Buy a Chrysler, Get $2.99 A Gallon Gas for 3 Years

Frank Williams
by Frank Williams

Desperate times lead to desperate measures, and Chrysler is about as desperate as they come. Or is that deceptive? First, the facts as we know then: ChryCo's just announced a new sales incentive program in "response to direct customer feedback citing the prospect of rising gas prices as a top concern." So now, anyone buying a "new and unused" Chrysler product in the U.S. can enroll in the "Let's Refuel America" promotion. They'll receive a gas card that lowers their price for gas to $2.99/gallon for three years. Participating customers will receive a card (with a PIN number) for deployment "at an eligible gas station." The card's good for regular gas, E85 or diesel fuel. After fueling is complete, the customer's personal credit card is billed at the rate of $2.99/gallon. The promotion runs until June 2, 2008. There's more fine print, but here's the big kahuna: Chrysler buyers get the card in lieu of "other incentives." Do the math, compare gas cash saved over three years vs. money not saved by discount, and, as the bard once said, "things are not always what they seem; milk can masquerade as cream." Anyone want to make any guesses on how much this deal will end-up costing Chryslerberus? Oh, and don't forget depreciation. Once ChryCo files for C11 the cards will be worthless. Of course, at that point, trade-in values won't be anything to write home about either…

Frank Williams
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  • Hltguy Hltguy on May 06, 2008

    it makes more sense to take the rebate (up to $5,000 or more on some vehicles) put the money in a savings account and then buy fuel cards at a couple of hundred dollars a pop. There again where I live diesel is $4.59 a gallon......

  • Domestic Hearse Domestic Hearse on May 06, 2008

    Rudiger, you are correct. GM's program was called "Gas Price Protection" and it featured guaranteed $1.99 gas for one year. One had to purchase a new GM vehicle in key markets, primarily FL and CA. It was limited to certain models, and the vehicle needed to have OnStar (the customer's new car was pinged each month, mileage recorded, estimated mpg calculated, number of gallons you must have purchased estimated, the price of gas in the market where the customer lives researched and averaged for the month driven, and a monthly check cut and mailed back to the consumer as a rebate). To say the least, the algorithms needed to arrive at the final check amount for each new customer were mind bending. And nobody short of a rocket scientist had the ability to explain to a customer on the showroom floor how it all "worked." Not that a customer could understand, anyway. In short, GM's "Gas Price Protection" was so smart, they cut themselves on it. Program never worked and was killed before the national launch. Which is a good thing, because the press on the Left Coast was going absolutely berserk, to the tune of, "GM is a bad environmental neighbor and their vehicles are so economically challenged, they need to subsidize gas prices to get customers to buy their products!" A PR nightmare.

  • Rudiger Rudiger on May 06, 2008
    Domestic Hearse: "GM’s program was called “Gas Price Protection” and it featured guaranteed $1.99 gas for one year. A PR nightmare." Yeah, I didn't think GM's program went over too well, which is why it's odd Chrysler would try a similiar version of the same unsuccessful stunt. They must really be desperate.
  • Joeaverage Joeaverage on May 07, 2008

    OnStar=Big Brother... No thanks and seriously if I bought a newer GM that had one I'd be looking for ways to disable the damn thing. If somebody wants to sell me a useful gadget, give me a cellphone/vehicle interface that allows me to do the same kind of stuff without a subscription plan. Some sort of short range affair based on Bluetooth. Hands-free talking, remote locking/unlocking, auto dial by the car using my cellphone in case of emergency tying a GPS module to the cellphone for upload to 911. Oh wait... I down own a cellphone. Never mind...

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