be reached for comment. Peters said the company has tried five times to delay the trial but each effort was rebuffed.

The upside of Peters' unusual move, she says, is that litigants are not allowed to have lawyers argue in small claims court in California. This means any award will not be diluted by attorney's fees. Honda would have to appoint a non-lawyer employee to argue its side in court.

"If I prevail and get $10,000, they have 200,000 of these cars out there. That's a potential payout of $2 billion," she said.

While she doubts that all other owners will take the same route, she suggests the penalty could be substantial for the company if a large percentage of the owners file individually.

A judge in San Diego County is due to rule in March on whether to approve Honda's latest class action settlement offer. Members of the class have until Feb. 11 to accept or decline the settlement.

Peters has launched a website, DontSettleWithHonda.org, urging others to take the small claims route.

[Chuck4961]

The woman is a liar. She did not buy the car for ecological or good gas mileage reasons. She bought the car and drove it like it was a race car to get the worst gas mileage it could possibly get; we call that rodding a engine. She purchased this car to sue Honda and discredit the Hybrid. First the hybrid was discredited as a gay car, then the dust-to-dust energy consumption, then the brakes and now MPG. We all know that the MPG is not real for most people; although, hyper-milers can do much better. I don't care for Honda; I drive a 2002 Prius. It is a dog, but I get 48-52 mpg in the City and 45-48 mpg on the highway, better than the EPA MPG (estimated miles per gallon) listed. The best that I have done is 60 mpg on a tank of gas, around 10 gallons.

[david_k_h]

I guess I must be an exception to the misery. I bought a new 2004 HCH and have had it for over 8 yrs. I got the 50mpg on many road trips to Sequoia National and I still today get 42-44 in town mileage even with a worn out original battery. I never got a software update.

[rwsmith29456]

I hope she wins. Their product failed.

[alex_glaz]

Honda/Acura is an unscrupulous company that has always claimed technology advances decades after American and other auto makers have already matured the technology. However, Honda is even unable to copy other car manufacturers' technology in a timely manner. They were decades behind in V6, airbag and ABS which cost many casualties among Honda drivers. People should shun this brand as there are other budget car makers like Kia and Hyundai with more advanced cars.

[babydriver57]

This ethanol diluted gasoline will not get optimum mileage.
If you can get non ethonol gas that is the way to go.

Might suprize you how much more power you have as well.
It did me. Huge difference.

[venusvegasvada]

Anyone that buys a Honda Civic Hybrid and expected it to be a dependable, 100,000 mile + car needs to step back a bit. There is plenty of info out on the web to the contrary. To say you didn't know the car had problems would be a stretch.

You can do simple searches on the web and see story after story of people that had problems with that car's continuously variable transmission. They don't last. 40 to 60,000 miles and they have problems. It's a neat idea, but that car's metallic belt transmission is not as durable as a normal transmission or a planetary transmission (like other hybrids).

I think to sue Honda is a bit out of line, but this is America and all those lawyers have to get paid don't they. You bought something that is basically experimental tech. You roll the dice and take your chances.

[canislupus16]

venus, I really question the relevancy of what you're saying. There's information everywhere on a lot of things. Here, it is Honda that is saying their Civic will get you 50 mpg. I hardly think Honda would approve of various sources on the internet or elsewhere speaking for them. It is their message and they want to control it.

While we all have become quite cynical when it comes to companies' advertising claims, it is nonetheless their claims that we go by or at least influence our own decisions - or more importantly, that THEY go by. What do you expect a judge or jury to do? Rule that - with a wink - "c'mon, we all know companies lie, you get nothing"? No, it is the companies, in this case Honda, that didn't live up to its mileage claim, the claim which supported this woman's decision to buy the car. She may well have, and probably likely, calculated what she could afford to pay for gas over the duration of her projected ownership. Why should she get screwed in the process if it is Honda that misrepresented its product?

[venusvegasvada]

I was looking at buying this very car a few years ago but didn't after seeing so many owners having problems with their cars transmissions. That's the critical component in the drive train.

I realize that there are exceptions, for example Suzanna144 said she's gotten good service from hers and her experience is a good sign that there are good ones out there. I guess my point was more from a technical point of view. I saw Honda's complex, metallic belt Continuously Variable Transmission as something experimental and maybe not ready for prime time (hence the failures). The efficiency of that mechanism in being able to translate the torque is critical for fuel economy. If it is not working perfectly then fuel economy could very well suffer. I should have pointed that viewpoint out a little better. I looked at it as if everything was working to spec and the driver did their part (not lead footing it) it would get the mileage advertised. But when the CVT started to fail, mileage would suffer. That was just a conclusion on my part though.

[ganguandaland]

The EPA determines the estimated gas mileage. A few years ago car manufacturers wanted to advertise more realistic numbers, but the EPA balked.

[credibility2]

The mileage number is usually an estimated one or one stated with exacting and optimum driving conditions. If it can be proven she wasn't in the optimum conditions, she'll lose. If she does a lot of in-city driving, or starting, stopping, or over uneven surfaces, etc. these conditions will affect mileage, as does tire inflation, other operational responsibilities (grade of fuel, following recommended service, etc.). Anyone who has fallen for the hype of hybrid deserves to be duped.

[Lerianis4]

Ah, but they are advertised as those miles per gallon being under normal driving conditions, meaning how most people normally drive.
If they wish to 'get out of liability' with that argument you make, then they should make it very clear that these are under 'best' driving conditions, those miles per gallon.

[tomanyt]

@Lerianis4...You need to look at the fine print on those ads. They say no such thing. No car company guarantee's their numbers because they know they are created with magic. They always qualify any statement with "up to". I just bought a ("up to") 40 mpg Hyundai. LOL. Not even close.

[karek40]

The merit of the lawsuit should depend on the records the lady sueing kept. Costs for fuel (gas and electricity) miles driven using each fuel and the aveage cost per mile. Without backup data she loses, with the corroborating data she should win.

[Susanna144]

I personally think that this lawsuit is without merit.
Please see the data posted on my web page here:

http://coloradolinux.com/~sjg/land/car.html

I still own the car and it still gets 50+ MPG,
real life, mountain driving on steep and winding
roads. I replaced the IMA battery after 150
thousand miles. It matters how you drive! I am
delighted with my gas mileage.