Nissan lowered fuel economy

[BBISHOPPCM]

http://www.autoblog.com/2006/0...onomy/

The above link states how Nissan has lowered the expected fuel economy for the Versa. Anyone smell a class-action lawsuit here? If I bought the car expecting 36 mpg, paying a premium for the car as a result, then the manufacturer lowers the fuel mileage rating, how should this make me feel?

[JPack]

...which is why they always state "Specifications are subject to change without prior notice."

In addition, the Versa wasn't even on sale in April.

[BBISHOPPCM]

Oh, just noticed the posting date... It jsut sounded like a bait-and-switch scenario to me... I have been wrong ebfore!

[tama48]

Nissan misrepresented the mileage figures on this car. I bought it under false pretenses. Ever heard of "truth in advertising". I smell class action.

[BenDupre]

Nissan released a "preliminary" figure of 38 combined MPG. This was before EPA testing, and before the car ever went on sale. AND the revised figure was made public well in advance of availability. Everywhere the 38MPG figure was posted it was couched as preliminary.

The actual combined figure was 5MPG lower. That's a major change and should have been a source of embarasement. In hindsight it would have been better not to give out a target number, since that's all it was was a number that marketing asked engineering to deliver, no EPA testing had yet been done. However there are absolutely no grounds for any kind of lawsuit. The EPA numbers were clearly printed on the window sticker of every car sold.

Since I can only get about 26 MPG out of mine right now, I'm not happy about the mileage. There's nothing to do about it but whine though.

Ben

[Clipsed]

I still have my window sticker that states 30 mpg city 38 mpg highway. Also below that it states that was the average and u should get between x-x amount of mpg. not sure what the x's were though off the top of my head.

[leighvan]

Window sticker small print...between 23 and 33 city, 29 and 41 highway. I'm around 23.75 city driving in the S 4AT. Bought the car 11/12/06.

[leighvan]

Forgot...big print at that time 28 city, 35 highway.

[Slither]

I think early on the NNA marketing folk may have got their mileage figures X with Tiida - not realizing La Scenic 1.8 was the event here...

[Slither]

Class-action..?

How about a gas card?

[OKVersa]

My window sticker said 30 - 36 for the SL CVT.

[SPFDRum]

My Versa's gas millage is with in the specs on my sheet. Even being winter, defrost-A/C on, and that crap they call fuel, aka ethanol.

[proxim2020]

My car was made in Nov and I got a sticker with 30/34. Lawsuit? I don't think they would get very far. All docs clearly state that the numbers are estimates and not statements of fact. The bait and switch wouldn't go far either. Nissan never promised that any mpg would be achieved, but released their projected estimates. Plus, JPack's statement pretty much seals the deal. The only way you would get around that is if you can prove that Nissan was grossly negligent in inflated mpg that they know couldn't be achieved in order to spark interest and sales. Even then that's a long shot. But who knows, we do live in sue crazy society.

[Ever Victorious]

Exactly. Estimates... not "this is what will happen".

I happen to have fallen into a car that is getting significantly better than its estimated mileage. My Versa was exactly dead on its estimates. My previous car (Kia Optima V6) was also dead on its estimates. The car prior to that (Kia Spectra) fell far short of the estimates.

How many of you with bad (and I mean truly bad... sub 26) gas mileage have taken your cars in to be looked at by your dealerships? How many of you have lodged complaints with Nissan?

[stevenjb]

30 mpg is nothing to sneeze at. That is a fine number. Especially since "our" area gas prices have been averaging $2.50/gal US for this winter season - running around $2.90 - 3.00 other times of the year. My current car probably gets in the low 30's for gas mileage (87 octane). And in a car that weighs in at around 2900/lbs (Versa) - 30mpg - praise the gas gods !

When hydrogen becomes available, we can then alter the environment with excess water vapor emissions. But until then, 30mpg is just fine.

[Bubs daddy]

Driving habits alter fuel mileage considerably. Many other factors as well. Altitude, various pump fuel formulas during the year, city/highway, idling, and more.

My Versa was advertised at 30-36. I'm getting about 31 mpg combined city/highway.

Also, EPA mileage figures are high on all cars. Their methods will change starting next year. Very few drive their cars the way the current EPA testers do.

You want to hear whining about fuel mileage, check in on the Prius board.

[OKVersa]

Friday, we paid $1.76 in western Oklahoma.

[Ever Victorious]

Friday, we paid $1.76 in western Oklahoma.

I hate you.

I filled up on Friday for $2.76/gal.

[tama48]

Some people heavily based their decision to buy on mpg estimates. If those estimates are skewed or unrealistic it is unfair to the "would be consumer" that bases his decisions on those inflated figures. That is somewhat deceptive. Don't tell me one thing to get me to buy your product and then change the rules after purchase. How many millions of dollars does Nissan spend in R&D?

[Clipsed]

Ever heard of "False advertisement?" When you go to a store and see an item mis priced you are entitled to the lower price BY LAW. There is definently a way to get something out of Nissan.

[marleyfan]

Ever heard of "False advertisement?" When you go to a store and see an item mis priced you are entitled to the lower price BY LAW. There is definently a way to get something out of Nissan.

Not to get off topic here but that's not true. Advertising mistakes are made and stores are not obligated to honor mistakes. Retractions are printed all the time to correct those errors. In ten years in retail I often heard people citing laws that don't actually exist. At least not here anyway. False advertisement is designed to stop places from DELIBERATELY false adversing in order to bring customers in. In order to get anything out of Nissan you would have to prove that Nissan knowingly misled in order to generate sales. We can speculate but none of us KNOW that to be the case.

[XterraVersa]

THESE NUMBERS COME FROM THE EPA TESTING THE VEHICLE WITH ANTIQUATED TESTING STANDARDS, NOT NISSAN.

Go ahead, tackle Uncle Sam. Good luck.

Actual Mileage will vary with options, driving conditions, driving habits and vehicle conditions. Results reported to EPA indicate that the majority of vehicles with these estimates will achieve between:20 and 35 mpg in the city and between28 and 40 mpg on the highway.

I have tracked every fillup on my Versa. The lowest I got was 33.1 mpg. The highest was 41.2 mpg. With an average of 36.9 mpg over 9000 miles.

It is slipping a bit with the colder weather & ethonal additives.

You cannot file a lawsuit for an EPA tested estimate on Nissan. They have to by law, print what the EPA came up with.

[Clipsed]

haha I hate to tell you that retail stores are obligated to honor their mistake. If you ever go ANYWHERE and they have something mispriced and have it marked either on the package (or car) or have quite a few marked under a price they are obligated to give you the product for that price. I went to Best Buy and got my 21" HD WS monitor for a regular 19" WS price which was half the price of the 21" because they had it sitting above the wrong price. They were obligated to give it to me for that price and the manager knew that, so they gave it to me for that price and fixed THEIR mistake. lol you have been getting ripped off all this time then I guess lol.

[marleyfan]

haha I hate to tell you that retail stores are obligated to honor their mistake. If you ever go ANYWHERE and they have something mispriced and have it marked either on the package (or car) or have quite a few marked under a price they are obligated to give you the product for that price.

Perhaps in CA that is the case. Here in BC it is certainly NOT the law. Many people think it is but it is not. Here stores are under absolutely no obligation to honor an honest mistake. People move signs and merchandise all the time. There are misprints in ads all the time. As long as a retraction and attempt to correct the error are made as soon as it is discovered then the store has fulfilled its obligation. As it applies to the Versa Nissan would have to be shown to have willfully or knowingly misrepresented the fuel mileage. Those of you who wish to try your luck with the courts feel free.

[Clipsed]

ahh I appologize I did not realize you were in Canada. But yes here in the states this is a law. A store has to honor the lowest price stated and can then change it back to the correct price afterwards. This also applies to cars persay. The county here in LA posts signs in the stores stating that they must give you the lowest price marked and if not they give a number for you to call to report to them. Here the county weights and measures is in charge of that. They also deal with gasoline and make sure that the pumps are dispensing a full gallon for the price advertised otherwise they can get the station for false advertisement and/or a faulty pump. I donno but just to give you an idea of how it works here, not sure about Canada and once again I do appologize.

[cireecnop1]

Ha Ha HA, now that they lowered the estimates, I am actually getting the mileage that the factory states. GO FIGURE! oh well good thing Today I ordered a 07 Prius with package #5, In about 3 months (hopefully) I will be saying so long Nissan Versa, Hello PZEV Prius!!!!!

[marleyfan]

Hope you don't expect to get the mileage that is stated fot the Prius either. Tons of complaints from Prius owners about it. One thing is certain, you WILL get substantially better than the V.

[cireecnop1]

Yeah i know, The Prius is said to get 55mpg combined, but I think the running average is 45mpg, thats okay, Im only interested in the Prius for the PZEV rating and the navigation unit.

[Bubs daddy]

XTerraVersa has it right.

THE EPA does the mileage testing, not Nissan. The EPA certifies the testing. Nissan puts the sticker on that contains the EPA results. If you want to be mad at someone, be mad at the EPA, not Nissan.

Here's why you'll never get the high end mileage from your Versa that the EPA gets:

Quote »The city and highway tests are currently performed under mild climate conditions (75 degrees F) and use acceleration rates and driving speeds that EPA believes are generally lower than those experienced by drivers in the real world. Neither test is run with the use of accessories, such as air conditioning. The highway test has a top speed of 60 miles per hour, and an average speed of only 48 miles per hour.[/quote]Any of you out there go no faster than 60 mph? Anyone out there average 48 mph on the freeway?

Here's another doozy:

Quote »Since the mid-1990s, EPA's emission certification compliance regulations have required the use of three additional tests which capture a much broader range of real-world driving conditions; specifically: high-speed, fast-acceleration driving and the use of air conditioning and colder temperature operation (20 degrees F). Not only do these conditions impact the amount of air pollutants a vehicle emits, they also have a significant impact on a vehicle’s fuel economy. However, they are not currently required to be used to measure fuel economy.[/quote]Go here for more info:http://www.epa.gov/fueleconomy...round

[proxim2020]

The legal definition of False Advertisement is

"Any advertising or promotion that misrepresents the nature, characteristics, qualities or geographic origin of goods, services or commercial activities" (Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C.A. § 1125(a and b))."

Wikipedia breaks this down by describing this as:

"an act of deliberately misleading a potential client about a product, service or a company in general by reporting false or misrepresenting information or data in advertising or other promotional materials."

Many people have a fuzzy definition of what false advertisement actually is. A misprint in the advertising price or an item being marked with an incorrect price doesn't immediately qualify as false advertisement. It has to be proved that the responsible party deliberately misrepresented the product. No company has any duty to honor any price if it was printed as a mistake. Yes, lots of companies do honor the prices when a customer comes in with advertisement, but there's no law set forth by the FTC that says they have to. State laws are different. The state where you live may have regulation that states that advertised prices must be honored, but not every state has such laws.

Even though you did get your product for a cheaper amount since it was in the wrong location, Best Buy didn't have to give you that item. Most companies print the SKUs and product descriptions on sales tags. Even if the product was placed in the wrong spot, the SKUs and descriptions are clearly marked on the tag for the item is on sale. Even if the SKU or title of the product wasn't displayed on the tag and it was just a price tag, the company would still be allowed to retract the tags in error. In situations like yours, the decision falls on the manager most times. For the sake of keeping customers, most managers will honor the price for the few customers who caught the error. Lets say that Best Buy didn't give you the product for that price and you referred the issue to your AG. The AG would clearly see that it was a honest mistake in advertising with no intent to deceive and dismiss the issue. Now a company advertising an 07 Versa for 10k, but when you get there they tell you the doors are sold separatly, that's false advertisement.