LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Southern California woman took Honda to small-claims court and won in a big way.
Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Douglas Carna-han ruled Wednesday that the automaker misled Heather Peters about the potential fuel economy of her hybrid car and awarded her $9,867 — much more than the couple hundred dollars that a proposed class-action settlement is offering.
"At a bare minimum Honda was aware ... that by the time Peters bought her car there were problems with its living up to its advertised mileage," Carnahan wrote in the judgment.
Honda disagrees with the judgment and plans to appeal the decision, company spokesman Chris Martin said.
Peters, a former lawyer, said she is renewing her law license after a 10-year lapse so she can represent other Honda owners who have the same problems.
""Sometimes big justice comes in small packages. This is a victory for Honda Civic owners everywhere," Peters said.
Carnahan included in his 26-page decision a long list of misleading representations by Honda that he said Peters had correctly identified. Among them were that the car would use "amazingly little fuel" and would "save plenty of money on fuel with up to 50 mpg during city driving."
"Actual performance of plaintiff's vehicle did not live up to these standards," he said.
Peters opted out of the class-action lawsuit so she could try to claim a larger damage award for her 2006 Honda Civic's failure to deliver the promised fuel efficiency.
The proposed class-action settlement would give aggrieved owners $100 to $200 each and a $1,000 credit toward the purchase of a new car. Legal fees in the class action would give trial lawyers $8.5 million, Peters said.
Peters had hoped to inspire a flood of small-claims lawsuits by the 200,000 other people whose Honda Civic hybrids are covered by the proposed settlement. If all 200,000 owners sued and won in small-claims court, she said, it could cost Honda Motor Co. $2 billion.
Peters launched a website, DontSettleWithHonda.org, and said she was contacted by hundreds of other car owners seeking guidance on filing small-claims lawsuits if they opted out of the class-action case.
Carnahan found that Honda did commit fraud, but he could not find intentional fraud and thus did not award punitive damages.
A judge is due to rule in March on whether to approve Honda's class-action settlement.
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