KEY POINTS:
Car buyers are being urged to visitGovernment websites for accurate fuel-efficiency data, rather than rely on mandatory new labels for which some information is already out of date.
The Independent Motor Vehicle Dealers Association says buyers should consult fuel consumption ratings on the www.fuelsaver.govt.nz or www.rightcar.govt.nz websites for more reliable guides to vehicle efficiency before turning up at showrooms to buy.
Association chief David Vinsen said yesterday the organisation supported giving customers as much information as possible in choosing a vehicle.
But the new labels on display in showrooms should be treated as "a last resort", for comparative purposes only.
The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority acknowledges fuel cost estimates on labels which dealers must display where available - or face fines of up to $5000 - will become more outdated with each petrol price rise.
Its manager of products, TerryCollins, defended the scheme yesterday as offering useful comparisons of the fuel efficiency of vehicles in similar fashion to "star" energy ratings for household appliances such as refrigerators and dishwashers.
But he said the Government websites would be updated much more often than the labels, which dealers are urged to download free to comply with the month-old scheme.
Dealers had told the scheme's designers they did not want to print new labels every time fuel prices changed, which was every week last month.
Mr Collins said his organisation envisaged updating the labels annually, but would consider doing so more often if fuel cost estimates became too "out of touch" with prices.
The websites were being updated about once a month, making them more responsive to price volatility.
The latest updates, on April 28, quote 91-octane petrol at $1.88c a litre - 1c lower than today's price at most main-centre pumps, but 8c higher than when the labelling scheme was introduced on April 7.
Veteran Whakatane car dealer Wally Sutherland said he had no difficulties displaying star ratings for vehicles in his yard but was concerned about the arbitrary nature of quoted fuel costs.
He feared an assumed average distance travelled of 14,000km would turn away people with more modest driving needs, and that the quoted costs could be construed as "false advertising".
"I don't mind the star ratings - but they shouldn't be advertising how much fuel will be used."
Graeme Macdonald of Croydon Wholesalers, in Henderson, said an assurance from the energy authority that dealers displaying approved labels would be covered against claims of false advertising might not be enough to protect them from disgruntled customers.
Mr Collins said the assumed average distance of 14,000km was an Automobile Association estimate "so we thought that was very reliable".
He emphasised that the labels should be used for comparative purposes only, especially as factors such as driving styles and the condition in which owners kept vehicles were major influences on fuel consumption.
