KEY POINTS:
As fuel prices continue to rise, so do the number of products claiming to increase your vehicle's efficiency ... and the prices of those devices.
The New Zealand Automobile Association is warning motorists to be wary of throwing away money based on nothing more than a sales pitch.
AA technical advice manager Jack Biddle said he was fielding regular inquiries about the benefits of the products but the AA lacked the facilities and expertise to check them all out.
"We wouldn't recommend any of them, because we haven't seen evidence that any of them deliver what they say. But if Mr Smith down the road said he bolted one to his car and felt he got some benefit, we're not going to challenge that."
The AA said motoring clubs in Australia, through the Australian Automobile Association, had invited manufacturers to subject their devices to independent testing.
Only one, the Fitch Fuel Catalyst which claims to purify petrol before it reaches the engine, was offered up. It did not change fuel consumption when fitted to test vehicles.
"What concerned us in recent times was the increase in cost for some of these devices. There are some where it's upwards of around $5000 for a conversion. That starts to highlight to us there is maybe a requirement to say, `look just be warned the price is getting quite high without any real proof of them being able to deliver'."
The range of devices includes pills dropped in the engine, devices attached to fuel lines and hydrogen conversions.
Mr Biddle said companies were making "a bold statement" with claims their product would work for every single make and model of car in the country.
"It's not a criticism, we're just saying be careful.
"And some people are now saying that if you convert to their device then there's some ongoing servicing that needs to be done... At the end of the day the costs are starting to creep up and the benefits would have to be very, very large."
- NZPA
