So you bought an ugly, slab-sided Honda Civic hybrid thinking it would, despite its Danny DeVito looks, become the next “it” car for the eco hipsters.

Wrong again, ethanol breath.

Turns out earlier models of the Civic hybrid came with way less gas mileage than advertised — 30 versus 50 — as a result of technical difficulties. Early Priuses gave you 40. And so …

… L.A.'s own Heather Peters has been on a one-woman crusade against the Torrance-based American Honda Motor Co.

And if we were Honda, we might be scared. Her strategy could cost the company a lot of dough.

That's because, according to the Los Angeles Times …

… A proposed class-action lawsuit settlement that would give trial lawyers $8.5 million while Civic owners would get as little as $100 and rebate coupons for the purchase of a new vehicle.

But Peters would forgo the measly settlement. She has taken matters into her own hands by bringing Honda into small claims court, where she could stand to win as much as $10,000, and where Honda can't bring its army of high-priced attorneys into the room.

Not only that, but she started DontSettleWithHonda.com to encourage others to opt out of the settlement and take Honda straight to small claims, as she's doing.

Godspeed, Heather. With good gas mileage to boot.

[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]

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