Civic Hybrid MPG class action lawsuit settled... now heading to small claims court

[Mustang Dave]

Along with avoiding the middle (brake) pedal as much as possible.

[Christ]

I was afraid I'd make an immature reference to "middle leg" if I mentioned the brake, so I left it out. :P

[luvit]

whoa! dave has 3 legs.

[MetroMPG]

Hybridcars.com has a good response to the lawsuit story by a U of Michigan lecturer who had the unique opportunity to directly compare the fuel economy of both the hybrid and non-hybrid Civic - he and his wife own 5-speed versions of each.

The graph shows a couple of things: 1) they're not hypermilers - neither car meeting its original EPA ratings.

2) Their hybrid gets 30% better fuel economy than the regular Civic, which is what Honda advertised in one of its brochures.

Worth a look: Green Car Expert Gets Real about Honda Civic Hybrid MPG | Hybrid Cars

[MetroMPG]

The saga continues ...

Originally Posted by luvit

in a class-action lawsuit the product users are not the winners. the attorney's are more interested in the lawsuit than the users...

Originally Posted by Christ

The settlement means that there was never a judgement entered, and it was probably in Honda's best interests fiscally and legally to settle out of court than have to pay the legal team's bills.

The lawyers' bills are the subject of the latest chapter of this story.

The settlement included "nearly $3 million in fees for the plaintiffs' attorneys", while the plaintiffs (Honda hybrid owners) got a "coupon" good for relatively small rebates or a discount on another Honda (see post 1).

The settlement is on hold while a judge reviews a challenge (brought by one of the plaintiffs) under the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 which aims to address outcomes where (among other things) the lawyers benefit more than the plaintiffs!

Plaintiffs’ attorney Jonathan Cuneo of Cuneo Gilbert & LaDuca in Washington noted that the judge left open the possibility that the parties could file a new settlement proposal. The firm was evaluating its options, he said.

See: Judge Questions Coupon Settlement in Honda Class Action - Law Blog - WSJ

[gone-ot]

...Desraeli appropriate: "...lawyers, lawyers and damn lawyers!"

[California98Civic]

Back from Yosemite for Christmas, and here's an update to this old thread:
Car owner takes legal fight away from lawyers - latimes.com

[JasonG]

Originally Posted by Christ

Right leg bent = not on the gas

Left one too soon = shifting "too early".

HUH? I thought the left was only for stop signs? Ya'll use it to shift :truck grin: ?

/off topic

I have two friends with identical Prii. One beats the EPA (manually cuts the AC when accellerating!) the other does 75-80 and gripes he 'got took'.

[reb01501]

Everyone is in a blame-the-victim mode here. From the latest article "Honda said the Civic would get about 50 miles per gallon, but because of technical problems the car gets closer to 30 mpg."
I believe the "technical problems" refers to:
"Honda has acknowledged that the battery on 2006 through 2008 Civic hybrids "may deteriorate and eventually fail" earlier than expected. When the battery pack can't be charged to full capacity, the car relies on the gas engine more and fuel economy suffers."

In essence, the car is no longer the hybrid that was originally purchased. It's now ICE-only, or pretty close to it. So there does seem to be some merit to the lawsuit.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by reb01501

"Honda has acknowledged that the battery on 2006 through 2008 Civic hybrids "may deteriorate and eventually fail" earlier than expected.

I wasn't aware of this from Honda until I read the article either.

Like most things, it's probably not a clear cut either/or situation. Lousy driving plus a deteriorating pack would make it easy to slip to 30ish mpg.

We obviously all know that with attentive driving plus a completely dead pack, a driver could still beat the EPA.