View Full Version : Chrysler to guarantee gas at $2.99 a gallon! For three years!


Midnight
05-07-2008, 01:08 AM
Chrysler to guarantee gas at $2.99 a gallon! For three years!
AutoBlog.com
Posted May 5th 2008 7:00PM by Sam Abuelsamid
Filed under: Marketing/Advertising, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep

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Who needs an 18-cent a gallon gas tax holiday from pandering politicians when you have Chrysler on your side?! With gas prices rapidly approaching and exceeding $4 a gallon across the nation, Chrysler is offering up a deal that just might make people who are averse to the looks of cars like the Chrysler Sebring and Jeep Compass think twice. Between now and June 2, anyone who buys any new Chrysler, Dodge or Jeep vehicle will be able to register for a "Let's Refuel America" card. Once the customer registers a credit card with the program, they will receive a new card that they can then use at participating gas stations to fuel up their new car or truck. When the card is used, the credit card that the owner has on file will be billed $2.99 a gallon for either regular gas, E85 or diesel fuel. Chrysler will pay the difference. The best part is the price is locked in for THREE years. Now that's real savings. There are of course limitations on the deal. Get more details on the deal and Chrysler's full press release after the jump.

[Source: Chrysler]

SRT models, Vipers, Crossfires (they are still around?) and Sprinters are excluded. Also, when you buy the car your card will only be eligible for the pricing for the fuel the car uses. If you buy a diesel truck you can only buy diesel fuel. Similarly gas or flex fuel cars can only get gas or E85. If you buy the opposite fuel you'll be charged the full price plus and extra $2 transaction fee. There are also annual fuel allotments based on 12,000 miles a year of driving and the EPA sticker mileage.

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.

-------------------------------------------


PRESS RELEASE

Chrysler LLC Delivers Economic Stimulus; Protects Consumers from Rising Gas Prices for Three Years

"Let's Refuel America" available throughout the U.S. exclusively at Chrysler, Jeep® and Dodge dealerships through June 2, 2008 Three-year price protection from volatile gas prices available on compact, mid-size and full-size models, minivans, crossovers and pickup truck models

Seventy-six percent of customers cite rising gas prices as "top concern" Auburn Hills, Mich. - In response to direct customer feedback citing the prospect of rising gas prices as a top concern, Chrysler LLC today announces its own economic stimulus package: an exclusive gas price protection policy that eliminates the risk of further spikes in fuel prices. With the U.S. purchase of eligible Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge vehicles, customers can enroll in the "Let's Refuel America" program and receive a gas card that immediately lowers their gas price to $2.99 a gallon, and keeps it there for three years. The offer is available at 3,521 U.S. Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge dealerships through June 2, 2008, and is available on vehicles ranging from popular new compacts, crossovers and minivans to full-size diesel-powered pickup trucks.

"Today we are proud to introduce an unprecedented program to help put customers' minds at ease and do something to help working people who are worried about the volatility of fuel prices and vehicle cost of ownership," said Jim Press, Vice-Chairman and President, Chrysler LLC. "The Let's Refuel America Price Guarantee puts money in your pocket today, and allows our customers to better manage their fuel expenses. And you can't get it anywhere else besides a Chrysler, Jeep or Dodge dealership."

The Let's Refuel America program offers consumers a combination of the fuel price protection program and additional bonus cash up to $3,000 on available vehicles, including Chrysler PT Cruiser, Dodge Charger, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Dodge Dakota and Dodge Ram.

Consumer Economic Solutions

Chrysler has a number of solutions to help our customers during these tough economic times. "Chrysler is committed to providing the best value, and the least worries, for our customers," said Press. Chrysler's lineup includes five models for under $20,000 that get 28 miles-per-gallon or better on the highway. To protect consumers from unexpected repair costs in the future, Chrysler models come with the industry's best powertrain warranty, covering the original owner for the life of the vehicle. And Chrysler has made a number of its most popular options standard on its New Day Package vehicles.

Fuel Economy Solutions

Chrysler currently offers six models that get better than 28 miles-per-gallon on the highway: Chrysler Sebring, Chrysler Sebring Convertible, Dodge Avenger, Jeep Compass, Jeep Patriot and Dodge Caliber. Through April, the six of these models combined have higher sales than in the first four months of 2007. The recently-launched 2009 Dodge Journey comes with an available 173-hp four cylinder engine, helping it achieve best in class fuel economy.

The Jeep Grand Cherokee diesel 3.0-liter engine provides a class-leading driving range of approximately 450 miles and gets an estimated fuel economy of 18 miles/city and 23 miles/highway for 4x2 models and 17 miles/city and 22 miles/highway for 4x4 models. Outside of North America where fuel-saving diesel engines are in higher demand, Chrysler offers 17 models with diesel powertrains.

This fall, Chrysler will launch in the United States, two new hybrid SUVs, the Dodge Durango Hybrid and Chrysler Aspen Hybrid, boasting a fuel economy improvement of more than 25 percent overall, and 40 percent in the city. In 2010, the Dodge Ram Hybrid will reach the market. Chrysler is currently in the midst of a $3 billion powertrain investment offensive to develop new fuel-efficient powertrains and axles for our next-generation models.

Chrysler supports the federal government's new dramatically increased CAFE fuel economy standards, which will increase fuel efficiency by an average of 40 percent by 2020. Recently, Chrysler joined the US Climate Action Partnership, working to find solutions to global greenhouse gas emissions.

Customer Advisory Board

In February, Chrysler created the industry's first Customer Advisory Board to encourage a direct dialogue with customers and gather insight and feedback. A recent Advisory Board survey generated the following results: 76 percent of the community is "very concerned" or "extremely concerned" about fuel prices. 83 percent of the community responded that fuel prices will affect their summer vacation plans. (Note: the poll shows that 19 percent responded "extremely", 22 percent responded "very much", 30 percent responded "somewhat", and 12 percent responded slightly, 17 percent responded that it won't affect their plans.)

Program Description

The Let's Refuel America gas card program works when a customer purchases a new and unused Chrysler, Jeep or Dodge vehicle and selects the program in lieu of other available incentives. The customer is provided with the registration process documentation and registers providing their required personal information via the dedicated web site or toll-free 800 number. Once registered, the customer receives their gas card and separately, their Personal Identification Number (PIN) within 4 to 6 weeks of application. The customer then swipes their Let's Refuel America Gas Card at an eligible gas station, selecting up to 87 octane regular, E85 fuel or diesel fuel, and enters their PIN to begin the fueling process. After the fuel transaction occurs, the customer's personal credit card (identified in the registration process) is charged $2.99 per gallon.

Let's Refuel America Eligibility

The following vehicles are eligible for the Let's Refuel America program:
Small/Compact Car
Dodge Caliber, Chrysler PT Cruiser, Chrysler PT Cruiser Convertible
Mid-size Car
Dodge Avenger, Chrysler Sebring, Chrysler Sebring Convertible
Large Car
Dodge Charger, Chrysler 300, Dodge Magnum
Crossover
Dodge Journey
Minivan
Dodge Grand Caravan, Chrysler Town and Country
Compact SUV
Jeep Patriot, Jeep Compass
Mid-size SUV
Dodge Nitro, Jeep Liberty
Large SUV
Jeep Grand Cherokee, Jeep Commander, Dodge Durango, Chrysler Aspen
Pickup Truck
Dodge Dakota, Dodge Ram, Dodge Ram HD
The following vehicles are not eligible for the Let's Refuel America program:
All SRT models, Dodge Viper, Dodge Challenger, Dodge Ram Chassis Cab,
Chrysler Crossfire, Jeep Wrangler and Dodge Sprinter.
Select Program Offer
$2.99 guaranteed fuel card for up to 3 years

Offer valid with up to 87 octane regular unleaded fuel, E85 fuel or diesel fuel only, depending upon purchased vehicle*
Yearly allotment of gallons provided
Annual gallon allotment ends each year on 7/31 (first year ends 7/31/09)
Enroll
Easily register via a dedicated web site or by calling designated 1-800
number
Personalized Let's Refuel America Gas Card arrives within 4-6 weeks of
receipt of application
Use & Save
Use the Let's Refuel America Gas Card like any credit card – just swipe
and type in your PIN to use

Check account transactions online

* 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

SHAPman
05-07-2008, 09:55 AM
Here is the catch, you will forfiet any national rebates/consumer/lease cash. Once again chrysler pulls a crappy incentive program. i.e. lease pull ahead, but then you lose lease loyalty. Doh!

crh47
05-07-2008, 10:51 AM
Would I lose the $1,000 incentive on the Journey I ordered if I opt for this?

yellowjacket99
05-07-2008, 11:24 AM
More than likely you would. The other catch is they put a limit on the number of gallons you can buy each year depending on the model you buy. I looked this up for my brother-in-law cause he's ready to jump into a new quad cabDakota because of it. In his case he would be limited to 750 gallons a year for the 3 years. If he put 18 gallons in his truck a week, he would max out for the year just after 10 months. You can get $3,000 cash back right now on the same truck. Gas would have to average $4.32 a gallon for each of the three years just to equal the rebate savings.

vipersforsale
05-07-2008, 12:13 PM
actually it looks like the real catch is that Chrysler is not currently offering any other publicincentives at this time other than this program. And from what I figured, if gas stayed at around $3.50 a gal for a year, the savings would be a little over $1200 on this program of which is hardly enough reason to go run out and buy a new gas sucking Ram. That being the case, gas would have to go up to $4 a gal just to get $2400 out of the program... still not worth it. Its what they call a loss-leader, if it gets you in the door and you dont do the math it sounds like some kind of great deal but really its just the wool being pulled over your eyes.

ViperGTS
05-07-2008, 01:44 PM
Nice colorful cards. Now which Chrysler to buy? :P

DevilsReject
05-07-2008, 01:54 PM
Even worse, is that this costs Chrysler MORE money!!!! They already have issues with about 2/3's of their vehicles not being the best on gas mileage as it is.... and now this?

Just stupid IMO...

vipersforsale
05-07-2008, 07:37 PM
thats for sure... how can this plan save Chrysler money when it will only cost them more. And who is to say the people that buy a new vehicle will use the money to fill up their Chrysler vehicle anyway. I have a buddy that buys trucks from a local dealership, takes them to the auction and sells them off about 2 months later for profit. He will just use the card to fill up his Tahoes, Lexus and such. Chrysler wont even know that he sold off the vehicle to begin with so I imagine he will end up with a few of the cards over time.

Jr. Mechanic
05-07-2008, 09:37 PM
ORIGINAL: SHAPman

Here is the catch, you will forfiet any national rebates/consumer/lease cash. Once again chrysler pulls a crappy incentive program. i.e. lease pull ahead, but then you lose lease loyalty. Doh!


Actually, no. This is what I found straight from the Chrysler website:

PROGRAM COMPATIBILITY: This program is compatible with the following program types, providing the vehicle meets all program eligibility requirements: Chrysler LLC Employee Advantage/Employee Choice program Dealership Employee Purchase program Friends and Family program Chrysler LLC Affiliate Rewards programs Chrysler LLC Affinity programs Automobility program All other TDM programs Chrysler LLC/Dealership Employee Bonus Cash programs National and/or Regional Lease Rate programs National and/or Regional Lease Loyalty programs Incompatible programs: National and/or Regional Consumer Cash Allowance programs National and/or Regional APR programs National and/or Regional Lease Cash programs Compass/Patriot Retail Cash

Midnight
05-07-2008, 10:06 PM
Thanks for pointing that out Jr

vipersforsale
05-07-2008, 11:37 PM
better look again on all the chrysler pages or on chryslerfinancial because there currently are NO public incentives being offered at this time... that means UNLESS you work for chrysler and are eligible for one of the employee variations, us regular customers are screwed into this one and only "incentive"... whoopee

94rt10ohio
05-08-2008, 11:04 AM
It is a marketing ploy that will work. People paying $4 a gallon on the west coast will jump on this, boosting year end sales without actually really offering anything over and beyond what they are now. The buyers just will not realize the other incentives they are not getting because they were unaware of them to begin with. When they hear $2.99 per gallon they will react rather than invesitgate.

While it seems almost under handed by Chrysler, it was also smart. Hell, if by some crazy thing the dollar rebounds and oil falls they will make a killing.

Jr. Mechanic
05-08-2008, 03:24 PM
ORIGINAL: vipersforsale

better look again on all the chrysler pages or on chryslerfinancial because there currently are NO public incentives being offered at this time... that means UNLESS you work for chrysler and are eligible for one of the employee variations, us regular customers are screwed into this one and only "incentive"... whoopee



I dunno what you are talking about... http://www.chrysler.com/incentives/IncentivesController.do

They are actually pretty good incentives, we are planning on going up saturday to trade in our van, and on a new 08 we should be able to get about $7000 off of the sticker...

indianrefining
05-08-2008, 03:33 PM
ORIGINAL: vipersforsale

actually it looks like the real catch is that Chrysler is not currently offering any other publicincentives at this time other than this program. And from what I figured, if gas stayed at around $3.50 a gal for a year, the savings would be a little over $1200 on this program of which is hardly enough reason to go run out and buy a new gas sucking Ram. That being the case, gas would have to go up to $4 a gal just to get $2400 out of the program... still not worth it. Its what they call a loss-leader, if it gets you in the door and you dont do the math it sounds like some kind of great deal but really its just the wool being pulled over your eyes.


$3.50 a gallon? I wish!!!

SHAPman
05-08-2008, 04:21 PM
ORIGINAL: DevilsReject

Even worse, is that this costs Chrysler MORE money!!!! They already have issues with about 2/3's of their vehicles not being the best on gas mileage as it is.... and now this?

Just stupid IMO...


No it won't on most vehicles taking the gas card is cheaper for the company, but worse for the consumer. Think about would you take 1200 in gas, or 3000 in a rebate? Its the customers that come out as the losers here.

SHAPman
05-08-2008, 04:50 PM
ORIGINAL: Jr. Mechanic

ORIGINAL: SHAPman

Here is the catch, you will forfiet any national rebates/consumer/lease cash. Once again chrysler pulls a crappy incentive program. i.e. lease pull ahead, but then you lose lease loyalty. Doh!


Actually, no. This is what I found straight from the Chrysler website:

PROGRAM COMPATIBILITY: This program is compatible with the following program types, providing the vehicle meets all program eligibility requirements:
Chrysler LLC Employee Advantage/Employee Choice program
Dealership Employee Purchase program
Friends and Family program
Chrysler LLC Affiliate Rewards programs
Chrysler LLC Affinity programs
Automobility program
All other TDM programs
Chrysler LLC/Dealership Employee Bonus Cash programs
National and/or Regional Lease Rate programs
National and/or Regional Lease Loyalty programsIncompatible programs:
National and/or Regional Consumer Cash Allowance programs
National and/or Regional APR programs
National and/or Regional Lease Cash programs
Compass/Patriot Retail Cash




No, you just proved my point. say on a ram, the rebate, or lease/consumer cash is 5500. But if you take the gas program its only 3000. So its gonna cost you 2500 in rebates. You think you are going to save 2500 bucks in gas? Gas would have to be about 4.15 a gallon just to break even.

ON some it makes sense, like on the sebring/avenger. But on the vehicles that need it most, they have the most rebates on them.

vipersforsale
05-08-2008, 05:22 PM
ORIGINAL: Jr. Mechanic


I dunno what you are talking about... http://www.chrysler.com/incentives/IncentivesController.do

They are actually pretty good incentives, we are planning on going up saturday to trade in our van, and on a new 08 we should be able to get about $7000 off of the sticker...



Better click on your own link because it says that page doesnt exist!

Yesterday when I went to the ChryslerFinancial link at the bottom of any of the websites and then clicked on incentives... it gave me nothing, in fact it said there were none, but today there are in fact some there. But all the same this gas card deal is totally bogus and deceptive to those that dont pay any attention to what kind of deal they are getting. Although there are those people out there that pay window sticker for their vehicles and simply just dont care.

**add

OK now I know that the incentives were not listed yesterday because yesterday I went to the build your own truck part and not only were there no incentives listed but the now 2.9% option wasnt there either... So today I build my same truck but in '08 form and basically I end up paying almost exactly the same payments as I have now for a newer truck when I only owe $4300 and exactly one year left of payments on mine with only 56,000 milesso there still is no reason for me to run out and buy a new RAM. If anything I am going to wait for the next Gen of RAM before I think about buying another.

dustyloins
05-09-2008, 01:00 AM
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.....

Dusty

Jr. Mechanic
05-11-2008, 11:01 AM
Opens mouth, inserts foot [&o]


You guys are right. We leased a new 08 Caravan yesterday, and she said that we lose everything except employee discount, and she already figured up the numbers for us. It was either abut $1800 in gas, or $4750 in rebates. She told us the only time it is worth doing the refuel america is if you are BUYING, and especially if you are buying a new ram. Really sucks, because we were looking forward to that.

Oh well, according to my estimate (22 gallon tank, we drove 125 miles (HW), and used 1/8 of a tank, so 125/2.75=45mpg [&:])


Somthing isnt right, but thats what im getting, gonna have to redo it next fillup i guess[&:]

ViperGTS
05-12-2008, 02:39 PM
It takes a while for the needle to fall from full, especially when it was topped off.

Jr. Mechanic
05-12-2008, 03:11 PM
I did a new estimate after driving back to Toledo yesterday, got it down to 1/2 of a tank and we are getting 28mpg HW mixed with some city, not bad if you ask me.

dustyloins
05-12-2008, 04:20 PM
ORIGINAL: ViperGTS

It takes a while for the needle to fall from full, especially when it was topped off.


You got that right. When I started my trip to Colorado with a topped off tank, the needle showed full even after about an hour of driving at 65 mph. A half hour later it showed 3/4 of a tank........

I topped off my "full" tank in Alamosa this weekend. It took almost $22 dollars worth of 87 mid grade (87 octane).At this altitude, "regular gas" is considered to be 85 octane, but my owner's manual stresses the need for 87 octane no matter what the altitudeand no e-gas, ever......

Dusty

Jr. Mechanic
05-12-2008, 04:45 PM
ORIGINAL: dustyloins

ORIGINAL: ViperGTS

It takes a while for the needle to fall from full, especially when it was topped off.


You got that right. When I started my trip to Colorado with a topped off tank, the needle showed full even after about an hour of driving at 65 mph. A half hour later it showed 3/4 of a tank........

I topped off my "full" tank in Alamosa this weekend. It took almost $22 dollars worth of 87 mid grade (87 octane).At this altitude, "regular gas" is considered to be 85 octane, but my owner's manual stresses the need for 87 octane no matter what the altitudeand no e-gas, ever......

Dusty





Those Ferd people, always think they have the answers...

:D