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Gas Deal Backfires On Some Drivers

POSTED: 7:45 pm PST November 21, 2008
UPDATED: 8:07 pm PST November 21, 2008

A deal on gas that seemed almost too good to be true this summer may have ended up backfiring on some drivers.

The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline was below $2 on Friday, Oregon's average was sitting at $2.15 and the average in Washington state dropped to $2.14.

But this summer when gas prices were high, a deal was offered by Chrysler to encourage consumers: Buy a new car and get a gas card to buy gas at $2.99 for three years.

But now that gas is below $2 per gallon, some said maybe they should've taken a cash rebate instead of what looked like cheap gas.

The Hamada family last May leased a new Chrysler sedan from a dealership in Portland.

At that time, the family could've either taken thousands of dollars off the lease price of the car or received $2.99 per gallon of gas for three years.

The Hamadas opted for what seemed like cheap gas, at a time when experts were estimating that fuel might go to $5 a gallon.

Friday, the family said it no longer uses the $2.99 gas card that came with the car because the price of fuel has come down so much that it can buy gas cheaper on their own.

The Hamadas said taking the $2.99 gas instead of a rebate was a gamble and they lost.

But it said if gas happens to go back up over the next two years the decision could still pay off. Plus, the Hamadas said they're not sorry they bought their car.

A salesman from a local dealership said, fortunately, most people who bought cars at that time didn't take the cheap gas but instead opted for the thousands of dollars offered back in rebates.

Gas Deal Backfires On Some Drivers

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