Woman sues Honda for false MPG claims

[Bossxr8]

And wins

http://moneyland.time.com/2012/02/02...d=pf-main-lede



Hybrids

[DJM83]

Only in Emerica...

[Stefan]

Good on her, smash them I say, I hate downright dishonest sales tactics.

[Rodge]

Don't laugh, I'm annoyed about it too.

Honda claims its Honda Civic hybrid uses 4.6 litres per 100 km's combined cycle. My wife is a greenie and wanted one and on the basis that we normally get about 10-15% more than the official ADR mileage figures for our vehicles I did the maths and worked out that over a 7 year time frame we would recover the cost of the hybrid system compared to a regular Honda Civic 1.8 litre. We expected to get about 5.0 - 5.5 litres per 100 km's.

The long run average my wife gets is 6.9 litres per 100 km's, exactly 50% more than Honda's claim. No other vehicle we've ever owned before or currently exceeds its official combined ADR consumption by more than 15%.

We've been screwed by that car using at least 35% more fuel than it should. I took this up with the CEO of Honda New Zealand and he intially wrote this off to the hilly terrain in which we live and our driving style. When I pointed out that the hilly terrain and driving style accounted for not more than a 15% consumption variation with our other cars he didn't have an answer. Maybe I should take Honda N.Z. to the small claims tribunal over here I call B.S. on Honda's hybrid mileage claims, maybe if one was to drive with a raw egg under the accelerator pedal, but otherwise its B.S. plain and simple.

[BadMax]

Honetly, if you're suckerd into buying an alledgedly green hybrid car, you deserve to get stung.
I can't stand hybrid cars, I'm a firm believer that the building, disposal of the batteries and their short life, far outstrip their benefits.
If you're such a greenie, get on a pushie!

[Franco Cozzo]

Honda's hybrids are different from the Prius etc, their "Integrated motor assist" system just uses a small electric motor to "assist" the engine, I don't think it can actually just run on the electric motor itself at low speeds, or if it can, very rarely.

If you're thinking about buying a hybrid for green self satisfaction and image, think a bit deeper, not only are you getting another car created, all the CO2 involved in the process, but you've got a few hundred KG of batteries in the back, which have a lot of lead in them.

[mik]

Originally Posted by Rodge

Don't laugh, I'm annoyed about it too.

Honda claims its Honda Civic hybrid uses 4.6 litres per 100 km's combined cycle. My wife is a greenie and wanted one and on the basis that we normally get about 10-15% more than the official ADR mileage figures for our vehicles I did the maths and worked out that over a 7 year time frame we would recover the cost of the hybrid system compared to a regular Honda Civic 1.8 litre. We expected to get about 5.0 - 5.5 litres per 100 km's.

The long run average my wife gets is 6.9 litres per 100 km's, exactly 50% more than Honda's claim. No other vehicle we've ever owned before or currently exceeds its official combined ADR consumption by more than 15%.

We've been screwed by that car using at least 35% more fuel than it should. I took this up with the CEO of Honda New Zealand and he intially wrote this off to the hilly terrain in which we live and our driving style. When I pointed out that the hilly terrain and driving style accounted for not more than a 15% consumption variation with our other cars he didn't have an answer. Maybe I should take Honda N.Z. to the small claims tribunal over here I call B.S. on Honda's hybrid mileage claims, maybe if one was to drive with a raw egg under the accelerator pedal, but otherwise its B.S. plain and simple.

there was another brand that people have mentioned it being very very hard to get the sticker mileage on certain cars, i believe it was from over the pond somewhere(not a local car), as a famous ozy pollie once said " a bit of guilding the lily going on scumbags" .

[prydey]

pretty sure the manufacturers don't just pick a number out of a hat. the ADR 81/02 fuel economy measuring test is a specific procedure, and if they achieve a certain result, then every manufacturer is well within their rights to advertise that figure.

[Peter B - CV8]

Originally Posted by prydey

pretty sure the manufacturers don't just pick a number out of a hat. the ADR 81/02 fuel economy measuring test is a specific procedure, and if they achieve a certain result, then every manufacturer is well within their rights to advertise that figure.

Yes, I'm sure that there is certain procedure used. The problem is that it is almost impossible to replicate in "real world" driving conditions - so often bears little relevance to actual fuel usage.
I would suggest that any new car buyer add on approx 10% to the ADR figures.

[prydey]

the official urban adr figure for fg falcon is 14.6L/100km. i get 10L/100km. many other owners on here get between 10 and 14L/100km through a range of different conditions.

the extra urban figure is 7.2. on my last trip to brisbane (from adelaide) i averaged 7.8 for the journey which was 4 people and full luggage.

i have been able to get close to or beat every official figure of every car i've owned.

the figure is a guide only and always comes with a disclaimer.

[BadMax]

Learnt something very interesting yesterday.

If you crash your Toyota hybrid/ev and the batteries require removal, it must be done by a fully trained EV Toyota technician...There currently isn't one in Australia.

[Peter B - CV8]

Originally Posted by prydey

the official urban adr figure for fg falcon is 14.6L/100km. i get 10L/100km. many other owners on here get between 10 and 14L/100km through a range of different conditions.

the extra urban figure is 7.2. on my last trip to brisbane (from adelaide) i averaged 7.8 for the journey which was 4 people and full luggage.

i have been able to get close to or beat every official figure of every car i've owned.

the figure is a guide only and always comes with a disclaimer.

The FG Falcon actually had a ADR fuel usage (in combined cycle) of between 10.5 to 9.9 - which is probably more appropriate for the type of traffic you experience in your area. Of course you would better this if you were doing a road trip (ie no stop & start).