Reader inkjammer would like to let you know that Chrysler thinks of a full tank of gas as an “additional feature” — albeit a free one.
For whatever reason, Chrysler is currently advertising a “Full Tank of Fuel” as a “free feature”. That’s right. ONE SINGLE TANK OF GAS. I can’t imagine buying a car and being told “Thanks for spending $20,000!” then getting into the car… and find out it’s riding on empty.
Hey, at least they won’t let you uncheck it. (We tried.)
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not a big fan of Chrylser, but a lot of car companies are listing a full tank of gas as a feture on the sticker. My new Subaru had the same thing listed on the sticker as well. “You just spent $25,000 on a new car, here’s a full tank of gas, on the house.”
Gee thanks!
It’s probably just part of a checklist that they have the Dealer check off as a final double check before delivery.
It’s just on there with additional features because they felt like putting it there.
Wow! My car also came with this awesome deal when I bought it! What a coincidence.
Many dealers purposely don’t put more than a few gallons in their cars so in the event they are stolen, they won’t go very far. And with a tank of gas in many vehicles going for over $100 at the pump, who would turn that down?
Dealer: Here are the keys and a $100.
Buyer: Sweet!
It’s a feature for me. I’ve purchased a 35k car, and barely made it home on what little gas they had put in it. At current prices, you are getting up to $90 in free gas with the car, that to me is a feature worth mentioning.
That’s nothing. My Dodge Caliber brochure touted its “confidence-inspiring door handles”.
The straws, they are being clutched over at Cerberus.
@RBecho: Thats the most likely thing. Anyone trying to get Chrysler’s response?
Technically, you can ask to have the gas removed and get that much off the “base price”. Just like if you have them remove the stock stereo, which usually adds $500.00 to the price, but can be replaced by a WAYYY better one for $250.00
I can’t think of a car that I’ve looked at in the past decade that hasn’t had a tank of gas listed on the sticker.
Odd thing to include on the web site (I’m assuming thats where it comes from) but those sort of things happen when there is a disconnect between the designers and marketing.
I wonder if it just hasn’t gone unnoticed so far and will be gone after this post.
Um…the full tank of fuel is worth more than the Easy Clean Floor Mats that you gladly paid for.
It’s marketing I assume. “Well if I get a free tank of gas, might as well add chrome wheels, and it’s all moot”
@BMRFILE: not a big fan of Chrylser, but a lot of car companies are listing a full tank of gas as a feture on the sticker. My new Subaru had the same thing listed on the sticker as well. “You just spent $25,000 on a new car, here’s a full tank of gas, on the house.”
Gee thanks!
@RBecho: It’s probably just part of a checklist that they have the Dealer check off as a final double check before delivery.
Probably more the second. Owning my own business, however, it’s probably also there now for tax purposes. Not so the government can tax you, but so they can write it off as an expense.
Don’t knock it. Cars generally aren’t delivered with more than a few gallons of fuel in the tank. Just enough to get it on the transporter, drive it around the dealer’s lot, and make sure you make it out onto the street – then you’re on your own.
It’s a nice touch. Certainly no worse than another line on those cheesy Standard Equipment lists they plaster on the window.
This is a bit off-topic, but it reminds me of when I was looking for a cheap hotel online. One of the “features” for one hotel was that every room came with a smoke detector.
Also, if you negotiated correctly, the dealer should be making about $500 to $1000 on the car (depending on the demand for the model of course.) A $75 fill up is not insignificant when compared to the actual profit the dealer made on the car.
At the dealer I work at, we will only put 7 gallons of gas in a car with a purchase, due to the high gas prices. But I work at a bhph (buy here, pay here) so a lot of the times we are selling the car for zero down, and not even collecting a dime for another 2 weeks.
This falls more toward the positive side of the ledger than the negative.
I’ve got no beef with it.
I just got a company car…brand new Dodge Grand Caravan…and yep, gas empty light came on within 3 miles of the dealership. Already not a fan of this particular dealer, and that helped solidfy.
Reminds me of when I bought my car. While the salesman and I were negotiating the price, he said “I’ll throw in a free tank of gas too,” as if that 30 bucks would make me want to sign over an extra thousand dollars.
I just spent $18K on a car and didn’t even bother looking at the gas gauge before I left the dealership. When I got to work… ohhh what do you know? EMPTY TANK.
That just means it’s not a feature yet. The fact that it’s on the list makes me feel like they will start charging for it eventually, and then you will be able to uncheck it if you so desire.
Yeah, but are they filling it with 87 octane crap?
No thanks!
@Van Sarockin: Yup. It makes sense if you think about it. If there are eight cars on the transporter and each one has a full tank of gas, that’s almost half a ton of extra weight.
I bought a used truck and it had half a tank of gas in it when I bought it.
Side story: The only reason why I bought from a dealer is because they were going out of business (yes they actually closed, didn’t move, closed and the place is abandoned now) and liquidating vehicles and “exectutives” were there saying yes or no to offers on vehicles. They wanted originally $9800 for it, since I had seen it there about a month and a half before. The “sale” price was $8200 (Kbb private party value). We offered $5500 (kbb FAIR TRADE IN VALUE) and got it for $5600+t.t.&l. They had $5400 in it plus an oil change.
Back on point: The guys were so nice there, they told me to come back in a few days when I had run the tank down to nothing and they’d fill it up. And they did. Too bad they closed their doors though, all the other dealers in that area are dicks.
@dezeinstein: Most cars don’t get any benefit from using anything higher than 87 octane. Unless the owner’s manual calls for higher, you’re just wasting money by using anything else.
@dezeinstein: I didn’t know you could crap out 87 octane. I’d better find a way to harvest that shit and burn it.
I’ve only ever heard of 87 octane gasoline before.
*shrugs* Doesn’t surprise me. When I bought my Honda back in 2003, a free fill up was an extra feature with my car then, too. I didn’t think anything of it. Seeing Chrysler doing this, with gas as high as it is now, isn’t a shocker.
When I bought my 350Z in Orlando (Universal Nissan btw, good people, at least the online guy is), they filled it up without telling me or noting it anywhere…got me back up to Jax no problem, where I got a nice big speeding ticket my first night in the car, hah
The auto manufacturer I work for (not Chrysler) pays for a full tank of gas. It’s all part of the huge, complex machinery of funding dealers, financing, selling cars to them, etc. There are lots and lots and lots of things like this. This is pretty much industry standard practice. What’s most likely happening is that certain dealers are declining to fill up the vehicles that they’re already getting paid to fill up, and pocketing the difference. By putting it on the window sticker, it’s a huge reminder to the dealer that, “hey, the customer knows they’re supposed to get a tank of gas. Don’t rip ‘em off.”
When I bought my Honda Civic in 2001 (well before the current price hikes), they not only only put half a tank of gas in it, they added that half tank of gas ($20) as a line item on my invoice. I very nearly scrapped the whole deal then and there I was so pissed off (it was a straw/camelback situation, since a lot of stupid little things had cropped up). So they went and filled up the rest of the tank — still charged me $20, though.
Slow news day guys? This “feature” has been showing that way on their website and window stickers forever…
heaven forbid a car lot try to make a deal look better.
@A.W.E.S.O.M.-O: You’d be surprised on how many times that works. Before my lot capped the gas at 7 gallons, we used to fill em up. It’s not something meant to work on everyone, but it does work.
I really believe it is good to get in writing that there will be a full tank of gas in your vehicle. My wife bought a used car and we stated that we wanted a full tank of gas in it. The salesman agreed. After we made the deal and paperwork was done (2 hours later), the salesman balked and said he could only put up to five gallons in it. We eventually got our gas but it was a pain in the butt.
See the thing is, most all buyers are getting a loan for their new car and not looking at it as they are spending 25k or whatever. Instead they are looking at it like they are spending $400 or so per month. If you really had 25k just sitting around to do whatever with than yeah a free tank doesn’t sound like much, but the bank is the one with 25k, not you. So when you yourself may have a couple grand to put down, you may not have much more left after the taxes, insurance and plates are paid for, so a free tank of gas, especially today, may still be a good incentive for folks.
Way back in 1990 in GA (when a gallon of gas was right around 80 cents), I bought a new Mazda and when they pulled it around to hand over the keys the low-fuel light was on! When I pointed it out to them they apologized and then I overheard the salesman telling the valet to put 2 gallons in the car. I told him if it came back without a full tank they could keep it.
@balthisar:
Putting it on the window sticker (a/k/a a Monroney Sticker: [en.wikipedia.org]) forces the dealer to fill out the tank, otherwise I believe they are violating Federal Law (by having a non-true window sticker).
I once test drove a used car (private party sale, not a dealer) that was so low on gas we had to stop and put some in during the test drive!
The “full tank” is a standard the car must meet.
Whould you be happier if the sticker said “1 gallon or more”?
@Orv: That is the work of a very lazy salesman. Either that, or it was close to closing/lunch time, and he wanted you to take a very quick test drive. Either way, bad, bad salesman!
/smacks salesman with rolled newspaper…
Now with FREE pine-tree air freshener (a 79-cent value!)
You see readers, there is a kind of individual that will buy anything, so long as they think they are getting a better deal than the jones’ did across the street. If I tell you my boss normally won’t allow me to fill your tank, but I’ll do it this one time if you don’t tell anybody, it sounds like they are getting away with something, or possible getting a better deal than %90 of the population. Some folks will buy with those conditions.
I use to sell kirby vacuums, and this was just one of the thousands of tricks I used. It’s not even about the product as it is a mental battle. I use to get off on making a sale then, because it was like I brainwashed them to think the way I wanted them to think. Don’t believe me? If I said picture Dick Cheney in a thong at the beach, I bet your thinking about it right now.
The way we were trained is if you want to know what they are thinking, you make them think what you want them to. It does work.
Also, if I can “push” my way in your door, (knowing you don’t want me there) then I should have any problem getting you to buy something you really don’t want to.
*shouldn’t have any problem….
When I bought my first car back in 1989, those bastards only gave me enough gas to get across the street to the gas station! One other time, my father in law purchased a car and was reading through the options and they listed “day/night lever”.
Taco Bell offers the same feature but they don’t make a big deal about it.
I actually bought a used Subaru for right around $20,000, and they
didn’t want to include the gas. During the test drive, I noticed we
were at 1/4 of a tank. So, when I agreed to the price, I asked the
salesman to have it detailed and the tank filled while we took care of
the paper work. When it came time to leave, I got in the car and
noticed that the tank was still at 1/4. I got out and asked the
assembled sales staff about it, and they said that they don’t fill up
used cars, only new. I went back and forth between the salesman and
the manager, each giving me the runaround, and finally got a voucher
for 5 gallons.
Later, I called another salesman whose card I’d picked up, explained
my frustration and he told me who was in charge. I called and left a
message with him explaining that I didn’t want to have to tell all my
friends that they spoiled an otherwise pleasant buying experience over
12 gallons of gas. He called back after the weekend, and told me to
come by and get the tank filled up. The dealership is only about a
mile from my house, so it was no problem, and in the end I wound up
with at least 5 extra gallons than I’d have gotten if they’d just done
it to begin with.
Let that be a lesson, that a full tank of gas is an extra!
@dezeinstein: does Chrysler even sell anything that needs premium?
@tgpt: Well anything they sell that has a 350 in it would use 92, may not need it but it will definately run better with it.
Local ford dealer here wouldn’t have given my dad a free tank of gas when he bought his F150 if the jackass salesman (who was the owners kid… and acted like it) hadn’t left to go to the gym when he showed up to take delivery of the truck and given him the wrong spare key.
Consumerist to the rescue! Are all new cars sold, though? What if someone leases a car for $200 per month? The tank’s worth a third of a monthly payment now. And why are we just now noticing this?