LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Southern California owner of a Honda hybrid car won her unusual small-claims court lawsuit against the automaker over the vehicle’s failure to deliver its stated 
fuel economy.

Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Douglas Carnahan awarded Heather Peters $9,867 on Wednesday, saying Honda did mislead her about the expected mileage.

“At a bare minimum Honda was aware … that by the time Peters bought her car there were problems with its living up to its advertised mileage,” he wrote in the judgment.

Peters opted out of a class-action lawsuit so she could try to claim a higher payment for the failure of her Civic to deliver the 50 miles per gallon that was promised when she bought it.

Informed of the decision by The Associated Press, Peters exulted, “Wow! Fantastic.”

“I am absolutely thrilled. Sometimes big justice comes in small packages,” she said. “This is a victory for Honda Civic owners everywhere.”

Honda hadn’t seen the decision Wednesday afternoon but planned to issue a statement after it was reviewed, said spokesman Chris Martin.

Peters, a former lawyer, hoped to inspire a flood of lawsuits by the other 200,000 owners of the Hybrid Honda Civic model sold in 2006. She said that if all 200,000 owners of the cars sued and won in small claims court, it could cost Honda Motor Co. $2 billion.