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Hyundai Elantra/Sonata MPG Class Action Lawsuit Tentatively Certified
By Sarah Pierce
A federal judge yesterday said he plans to certify a class action lawsuit accusing Hyundai Motor America of falsely advertising the fuel economy of its Elantra and Sonata models.
Hyundai and Sonata buyers sued the Korean automaker earlier this year after discovering their cars were not receiving 40 mpg as advertised. U.S. District Judge George H. Wu said the case “is probably going forward as a class in some way, shape or form” after tentatively ruling the class action lawsuit should be limited to California consumers because Elantra and Sonata buyers in other states aren’t covered by California’s consumer protection laws.
Judge Wu based his decision on evidence the plaintiffs presented showing Hyundai engaged in an extensive advertising campaign that touted the Elantra and Sonata as receiving 40 mpg on the highway. Judge Wu said the marketing efforts were extensive enough that consumers could have relied on the ads in making their decision to buy the vehicles.
“Plaintiffs have exhaustively detailed the extensive scope of the challenged advertising,” Judge Wu said in tentatively granting class certification of the Hyundai Elantra/Sonata class action lawsuit. “It appears almost impossible for Hyundai to dispute the extensive sweep of its marketing efforts as to the fuel efficiency of the Elantra and Sonata vehicles.”
The Hyundai fuel economy class action lawsuit focuses on the way the company advertised its fuel economy numbers, alleging the ads did not comply with regulations about how EPA mileage estimates are to be displayed.
Hyundai has been the target of multiple class action lawsuits and an investigation by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over its allegedly inflated fuel economy numbers for a variety of vehicles.
In November, the EPA announced that Hyundai and its sister company Kia has overstated the gas mileage on nearly 35% of their 2011-2013 model-year vehicles.
The tentatively certified Hyundai Elantra/Sonata Gas Mileage Class Action Lawsuit case is Kehlie R. Espinosa v. Hyundai Motor America, Case No. 12-cv-00800, U.S. District Court, Central District of California.
The Plaintiffs are represented by Richard D. McCune, Elaine S. Kusel and Jae K. Kim of McCuneWright LLP.
Updated November 30th, 2012
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38 thoughts onHyundai Elantra/Sonata MPG Class Action Lawsuit Tentatively Certified
Im feel so betrayed on my 2013 hyundai Sonata I bought 2 months ago with 9 miles on it..beautiful car but the GAS milage is horrible.I lucky if I get 20 miles a gallon a 4 cyclinder to boot!! this cimpany needs to make this right I feel like all I do is put gas in it has 1900 miles on it now.The day I purchased the car sales person was so nice and said this car is perfect for my needs but he was so wrong and this has been eating at me because of this gas milelage crap.I now have a piece of felt covering the little area on the dash where it shows the mileage it makes me so mad..My husband is driving a 1988 F 150 with a 6 cyclinder in it and almost 300,000 miles on it and it is making my Brand new car look bad..What a shame I think Hyundai should take responsibility for s very false advertisement about the milage.I just hope I don’t have a nervous breakdown before something is done and that could be another issue..I had been driving a 2003 Toyota Camry that got better gas mileage, should have stuck with Toyota’s..I can go on and on but lets the lawyers go after them and hope for the best…Because GAS is not getting in cheaper I don’t want to work all week long just to put gas in the car everytime I turn around I do have other bills not just gas pump bills okay done venting …I just hope justice is served!!! Thanks for reading.
Yes, I too, would like to know how to get in on this class action law suit; I just heard about it. I have been so frustrated that my 2012 Elantra is not getting near the gas mileage that I was told it would and was the primary reasn that I bougt it!!!! Very, very upsetting!!! Every time I would call in and complain about it, I was always told “oh, you have to get it broken in”…….I now have almost 15,000 miles and average 24/25 mpg. It’s a rip off!
Bought my 2011 Sonata Hybrid because of the fuel mileage. The first couple of tanks showed decent MPG’s but started to drop into the lower 30 range. I started to calculate the MPG with each fill up and discovered the stated on screen is usually 3-4 better than actual. What’s with that? I received my debit card last week. It was $59 for 20k miles!!! What an insult! now I’m wondering how the misrepresentation has affected the value when I sell which will be the real insult. Wondering how to be included in the class action suit ….
I bought an 2012 Elantra and traded for a 2013 Sonata, gas milage on both cars were not what was promised. I am l so frustrated with the money I’m paying in gas, that tonight I signed a contract, selling my Sonata, for a $7000 loss and buying an electric car! The gas rebate is a total JOKE! How do I sign up to get on this law suit?
I bought a 2013 Sonata because of the higher mile.age. I drive mostly in town and I’m getting 16 to 18 miles on the average. This sucks! I traded iin. my 2001 dodge intreped that I was getting 22 to 24What a let down!! I want to get on board on this law suite.
I have the same story as everyone else. Bought my Elantra, because of that 40 mpg claim….averaging around 27 now…..down from the 30 my Toyota was getting. I have signed up for the gas rebate program but have not activated the card because I do not want to abrogate my right to arbitration. Anyone know of anything going on in NY??
Bought 2013 Elantra Sept 8,2012 because advertised 41MPG. Only get 27-28 average MPG. Called and reported to dealership several times, was rudely told they had never had any complaints and some customers even got better MPG than 40 constistently. FRUSTRATED!!! Salesman kept telling us when we were looking at Elantra how awesome the mileage was >41MPG. NEVER,NEVER NEVER. EXTREMELY UPSET. Would never have purchased this car!! FALSE ADVERTISING!
Same story for us, sold an 08 ford fusion that got 17mpg to get a car better on gas. Recently averaged multiple fill ups, average over 4 fill up’s was 21 mpg combined. Thats terrible! get 22 around town and on trips most we got was 31-33. Way less then advertised. Very disappointed and now we have a car payment unlike before. Shouldn’t of sold our fusion:( Could understand 26 or 27 mpg around town but 22! yikes. Had a fuel evaluation today from the dealership and he drove it 30 miles.. 20 on the hwy and 10 around town. said he got 26 city and 46 hwy. What are we doing wrong? how can they get that! something is fishy. I can smell it.
Want to talk to anyone who is handling this case. I recently took my car in, unaware of this lawsuit, and had the dealer “reset” my avg mpg. When I dropped off my car it was at 28 and when I left it was up to 34? I have pictures to prove…wondered why that happened and then heard about the lawsuit.
I am so disappointed in my 2013 elantra gas millage. I bought the car specifically because of the promised mileage.
I have always bought american made cars and I feel I was coned. Now Hyundai is offering a gas rebate program which I signed up for only to find that after driving 8,000 miles they will rebate me$34.00. I have not cashed that rebate in as of yet because I feel they should be doing something more. I have dropped down form a 6 cylinder to a four cylinder and loss power without gaining much increased mileage.. I have not gotten more then 27 combined mileage. What a rip off.