Car Dealers Want To Charge You Gas Money To Test Drive The Car

Were you wondering just how rough the economy is?  Well how about this...Remember back when you were in high school, when you hit your buddies up for gas to do some cruising for the weekend?  Well, car dealers are now your high school buddies.  Some dealerships are actually having potential customer pay for the gas that they use when taking a test drive.  Not necessarily for the short, down the street and back drive, but the multiple test drives, or longer test drives.  Could this become the new norm, like how airlines are now applying baggage fees?  Is this what we have come to?

Alex Mehmood runs a car dealership in West Sacramento, California.  He says, quote, "We have to pay for all the gas, and when you have 70 to 80 different cars, it gets real expensive." So in some cases, like people who want longer test drives or multiple test drives, he actually makes them return the car with the same amount of gas in the tank.

You would think that a few dollars for gas wouldn't be such a big deal if they are selling you the car for $30,000 or more, but their argument is that is definitely adds up quickly, especially when, some customers, ultimately don't buy the car.