Fuel Economy Packages Make Sense Depending On Vehicle According to TrueCar.com

SANTA MONICA, Calif., April 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- TrueCar, Inc., an online automotive information and communications platform focused on creating a better car buying experience for dealers and consumers, today released a study which concludes, that depending on the vehicle you purchase, the hundreds of extra dollars paid for the premium fuel-boosting option could make financial sense or could prove to be a costly investment for minimal fuel economy gains. The options that provide better fuel economy for the consumer may not seem costly when looking at the initial purchase price but consumers need to be wary that the difference in fuel economy can be nominal for some vehicles and could take nearly 50 years to pay back the initial investment.

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The vehicle that provides the best option for a consumer is the Mazda3 Touring with SkyActiv, which is cheaper than its counterpart vehicle, providing the best value for a consumer with immediate savings while the Chevrolet Sonic took nearly three years to pay off the premium for the Ecotec version. The popular Ford F-150 with EcoBoost took less than five years to break-even.

"The price of gas has consumers thinking about fuel economy but there's a financial investment involved with most of these fuel-saving packages," said Jesse Toprak, Vice President of Market Intelligence at TrueCar.com. "It's important to compare the improvements in fuel economy and the extra costs of the package before purchasing a new vehicle."

Fuel-Boosting Vehicles Under Five Years of Payback

There are some models that only provide a small increase in fuel economy and the payback time on the investment could be lengthy. The Cruze Eco has the highest years to break-even, with 48 years but the Fiesta SFE also takes more than 36 years to pay off the cost of the fuel-saving option.

Fuel-Boosting Vehicles Over Five Years of Payback

TrueCar's fuel-boosting options study assumes gas prices at $3.90 per gallon and an average 15,000 miles driven annually. As fuel prices change, the break-even periods will adjust. When gas prices rise, a shorter break-even time will occur, while after gas prices decline, the break-even time will increase.

For more information with the full charts on the comparison of the fuel economy packages to their counterparts, please visit the TrueCar Blog at http://blog.truecar.com.    

About TrueCar, Inc.

TrueCar, Inc. is an online automotive information and communications platform focused on creating a better car buying experience for dealers and consumers.  Consumers want a hassle-free car buying experience and dealers want high-quality sales velocity.  TrueCar helps achieve these goals by providing unbiased market information on new car transactions and by supplying an online communications platform through which dealers and consumers can communicate with each other.  TrueCar's market-based information provides both consumers and dealers with an accurate and comprehensive understanding of what others actually paid recently for similar vehicles, both locally and nationally.  TrueCar's communications platform then allows informed, ready-to-buy consumers to communicate directly with participating dealers.  Some of the nation's largest and most well respected membership and service organizations rely on websites powered by TrueCar to help educate their members and customers who are in the automotive market.  TrueCar is headquartered in Santa Monica, CA, and has offices in San Francisco, CA, and Austin, TX.  After experiencing dramatic growth since 2006, TrueCar is developing a suite of products and services centered on radical clarity through the comprehensive analysis of market data and information.  TrueCar's participating dealer partners have sold over 500,000 new vehicles to TrueCar users nationwide.

You can follow TrueCar on Twitter and become a fan of TrueCar on Facebook. 

Disclaimer

This press release and the information contained herein is for noncommercial use on "as-is, as available" basis and may be used for informational purposes only.  TrueCar makes no representations or warranties, express or implied, with respect to the information contained in this press release and the results of the use of such information, including but not limited to implied warranty of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement.  The information contained in this press release may include technical inaccuracies or typographical errors.  Neither TrueCar nor any of its parents, subsidiaries, affiliates or respective partners, officers, or directors, employees or agents shall be held liable for any damages, whether direct, incidental, indirect, special or consequential, including without limitation lost revenues or lost profits, arising from or in connection with your use or reliance on the information presented in this press release.

SOURCE TrueCar, Inc.