If you doubt that writing Washington can make a difference, look at the letter we wrote to the Environmental Protection Agency one year ago. We asked that it audit Hyundai’s self-tested “Miles Per Gallon” claims. Recently the EPA announced, in an unprecedented move, that Hyundai and Kia's window sticker MPG claims on many models were inflated and will be fixed.  We are fighting for real refunds now.

Your complaints matter.  That’s what first tipped us to the Hyundai MPG scandal, and it’s why we are asking you now to share more of your consumer problems with us at our online complaint center.

Until our letter, car makers conducted MPG tests themselves and transmitted the results with little chance the EPA would re-test to confirm the validity of the numbers. Today the EPA is auditing more MPG claims to verify that there is truth in advertising.

For example, the Ford Fusion Hybrid and C-Max Hybrid both promise a fuel economy trifecta of 47 MPG city, 47 MPG highway, and 47 MPG combined city and highway.  According to new data, neither car comes close to 47 MPG under any conditions and the EPA has launched an audit of Ford’s numbers.

If you own either of these cars, or other cars that advertised too-good-to-be-true MPG claims, we want to hear from you. In addition to our advocacy with regulators, our legal team is working to get consumer refunds and hold errant carmakers accountable in court.

The issue of whether the EPA should allow self testing is just beginning to take off. We have asked Congress to investigate, and the Senate has obliged. Together, we can turn heads in Washington and in industry.

Thanks for all you. And please let us know how you are doing.