Is Jeep really offering help at the gas pump?

Saw a commercial today for a Jeep SUV that they are evidently trying to push any way that they can. With gas prices these days, I’ve been reading that SUVs are not selling (at over $4 per gallon and a tank that can hold 21 gallons, who can afford it with the 4X4 Grand Cherokee only getting about 18 mpg city and 23 mpg highway for the 3.0L automatic.. the V6 gets about 15 city and 19 highway). So it totally makes sense that an advertising incentive involving gas savings may appeal to folks. However, the commercial for their Let’s Refuel America program says that for 3 years they will give you gas at $2.99 per gallon up to 12,000 miles per year. So at 16 mpg, that makes about 750 gallons that you can purchase at $2.99 each for a total purchase of $2242 and you can fill up about 35 times. If you were purchasing gas at today’s prices of let’s say $4.07 per gallon, you would have been spending $3052. That’s a difference of $810, which means that your bonus for buying a Jeep Grand Cherokee is $810 for year one. I think it is important to note that in order to be able to do the program, you have to have a Mastercard or Visa credit card (no debit cards). Your gas purchases get billed to that credit card. At $2.99 per gallon, it means that your credit card will get charged about $62.79 to fill up the tank when you are on empty. And at 16 mpg for city driving, for those of us who commute back and forth to work, the number of times you’ll be heading back to the pump will depend on your total distance, traffic, etc. For me, it is about 20 miles each way, or 200 miles each week just for going back and forth to work. That means 12.5 gallons used per week. If I only used the Jeep for commuting, I would have to refill almost every 9 commuting days. If my calculations are correct, at 750 gallons and 12.5 gallons per week, I’d be able to get the $2.99 gas for about 60 weeks (and of course, there are only 52 weeks in a year). Unfortunately, any unused “time” does not roll over into the next year, so you will have to use it all up in order to get all of the savings due you.

I tried to find out how many miles per year that the average American drives, and I’m sure a more updated statistic exists than the 11,900 that I found for the year 2000, but I haven’t found it. I have read that the rising gas prices have caused Americans to drive 11 billion less miles in March 2008 than they did in March 2007. You can read it at

http://tomwarnereport.com/twr/twr_v5n21.html

How many miles do you drive per year?

It appears that IF you pay off your credit card each month and don’t rack up finance charges, and IF you drive your car around 12,000 miles per year, then the $810 may seem like a good deal for you. I personally like the thought of getting closer to 30 mpg and paying less money on the car in the process. Sure, I won’t be able to climb up into my driver’s seat or sit up high and look down at the traffic, but I will be able to go further and spend less money.

**Note: One benefit of only getting about 16 mpg is that with the cost of gas these days, it has curbed driving among Americans, which according to the website I referenced above, has caused the greenhouse gas emissions to be greatly reduced. Hooray for Jeep!