As gas prices escalate, many consumers look for fuel efficient cars, particularly hybrids. In response, nearly every major car maker has a line of electric-fuel hybrids that claim to get high miles per gallon. Ford follows that trend with the 2013 Ford Fusion Hybrid sedan and its C-Max Hybrid wagon, claiming that these cars get 47 miles per gallon (highway and city combined). Unfortunately, according to Consumer Reports, those mpg claims may be misleading. Consumer Reports did its own tests, and found that C-Max only got around 37 mpg, and the Fusion got a combined 39 mpg. Given the high price of gas, this results in hundreds, of not thousands, of dollars in unexpected gas payments every year.
Jake Fisher, Consumer Reports’ director of auto testing, reported that “Most buyers won’t get anything near 47 mpg in the real world. Even though these two Ford hybrids are very efficient, this big discrepancy may leave customers disappointed.” This is particularly so because the hybrids are more expensive than other comparable cars. If Ford hybrids do in fact get much lower gas mileage than the represented estimates, Ford may be guilty of violating your states’ consumer protection laws. It seems likely that Ford either “rigged” the mileage estimates by using atypical driving conditions, it failed to perform the tests properly, or it simply reported results that were inaccurate. In any event, it seems unlikely that Ford was unaware that normal use of its hybrids would not result in the mpg rate it claims.
If you or someone you know purchased a C-Max Hybrid or Fusion Hybrid, please contact us to discuss your legal options.