Proposed Gas Tax and Small Cars

In the spirit of this issue, when recently buying the latest Honda Civic, I sacrificed an engine with more horsepower along with other features, and opted for the most fuel-efficient model that Honda was advertising. Having driven the car for two months, I am now finding the actual m.p.g. is more than 10 miles per gallon less than the average advertised, and even several miles below the low-to-high range advertised. After taking the car to the dealer to correct the problem, the service manager informed me I would have to simply live with the lower m.p.g. performance.

In order to make intelligent, and at times difficult, consumer choices and confront the broad issues outlined by Meadows, manufacturers cannot be allowed to misrepresent their products to the consumers.

JANEK BIELSKI Los Angeles