Congratulations Heather Peters. You took on one of the largest automobile companies in the country and won! The facts are simple. Honda promises its Civic Hybrid will get 50 miles per gallon. Ms. Peters (and 200,000 others) believe them. But they don’t get 50 miles per gallon. In fact, they don’t get anything near 50 miles per gallon. It seems Honda’s numbers come from a very controlled government-performed test that is run on an empty race track, with the wind, running down hill, cool temperatures, driving an empty car (or something like that). Suffice it to say, the numbers advertised don’t come from that day you were stuck in rush hour on a hot afternoon with your family of four (and Bernese Mountain Dog) while returning from the grocery store before heading off (ooops need to slam on the brakes) to soccer practice. Add to that: The hybrid system began deteriorating shortly after the car was purchased, further diminishing gas mileage.
Ms. Peters, a former attorney, was awarded $9,867 for Honda’s misrepresentation of the Civic Hybrid’s gas mileage. Not bad, considering a proposed class action settlement would have only paid her $100-$200 and a $1,000 coupon to be used towards a new Honda (that may or may not have accurate mileage figures).
Consumers are the engine of our economy. They can make or break a company. Ask Kodak or Living Social or Netflix. But at the end of the day, they wield very little power when things go wrong. Corporations are more organized, sophisticated and—in the end—better at defining and limiting the rights of consumers. My guess is Honda is hard at work—no, not improving its mileage figures—but on a sales contract that forbids consumers from filing claims in small claims court.
But Heather Peters’ victory should not only ring loudly in the halls of Honda’s Torrance, California headquarters, but also in every class action law firm in the country. You guys (including yours truly) must do better for consumers—or we will be replaced by the scrappy, take-no-prisoners, make-no-promises "Heather Peters" of the world.
Assisted by Zachary Kady