SANTA MONICA, California — Hyundai is the target of a lawsuit alleging that its claims of 40 mpg for the 2011 and 2012 Elantra misled consumers. The carmaker also failed to follow Federal Trade Commission regulations that require fuel economy disclosures, claims a lawsuit filed in Sacramento by Santa Monica-based Consumer Watchdog and the law firm of Cuneo Gilbert and LaDuca, LLP.



In a statement, Hyundai says that the case has "no merit," and that the company's advertising complies with the law.



The named plaintiff in the suit is Louis Bird, a Roseville, California man who says that he bought a 2011 Elantra after seeing ads for it and that the 40 mpg claim was "a material factor" in his buying decision. He is getting 33 mpg on the highway and is averaging 29.92 mpg in the car, far short of what he expected, according to the suit.



"At one point, Bird was told that he would start to see the advertised rates once his Elantra was 'broken in' and had reached 10,000-15,000 miles," the lawsuit says. "Bird has driven approximately 25,000 miles and there has been no improvement in fuel economy. Bird is very frustrated and would have purchased a different car if Hyundai's advertisements had not led him to believe that the car would eventually get the 40 highway as advertised."



The suit seeks restitution as well as actual, statutory and punitive damages for Bird and for "thousands" of California Elantra buyers, according to the suit.



Whether they choose to join the suit or not, there are indeed many consumers who are unhappy with the fuel economy they get from their cars, and not just the Elantra. Honda recently fended off a lawsuit over the performance of its Civic Hybrid. Internet forums, including those at Edmunds.com have seen heated discussions over the Elantra's fuel economy performance.



The carmaker defended the car's fuel economy claims, saying that the EPA earlier this year confirmed that the Elantra gets 29 mpg in the city, 40 mpg on the highway and 33 mpg combined.



"The EPA results, generated from testing conducted on January 25, 2012 at the EPA's National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory in Ann Arbor, Michigan, are identical to the testing data Hyundai originally submitted to the agency," Hyundai said in a statement. "We are gratified with the EPA results, and are committed to continuing to reduce the fuel consumption of our vehicles in order to provide greater value and efficiency for our customers."



But, as the saying goes, real-world fuel economy can vary.



The EPA's fueleconomy.gov site has a small number of user-reported mpg figures for the Elantra . The average for that self-reported group was 30.2 mpg.



A 2011 Hyundai Elantra that was part of an Edmunds "fuel-sipper" test in 2011 registered 28.2 in Edmunds' city test, which is close to the EPA number. But it fell 4 and 5 mpg short of the 40 mpg figure in the test's two highway routes.



Whenever car buyers look at the fuel economy claims of carmakers, it's important to realize that mpg figures, though "developed from very specific, federally mandated testing cycles," may vary widely from the way that real people drive real cars in the real world," says Edmunds Senior Editor and fuel economy expert John O'Dell.



There is more detail about the mpg gap in his story, "Here's Why Real-World MPG Doesn't Match EPA Ratings."



Inside Line says: Before buying a car based on carmaker fuel economy claims or EPA ratings, consumers should understand that those figures can't always be counted on in the real world.







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