Government forces manufacturers to publish specific fuel mileage claims whether they are accurate or not. Honda has absolutely no liability and they should not have to pay anything to these consumers.
If you look closely at a new vehicle’s window sticker, you’ll see that the mileage figures are intended as estimates only, and actual mileage should fall within a range that’s also shown on the sticker. There are no guarantees that anyone will attain a given MPG. This is a blatant money grab and should be thrown out by the court.
Ah, but is the lawsuit over the mpg sticker on the window?
I believe (if I remember the original article correctly) it’s not the sticker that was the point of contention, but Honda’s adverstising that was the basis for litigation.
If Honda’s advertising campaign was misleading and intentionally false, then the award is perfectly valid.
All this woman did was take her case out of the class action (which, as everyone *should* know, only benefits the attorneys representing the plaintiffs)and represent herself personally in small claims.
So, Honda spends many times the $9,867 on attorneys to win the case. Do they figure it will have some positive effect on their image if they win or are they creating ill will with the public. Green check me if you think they are creating ill will, red check me if you think their image will improve with a win. I’m curious.
Thanks!
Note to Jon- As wvagt says the fuel mileage sticker says these are estimates.The feds provide the mpg estimates. I worked for a manufacturer who went through this government caused nightmare.
Large companies cannot win in the court of public opinion because they are automatically portrayed as evil greedy entities whose executives light cigars with $100 bills stolen from waifs and puppies.
Hi Jon- I should have made that clear in my original post. My apologies.
We were offering a special coupe that had an advertised 52 mpg. Those of us who were all issued company cars got these coupes and we did fuel mileage testing immediately. 38 mpg to 42 mpg was realistic, 52 mpg could only occur if the car was in freefall. We notified the importer/manufacturer who explained to us that the feds came up with the 52 mpg estimate and that we were stuck with it.
This all sticks in my memory because I was one of the lucky folks who took phone calls from angry consumers.
Government forces manufacturers to publish specific fuel mileage claims whether they are accurate or not. Honda has absolutely no liability and they should not have to pay anything to these consumers.
Do you have any factual data to support your statement?
If you look closely at a new vehicle’s window sticker, you’ll see that the mileage figures are intended as estimates only, and actual mileage should fall within a range that’s also shown on the sticker. There are no guarantees that anyone will attain a given MPG. This is a blatant money grab and should be thrown out by the court.
Ah, but is the lawsuit over the mpg sticker on the window?
I believe (if I remember the original article correctly) it’s not the sticker that was the point of contention, but Honda’s adverstising that was the basis for litigation.
If Honda’s advertising campaign was misleading and intentionally false, then the award is perfectly valid.
All this woman did was take her case out of the class action (which, as everyone *should* know, only benefits the attorneys representing the plaintiffs)and represent herself personally in small claims.
So, Honda spends many times the $9,867 on attorneys to win the case. Do they figure it will have some positive effect on their image if they win or are they creating ill will with the public. Green check me if you think they are creating ill will, red check me if you think their image will improve with a win. I’m curious.
Thanks!
Note to Jon- As wvagt says the fuel mileage sticker says these are estimates.The feds provide the mpg estimates. I worked for a manufacturer who went through this government caused nightmare.
Large companies cannot win in the court of public opinion because they are automatically portrayed as evil greedy entities whose executives light cigars with $100 bills stolen from waifs and puppies.
Thanks–that’s the information that I was looking for, and missing from, your original post.
Hi Jon- I should have made that clear in my original post. My apologies.
We were offering a special coupe that had an advertised 52 mpg. Those of us who were all issued company cars got these coupes and we did fuel mileage testing immediately. 38 mpg to 42 mpg was realistic, 52 mpg could only occur if the car was in freefall. We notified the importer/manufacturer who explained to us that the feds came up with the 52 mpg estimate and that we were stuck with it.
This all sticks in my memory because I was one of the lucky folks who took phone calls from angry consumers.