Are "Gasoline Pills" Safe For Your Car?
We all know the price of gasoline and diesel fuel is at an all-time high. It might go even higher, based on some predictions. Are there any ways we can ease the impact these skyrocketing fuel costs are having on our pocketbooks?
According to some internet marketers, they indeed have the solution. The Gasoline Pill will do everything in the world to save you money. These "wonder pills" will save you anywhere from 20 percent to 40 percent on the cost you have to pay for the miles you are driving. In addition, they will clean your vehicle's engine and fuel lines. They will reduce exhaust emissions to where your car or truck will be squeaky clean in terms of polluting the environment.
Most of these claims are simply not true or else they have been grossly overstated. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has been monitoring the use of fuel additives ever since 1985. Most recently, the FTC has begun to crack down on internet marketers that are selling and distributing fuel additives. By and large, these represent a scam that is being proliferated through the mass marketing capability of the internet.
Not only are the users of gasoline pills getting ripped off. So are those people that are trying to develop a home – based business that functions as a distributor or affiliate marketer for gasoline pills. In a case dating back to 1985, far earlier than the appearance of the internet, the FTC investigated one such product. It found that this product's claim that laboratory and road tests proved it could increase gas mileage and reduce fuel costs by 20 to 25 percent were fraudulent. Tests did not prove the validity of the claim. In fact, this company had used altered test results from a study conducted for another company on a different product.
The FTC also found that the claim that most of the company's distributors had made thousands of dollars in profits in January 1982 was false. In reality, most distributors had made little or no profits from reselling the product.
With the coming of age of the internet, the scam tactics did not change, but the ways the scam artists reached the consumer increased with lightning speed. As gas prices crept higher and higher heading into the travel season, the Federal Trade Commission recently conducted an internet surf to detect and deter the deceptive marketing of products that purportedly save energy. After the surf, the FTC staff sent warning letters to more than 50 companies making questionable gas-saving and other energy-related advertising claims.
In 2005, I became an affiliate of one such operation. This operation was not incorporated in any state. It distributed a gasoline pill with all of the above claims. I tested a 1993 Ford Aerostar for fuel economy in miles per gallon, and found that this kind of gasoline pill did produce an 18 percent improvement in fuel efficiency. I was not able to test it for improvement in emissions. However, the methods by which this operation distributed their product were bizarre. To become an affiliate, one had to commit to a very costly annual distributor fee, plus a steep monthly membership fee. In addition, a potential affiliate had to accept a monthly quota of gas pills, and pay for them, of course, until the affiliate could resell the product. The only person who could make money from this operation was an individual who reportedly had been involved in previous internet scams.
Most recently, the internet has been flooded by a company using high – hype advertising regarding a liquid additive which when added to the gas tank would significantly improve the vehicle's fuel economy by 20 percent or better. The advertising also claimed that hundreds of signups for distributorships of this product were occurring daily. Somewhat later, a group of very disgruntled individuals ran a counter advertising campaign over the internet that asserted that distributors were not getting paid and that fraud was running rampant. This case could well come to the attention of the FTC. The bottom line regarding this and any other gasoline pill deals or opportunities is BEWARE.
Although there are practical steps you can take to increase gas mileage, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) warns you to be wary of any gas-saving claims for automotive devices or oil and gas additives. Even for the few gas-saving products that have been found to work, the savings have been small.
What are some of the "Gas-Saving" Advertising Claims? The FTC warns you to be skeptical of the following kinds of advertising claims.
"This gas-saving product improves fuel economy by 20 percent."
Claims usually tout savings ranging from 12 to 40 percent. However, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has evaluated or tested more than 100 alleged gas-saving devices and has not found any product that significantly improves gas mileage. In fact, some "gas-saving" products may damage a car's engine or cause substantial increases in exhaust emissions. The gas-saving products on the market fall into clearly defined categories. Although the EPA has not tested or evaluated every product, it has tried to examine at least one product in each category.
"After installing your product on my car, I got an extra 4 miles [6.4 kilometers] per gallon [3.8 liters]."
Many ads feature glowing testimonials by satisfied customers. Yet, few consumers have the ability or the equipment to test for precise changes in gas mileage after installing a gas-saving product. Many variables affect fuel consumption, including traffic, road and weather conditions, and the car's condition.
For example, one consumer sent a letter to a company praising its "gas-saving" product. At the time the product was installed, however, the consumer also had received a complete engine tune-up - a fact not mentioned in the letter. The entire increase in gas mileage attributed to the "gas-saving" product may well have been the result of the tune-up alone. But from the ad, other consumers could not have known that.
"This gas-saving device is approved by the Federal government."
No government agency endorses gas-saving products for cars. The most that can be claimed in advertising is that the EPA has reached certain conclusions about possible gas savings by testing the product or by evaluating the manufacturers own test data. If the seller claims that its product has been evaluated by the EPA, ask for a copy of the EPA report.. In some instances, false claims of EPA testing or approval have been made.
As a consumer, you are encouraged to check the websites of the Federal Trade Commission or the Environmental Protection Agency. Also, you are encouraged to check individual states' attorney generals office for possible cases that have been filed against fuel additive operators. You owe it to yourself to take these preventive measures before you invest in gasoline pills or before you decide that a great deal of money can be made which takes advantage of the present gasoline price crisis. There are solutions to the crisis which will not cause you to sustain any loss to your automobile, truck, bus, or pocketbook.
Bob Carper
http://www.html-secrets.net
