A California appeals court has agreed to hear a lawsuit accusing Honda of false advertising related to its Civic Hybrid. The suit claims Honda reports unrealistic mileage figures, which the company says can be achieved under normal driving conditions. Honda has received a number of complaints about the Civic Hybrid’s mileage, prompting it to ask the EPA to revise the rating down.
Under U.S. federal law, carmakers are protected from lawsuits over disclosure of fuel economy standards. But this latest lawsuit, brought forward by Civic owner Gaetano Paduano, is based on an interesting loophole. The crux of Paduano’s complaint is the claim in Honda ’s ads that EPA mileage can be achieved by diving the vehicle like a regular car.
Paduano “presented evidence that directly disputes Honda’s claim that a driver need not do anything special in order to achieve gas mileage close to the EPA estimate,” the Fourth District Court of Appeal acknowledged in its 2-1 opinion, according to Reuters.
Paduano says a customer service representative admitted to him the company had received “a high number of complaints about customers not receiving the posted and advertised mileage.” However, Honda will not officially go on record about the concerns.
The lawsuit suffered a setback in 2006 when a trial court granted summary judgment in favor of Honda on all claims. It’s not known when the appeals court will hear the case.
