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…

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.

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.

Detroit has penalized us for buying small cars since I was a kid in the 1980s. Nothing new here… GRIN!

I give them a big thumbs up for creative thinking though.

IIRC, GM’s timing was pretty bad since not long after they began the program, gas prices began dropping, as well.

You are all missing the point. Even if you get discounted gasoline, you are still driving a Chrysler!

I was personally surprised to find that, at the measley 5500 miles a year I drive, I was better off buying a $19,000 car getting 21mpg than buying a Prius, as it would take years before the price difference was made up.

In short, gas mileage isn’t as impactful as up-front costs, which is why a cheap AND fuel-efficient car is best.

However, if you’re looking at an expensive Chrysler and thinking “bah, the gas mileage is terrible”, doing the very math you folks are doing to back up your comments of how little this will cost Chrysler will cause consumers to realize how little of an impact the gas mileage has on their wallets.

So it’s not a fixed 700 gallons per year? Would I get less, or more, gallons because the 300C is a gas whore? I based my calculations on 20 MPG which is generous for my hemi-powered 300C (granted, I drive with a heavy foot).

Picard234, You’ll have a yearly allotment of fuel (12,000 miles/yr) that you can use. So, feel free to fill up as many of your friend’s vehicles as you wish, you’ll just burn through it that much more quickly. Your absolutely right though, it’s a great marketing ploy by Chrysler. The averaged consumer will think they are getting a huge savings when in actuality, it’s not a great deal unless your getting a Diesel powered vehicle with high $4+ gas prices or a Hemi powered vehicle that gets low 10’s mpg.

The amount of gallons of gas you receive varies per vehicle. Whatever is the average CAFE mpg your vehicle receives, divide that by the 12,000 miles/yr allotment, and that’s how many gallons of gas you’ll receive.

Now say they removed the $3,000 discount they applied before calculating my lease price and I signed the lease thinking this gas card was a fantastic deal.

It IS a fantastic deal…for Chrysler.

Now the problem is, what prevents me from saying “excuse me while I whip this out” (pardon the Blazing Saddles reference) for my friends fill-ups?

700 gallon limit? No problem. At 17 gallons each tank, I can fill up every 5 days. If I put less than 22,500 miles on my car per year, I won’t reach that limit.

By the time these people are coming off of this program, fuel will be terribly expensive(anyone care to do the math based on the last 6 months?) and Chrysler will be waiting with fancy refreshed Mid-Sizers, the Versa clone, massaged Belvedere cars, a new Ram, the RWD coupe and a new 300 to sell them.

It’s a new day, ya’ll :)

Oh yeah, the Grand Cherokee is ready for a redesign, isn’t it?

I wonder if Nardelli will pump it for you?
-timd38

HAHAHAHAHA!!!

do the math and no big deal. Rather save money up front (rebate or discount) then have to spend money buying gas to get a feeling of saving money.

This is a great business decision for Chrysler, they will be able to spread the cost of what is essentially a rebate of some thousand dollars or so, over a period of three years.

When you consider that many people will forget to use the card several times, and other externalities, it will probably end up costing Chrysler a lot less money than that. And it avoids the $3000 on the hood that customers are always expecting to see now, and in many ways not be as effective as it once was.

Also, in avoiding discounting prices on the front end, it will make Chrysler look better financially, as it will have higher revenue today, and that will look good to stock holders, which is really who Cerebrus is trying to impress at the moment anyway.

With the card, if you buy mid-grade or premium gas you get charged an extra 15 or 30 cents a gallon respectively. If mid-grade or premium unleaded fuel is purchased, the customer will be billed for the $2.99 plus $.15 per gallon for mid-grade (88-89 octane) or plus $.30 for premium (90-94 octane).

All other grades of fuel higher than 94 octane are not covered under this program and the full pump price will be billed through to the customer plus a $2 service fee per transaction with no gallon usage penalty. If customer purchases unleaded gas (including E85) on a diesel card, or diesel fuel on an unleaded gas card, the customer will be billed the full pump price plus $2 service fee per transaction with no gallon usage penalty.

The release states that the customer simply needs to swipe the card and type in their PIN, just like using a normal credit card at the gas station. So, making a few assumptions, I’m guessing that when you register the card, you’ll be required to choose a personal credit card that you wish to have linked to the discount card. So, your purchases will be charged to the chosen credit card but you’ll swipe the discount card to get the correct price. Plus, you’ll choose a PIN number so that if you lose your discount card, it can’t be used w/o the proper PIN.

So, there won’t be any haggling with the gas station clerk about whether or not they want to honor the $2.99 price. Chrysler worked with Pricelock to make this happen, there’s no need to negotiate with anyone at the gas station. They’ll still be getting their retail price, Pricelock and Chrysler made a deal to work out the rest. To the customer and the gas station, it’s no different than any other customer who pays with a credit card.

Plus, yes they do have a yearly allotment of fuel (12,000 miles/yr) that you can use. So, feel free to fill up as many of your friend’s vehicles as you wish, you’ll just burn through it that much more quickly.

I think it’s an awesome deal for the diesel vehicles. Well really all of them, but especially the diesels, since you still get the $2.99 price even though they charge you $0.30 more for Premium and diesel is priced even higher without the same markup. Makes vehicles like the Grand Cherokee Diesel that more attractive.

It will be interesting to see how this affects their sales, but it’s at least good to see them thinking slightly outside the box to get the best out of what they have currently while they work towards the future.

“The card can be be used to fuel any car and if the car is sold within the three years, the owner can keep the card and continue buying fuel at the discounted price. This is one hell of a deal, if it doesn’t drive Chrysler into bankruptcy, which is a distinct possibility. Because there is no way of knowing what fuel costs will be over the next three years, Chrysler can’t estimate the cost. However, Steven Landry, Executive Vice President – North American Sales said the company is doing some hedging to protect themselves. If the price of fuel dips below $2.99 customers can just pay with another card or cash. The program kicks off on Wednesday May 7, 2008.”

Desperate time call for desparate actions.

Perhaps Chrysler has limited their liability in the fine print????

Also, how does the fuel pump know it is a covered Chrysler product the $2.99/gallon fuel is being pumped into?

If prices drop below $2.99 customers can use their standard credit card.