Suzuki Offering Free Gas Incentive for Summer

Suzuki is offering three months of free gas to anyone who purchases a new 2009 Suzuki SX4 sedan or crossover through Aug. 31. It’s also offering $2,000 cash back on all SX4 models equipped with a manual transmission. That deal is good for the same time period.

Suzuki’s free-gas offer may not carry quite the same weight as all the gas offers from last year. At $2.63 a gallon nationally, gas prices are a far cry from last year’s prices of more than $4 per gallon. It just isn’t the terrifying economic boogeyman it was in 2008. The pre-paid gas cards also equal less than $300 in terms of real money.

Furthermore, as a general principal, offering three months of free gas isn’t as good as building a more efficient car. The Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic both eat the SX4’s lunch when it comes to fuel economy.

Chrysler Back to $4000, $5,000 Cash Back Offers

Now that it’s out of bankruptcy, New Chrysler is offering up some healthy incentives for July. Starting today and running through July 31, select 2009 Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep models will have $4,000 cash back, with an additional $1,000 owner-loyalty cash back. There’s also a credit union program that allows for an additional $1,000 incentive on top of the manufacturer-offered cash back. All told, you could see $6,000 cash back on select models.

Chrysler has not updated its consumer sites with exact details on which models are eligible. When they do, we’ll post those details here.

Details Emerge on Hyundai Cash Back, $1.49 Gas

Yesterday, Hyundai announced its new $1.49 gallon of gas incentive. Buyers of new Hyundais would get a guaranteed price of $1.49 per gallon of gas for a year rather than traditional cash-back incentives. Today, Hyundai has released which models not only get the gas offer, but also include additional cash back.

The full list is below.

GM 72-Hour Sale: 0% for 72 Months

Maybe GM’s math skills got them into the trouble they’re in. Their just announced 72-hour sale starts today and runs through July 6, which is 144 hours by our count. Maybe they wanted to tie the sale name in with the sale terms, namely 0% financing for 72 months on select models for those buyers who qualify.

Included 2009 and 2010 models in the 0% for 72-months term are: Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra regular, extended and crew cab light-duty pickups; Chevrolet Suburban and GMC Yukon XL SUVs; Chevrolet Impala; and the Pontiac Vibe, G3, G5, G6 and G8.

Other models have separate incentives you can find here.

Hyundai Giving $1.49 Gas for a Year

Last summer when gas hit $4 a gallon, Chrysler rolled out a unique incentive program that locked in $2.99 a gallon gas prices for a year. That was a relative bargain at the time, especially if you lived in states with higher gas prices like California or Illinois. However, gas quickly returned to sub-$3 prices in the fall, and consumers who opted for the gas plan were left with a worthless incentive.

This summer, gas prices have yet to break the $3 point nationally — although they have in many places like Chicago — but that isn’t stopping Hyundai from offering a similar incentive, $1.49 a gallon for a full year when you buy a new car. It’s doubtful that we’ll see sub-$2 gas anytime soon and sub-$1.50 gas is even more unlikely, so this price seems like a good deal.

Just like the Chrysler plan, Hyundai’s Assurance Gas Lock isn’t without a catch. If you opt for the cheap gas you give up most of the traditional cash incentives, which for some Hyundai models are quite significant. However, the company says depending on the model purchased there will be some form of rebate available on top of the gas deal. We’ll bring you the full list of offers when they become available.

Gas Lock applies to Accent (excluding base model), Tiburon, Elantra, Elantra Touring, Entourage, Sonata, Azera, Santa Fe, Tucson and Veracruz. Hyundai points out that most of these vehicles will qualify for the new Cash for Clunkers program as well, which would lead to either a $3,500 or $4,500 cash incentive from the government. Theoretically, giving shoppers both cash-back and gas incentives.

The program starts Wednesday and runs through Aug. 31.

2009|Hyundai|Sonata

2009|Hyundai|Elantra

2009|Hyundai|Elantra Touring

2008|Hyundai|Entourage

2009|Hyundai|Azera

2008|Hyundai|Tiburon

2009|Hyundai|Accent

2009|Hyundai|Veracruz

Chrysler Announces New Sales Incentives

As it navigates out of bankruptcy, Chrysler has announced several new incentives good through July 1 for Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge vehicles. This includes 0% financing for 60 months on select 2009 vehicles or up to $4,000 consumer cash on 2009 models.

Current Chrysler customers are also eligible for $1,000 of owner loyalty cash on most 2008 and 2009 vehicles, and there’s $1,000 in credit-union bonus cash on certain products for qualified buyers who finance their vehicles through participating credit unions.

Volvo Extends Warranty Coverage for June Buyers

While other automakers resort to large cash-back offers and low financing rates to stimulate sales, Volvo is enhancing its warranty on 2009-model-year vehicles to attract buyers. If purchased in June, your 2009 Volvo will benefit from extended warranty coverage.

Called Safe + Sound, notable enhancements in the deal include the bumping up of Volvo’s complimentary maintenance from three years/36,000 miles to five years/60,000 miles. The basic new-car warranty will be increased from four years/50,000 miles to five years/60,000 miles for cars bought in June.

GM Bankruptcy: What it Means to You

After filing for bankruptcy this morning, GM's future is a bit hazy. However, the company is stressing that the day-to-day operations that impact consumers will remain unchanged. The company has set up a website to alleviate these fears here.

We highlight a number of consumer concerns below.

Ford Payment Protection Plan Ends June 1

In April, Ford announced a plan to pay your car payments for up to a year if you lost your job. The company called it Payment Protection, and the plan ends June 1. Under the plan, owners were basically assured that if they had to file for unemployment, Ford would pick up their new car's payments for up to a year, up to $700 a month.

The plan was meant to reassure potential buyers in a shaky economy. The June 1 expiration date is approaching, and with the economy showing signs of life, it's unlikely Ford will extend the plan.

Hyundai's Assurance program, which pays for the negative equity of a new-car purchase up to $7,500, ends June 30.

GM's similar plan ended April 30.

Closing Chrysler Dealers Will Make Deals

When Chrysler announced last week it would cancel franchise ties with 789 dealers, the company said it would coordinate the transfer of unsold inventory to its healthy dealerships. In today's USA Today, some of the closing dealers say they haven't received any help from Chrysler to offload unsold cars, trucks and SUVs.

A Dodge dealer in Winberg, Pa., said "Want to buy one? We're having a fire sale." A Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep dealer in Malvern, Ark., said "it's not a matter of 'if.' We will sell them all." These closing dealers will not be able to sell new Chrysler products past June 9.

An analyst from Consumer Reports suggested going to a dealer with a lowball price.

We suggest car shoppers do their due diligence. First, obviously, check out the full list of closing dealers here.

Next, check the latest incentives on consumer sites for Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep, as offers vary depending on your zip code and end June 1. You should also check Cars.com's incentives page for other incentives, and our Research section for a car’s five-year cost of ownership and its Smart Target Price.

You can search Cars.com for the dealer's current inventory, then contact as many local dealers as you can over the internet to get quotes via email, as well as to make sure the car you're interested in is still in stock.

If you’re shopping for a new Chrysler and want to tell us about your experience, please email editor@cars.com.

Chrysler dealer cuts mean potential deals for consumers (USA Today)