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3 On Your Side: Truth Behind Fuel-Saving Devices

PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ― Are you hitting the road this holiday weekend? With prices sky high at the pump, you may want to pack some extra cash along with your sparklers and swimsuit!

Drivers are looking to boost their gas mileage any way they can, but as 3 On Your Side's Jim Donovan found, gadgets claiming to help will only cost you more money in the long run.

Fireworks in the sky! Burgers on the grill! Heartburn at the pump! This 4th of July will be remembered for gas prices over four dollars a gallon.

Drivers aren't in the mood to celebrate.  They're just trying to cope and will try just about anything.

"They want to find a device that will, at a low cost, help them to stretch their gasoline dollars, especially in these trying times of high gasoline prices," says Brian Rehn of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Gadgets sold in stores and online promise to increase your gas mileage.

According to Rehn, they are things like "fuel line magnets and ionizers.  There are inline flow fans or air disturbers.  There are such things as additives that you dump in the tank that supposedly stretch your mileage."

Rehn says that the EPA has tested more than 100 of these devices, adding, "In general, they do not, they do not meet the manufacturer's claims for improved fuel economy."

Tom McLauglin, an ASE-certified mechanic with AAA, says, "Don't waste your money.  None of them work. They don't improve mileage.  It's been proven a number of times that there's zero improvement in gas mileage."

McLauglin says if they did work, they'd already be in your car.

"Obviously if something simple was capable of producing the kind of gas mileage increases that these after-market companies are claiming, the manufacturers would be doing it for that competitive advantage," says Tom. 

In fact, Tom says that if he found a device that actually worked, he would be the first in line to buy it.

"I'd have one in my car in a minute, and I've been in auto repair for over forty years," says Tom.

Some of these devices can even result in lower gas mileage.  They can even damage your car.

According to the EPA, many of these devices come back time and time again, simply rebranded or relabeled.

For more information on the tests that the EPA has conducted and for additional advice on how you can improve your gas mileage, check out the sites below.

Related Links:

EPA Device Evaluation Program
Tips To Improve Fuel Economy
EPA/DOE Fuel Economy Guide
EPA Green Vehicle Guide
FTC Facts on Fuel Savings Devices
Popular Mechanics

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