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Since dealers will use that as a factor in negotiating vehicle cost I don't see it as any bargain as all, just a rebate with a certain amount of hedge on gas prices. Good marketing strategy, but not much of an offer. For consumers doing the math it's a savings of only about $300 a year for 3 years at current gas prices, if gas prices double next year you will save $600.
Big deal, I've seen better rebate offers than this and a good negotiator can easily knock off $2,000 from the street price of a car from a dealer and exceed this. But with this offer you lose negotiating power.
As a previous poster stated, it will work for those people that don't read the fine print. And with the housing crisis full of people now saying "hey I didn't know my interest rates would go up", it just might work.
You'll take a bigger hit in depreciation than the money you'll "save" as soon as you drive the car off the lot. You could have the same effect by buying a used car that gets good gas mileage, and you have the advantage of not having to drive a Chrysler.
Washington state (and other states) has gas stations at which gas will never be more than $3.99 9/10. But that's because they have older gas pumps, which won't allow gas to be priced at more than that. I believe it took a gubernatorial order to allow gasoline to be sold at less than gallon-pricing to allow gas stations to switch to pricing per half-gallon.
You'll take a bigger hit in depreciation than the money you'll "save" as soon as you drive the car off the lot. You could have the same effect by buying a used car that gets good gas mileage, and you have the advantage of not having to drive a Chrysler.
+1. It's just a marketing gimmick that doesn't add up to any true savings.
If you read this article, you will find that it isn't getting ALL of the gas that you want. It is getting enough gas at the car's expected average miles-per-gallon to fuel the car for 12,000 miles per year for three years. The example they used was that a car getting 28 mpg will burn 428.5 gallons of gas. At an average price of $3.70/gallon, you save about $300 per year by having this "gas card".
Read further down the article where it talks about being able to get a Dodge Ram 1500 with a $5500 rebate or a gas card and a $3000 rebate. The difference is $2500. Divide by three, you get $833.33. The Ram may average about 16 mpg... meaning it'll burn 750 gallons of gas going 12,000 miles. at a price of $3.70/gallon, you save $525/year. In order for the savings in gas to reach $833.33/year, gas would have to average $4.11/gallon. So, it's a gamble. Are you going to drive 36,000 miles in those three years averaging over $4.11/gallon?
This doesn't even factor in the higher interest charged to a car loan with a higher balance. These calculations only apply to a vehicle where you pay cash. If you had to finance it, the break-even gas price would have to be a good bit higher than $4.11/gallon.
You always have to do the math. Chrysler isn't giving anything away.
By the way, are Chrysler's cars really that crappy? I had a 1987 Dodge Ram van (318 engine) which lasted until almost the 217,000-mile mark... and with a new transmission, would've gone much further. I had a 1985 Chrysler New Yorker (turbo 2.2 engine) which I bought with 43,000 miles for $1,000... I put 31,000 miles on it with no problems worth speaking of, and then sold it for $850. These days I have a 1982 Dodge Ram pickup (slant-6 225 engine) and although it's needed lots of brake work due to underbody rust, the engine still runs like a top at 115,000 miles... I've beaten the tar out of it and it has held up admirably. I'd buy an older Chrysler-built vehicle any day. Are the newer ones really that bad?
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