Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep $2.99 gallon gas promotion, good deal?

Chrysler recently announced a promotion that guarantees you can purchase gas or diesel for $2.99 per gallon if you purchase a new Dodge, Chrysler, or Jeep vehicle. This might sound like a good deal, but do you really save a lot of money?

No, not much money saved here. First, lets just pick a vehicle, the 2008 Dodge Caliber. The Caliber gets an estimated 24 miles to the gallon in the city and 28 miles per gallon on the highway. Why do we need to know these numbers? Because Dodge only covers the first 12,000 miles per year for three years. That means the $2.99 deal only covers 36,000 miles.

If you get the minimum miles per gallon of 24 then then you will use about 1,500 gallons of gasoline during the three year period. Now, from here there are two ways to look at the deal. The first way to view the deal is even if gas goes up to $5.00 per gallon you will save $2 per gallon or $3,000. Do you know how easy it is to get a dealer to take $3,000 off the sticker price of a new car? Pretty easy from my experience and I’m guessing that with this promotion you are less likely to get such a deal on a new vehicle.

Second way to view the promotion is you have to buy a new car. We all know that purchasing a new vehicle is a big waste of money and not a smart financial move. Purcahse a used car that is a few years older from a private individual and I guarentee you will save more than $3,000!

Always look at any financial decision from different viewpoints. Consider all the outcomes of your decisions before you make a major purchase.