Detroit’s discounted gas pricing scam.

No sexy title, just a rant. Okay, I’ve seen a lot of ploys, because well, that’s the business we’re in. But this new trend of FREE!* gas or prices locked-in with a $2.99 gas guarantee! and so on from the major automotive brands is one of the worst I’ve seen. (The ad above is typical of what you’ve likely seen by now.) Refuel America? How? They haven’t improved mileage on the cars or magically found a new supply of oil somewhere. Instead, they’ve only attempted to save how much you might spend on gas—for a limited time too. “Eh, forget giving you a car that uses less gas, we‘ll just give you more money to spend on the gas.”

Idea: maybe Detroit should go back to innovating when it comes to the product instead of the offer. Maybe they should focus on making a car that gets 10-15 miles more per gallon. Maybe they should’ve learned from the gas shortages in the seventies. That would probably be more effective. Ya think?

*Don’t forget to read that small print either when considering these offers. For example, Jeep’s offer is only for three years and up to 12,000 miles per year.