Originally Posted by willravel

I can appreciate that, but this leaves us in a common place: either Honda knew and didn't disclose, or they didn't know and they're all idiots. I call it Bush syndrome. I think it's reasonable to assume that Honda knows what kind of typical mileage their hybrids would get, as the cars go through endless testing before production and considering this is a hybrid, it must have been tweaked to get the best mileage Honda was willing to give.

As you say, a good salesperson never lies. But what about those who inform the salesmen? I've known car salesmen, and they're not all upper management or mechanics. A lot of them simply get their information from the brochures and from more knowledgeable managers. There is a lie or an omission somewhere between those who tested and noted the abilities and features of the car and the salespeople. It was in that mess that the mistake was made. Someone knowingly allowed the incorrect or misleading figures of the EPA to be put on the window of the car, and all the "results may vary" business can't excuse deliberately misleading by not putting a correct and authentic figures for customers.

Maybe I should put it this way: what if the next Kia Rondo advertises "top speed: 155 mpg, results may vary"?

Just because you said the word "salesmen" doesn't mean the whole thing is about salesmen. As I've said above, the typical salesperson probably has no idea what kind of mileage the thing has until they read the sticker in the window. This is about omitting correct information in order to deceive customers.