Honda Motor Co. won the reversal of a $9,867 small-claims-court loss to a Californian who dropped out of a class-action lawsuit and pursued her own claim that the company overstated the fuel mileage of its Civic Hybrid.
Judge Dudley W. Gray II of state Superior Court in Torrance, in Los Angeles County, ruled Wednesday in the case of Heather Peters, according to an entry on the court docket.
Peters had rejected the class-action settlement, which paid car owners $100 or $200 depending on the model and as much as $1,500 credit toward a new vehicle. Peters and plaintiffs in the larger suit challenged the company's claim that the car gets 50 miles per gallon of fuel.
A small-claims judge in February agreed with Peters that Honda's advertising misrepresented the mileage of her 2006 Civic Hybrid and awarded her damages. He rejected Honda's claims that it's stuck with the estimate provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
About 1,700 Honda owners have opted out of the class-action settlement, according to Peters's website about the case.