Fuel Doctor Review

Overall Rating
Price
Effectiveness
Quality
Recommended

What We DID NOT LIKE About the Fuel Doctor:

We hardly have to open our mouths on this. Consumer Reports has already given its verdict: Don’t Buy. Online commentators are calling it snake oil. The very few that would defend it are called morons. If there ever was a hated kid in high school, the Fuel Doctor is it.

It even fits the stereotypical outcast: It has no looks to speak of.  Nobody understands what makes it tick. It doesn’t fit with the shiny, spanking new “in” crowd—in fact, it only works best with old cars.

And it doesn’t express itself very well.

Because in fact, it has something to defend itself against the Consumer Reports findings. Fuel Doctor has the results of tests conducted by Intertek, a respected inspection, product testing, and certification company, which verifies that Fuel Doctor really does make a difference in a car’s MPG, as long as the manufacturer’s instructions and specifications are followed.

Use on cars two years or older, and run through 2–3 tanks of fuel first before expecting results. Those were the instructions and specification. Did Consumer Reports follow these? No.

And what, you may be wondering, were the results of the Intertek’s report? See below.

Intertek Report No. 100191915CHI-001A[1]

Unfortunately, this report was in a PDF file, which nobody downloads and expressed in tables, which nobody reads, and published only in Fuel Doctor’s own site, which taints its credibility.

But though we may not trust Fuel Doctor, we trust Intertek.

And if, like Consumer Reports, Fuel Doctor had presented Intertek’s report in a witty YouTube video and likewise distributed it to—or had it syndicated by—several trusted news networks, perhaps it may have had a fighting chance against Consumer Reports’ criticism.

Cons of the Fuel Doctor:

• Very low online popularity. We can almost hear it singing, “I learned the truth at seventeen . . .”

• Has a thumbs-down from Consumer Reports Magazine (January 2011).

Pros of the Fuel Doctor:

• Easy to install.

• Easy to operate.

• No need to change driving habits.

• One-year limited warranty.

• Claims confirmed by Intertek report.

Recommendation and Results

Very seldom do we feel the need to defend a product as much as we do with the Fuel Doctor. Maybe it’s because we weren’t very popular in high school either, and we know how it feels when people judge you by what the popular kids say about you, without even having talked to you for two full minutes.

Many of the Fuel Doctor’s online critics judge it based on its reputation. It’s called useless simply because its mechanism is not understood. Some have tried it on cars for which it was never designed, ie, new cars, then complained that it didn’t work for them.

So who’s the moron, we have to ask.

As far as we’ve heard from the actual users of this product, and from what we’ve seen in the scientific report of a research company that actually knows how to follow the manufacturer’s instructions, the product works. We don’t understand it either, but we cannot argue with the evidence.

So despite the fact that we are sure to get a lot of crap from recommending the Fuel Doctor, we at Fuel Saver Reviews are jutting out our chests, lifting our heads high, and declaring that yes, we do recommend the Fuel Doctor for cars two years or older.

REFERENCES

[1]       J. Tidd and F. Pecoraro, “Intertek Report No. 100191915CHI-001A,” Intertek, Arlington Heights, IL2010.

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Fuel Medz Review

Overall Rating
Price
Effectiveness
Quality
Recommended

What We DID NOT LIKE About Fuel Medz:

This was a tough part of the review to write. C’mon, what’s not to like about the Fuel Medz? It’s 100% organic, it’s easy to use (just pop it into your gas tank), and it’s compatible with all cars regardless of design or model. What’s more, it’s EPA registered (which is not at all the same as being EPA approved, but why dwell in semantics, right?).

To not like it is just like saying you don’t like gasoline or diesel for your car. After all, gasoline and diesel are also 100% organic, easy to use (just pour them into your gas tank), and are compatible with practically all cars regardless of design or model, as long as they have a fuel tank.

In fact, in this last part, Fuel Medz is even one step ahead of gasoline and diesel. With the latter two, you still need to determine what kind of engine you have before you can put gasoline or diesel in it. With Fuel Medz, you don’t need to know. Pop it in any fuel tank, no need to think, and you’re ready to go!

This, we believe, is the best thing Fuel Medz offers us: it eliminates the need for us to think.

Without thinking, we know that these nifty little pills increase our gas octane, reduce our combustion chamber deposits, and clean up our exhaust. How do we know? Why, it says so on their Web site!

So who cares if there are no user reviews on the products? Why should we have to read and judge the opinion of uneducated laymen consumers when we can just swallow expert opinions from researchers that the company has graciously hired for us?

We think (oops, there’s that word again) that was a pretty helpful gesture on their part.

But they even go one step more helpful than that. Fuel Medz also offers a 100% money-back guarantee if you find, within 90 days, that their pills don’t work on your car. That’s right: one hundred percent!

Their only requirements for return are (1) you pay the shipping fee, (2) insure the returned goods for their full value, and (3) “all returned items must be in unaltered condition with original packaging.”

So in case these pills don’t work for your car, all you have to do is fish them out of your gas tank, hope they remain unaltered, pay for shipping and insurance, and you’ll get your $12 back from the company.

We can’t see how a deal could get any better and more risk-free than that. So really, what’s not to like?

Cons of Fuel Medz:

• No user reviews.

• No real guarantees.

• No EPA approval. (It is EPA registered, though.)

Pros of Fuel Medz:

• Easy to use.

• 100% organic.

• Compatible with all cars regardless of design or model.

• Chewable (but may be toxic).

Recommendation and Results

It’s also the easiest to install (just drop it into your gas tank) and the easiest to use. You don’t have to read anything, don’t need to change your driving habits, you don’t even need to take it out before going visiting your car dealer for any services just to make sure you don’t void your warranty.

Of course, you should never, ever admit dropping these puppies into your gas tank either.

But we digress. As far as price and ease of use are concerned, we would give this product 5 stars!

Now the big question: does it work? Or, does it work substantially enough for me to risk my car warranty?

We think not. As Fuel Medz itself says, “fuels are efficient to a point of 99.5%.” If it’s just the fuel that you’re going to treat, there’s pretty little you can do to increase your mileage.

That, in addition to the absolute lack of users that would vouch for this product, is why we at Fuel Saver Reviews do not give a recommendation for Fuel Medz.

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ScanGauge II Review

What We DID NOT LIKE About the ScanGauge II:

For us, the ScanGauge II was a fair-weather friend—literally.

As long as the skies were sunny and the weather warm, she yakked away, giving us all the gossip we wanted to hear about our car, even telling us about stuff we already knew because they had already been passed on to us by our other good friends: Speedometer, Odometer, and Tachometer.

So what if they were old news? And so what if we didn’t really care to know about most of the other stuff she told us, like what our air intake temperature, throttle’s position, or battery voltage were? It made us feel cool to be in the loop, and ScanGauge II was happy to keep yakking out information.

Besides, she  made us look good.

But this friendship was not to last. Unfortunately, winter came, and the temperature outside dropped to 6 below 0. Then, so did the conversation. Yes, she just froze up. (No pun intended.)

We must admit, though, that we were slightly relieved when she finally shut up. It was nice, at first, to find out from her that it costs us $65 to drive to work because we treat the accelerator and brake like stop-go pedals on a bump car—but did she really have to keep reminding us that, like, every day?

She was starting to sound too much like a wife, and we weren’t really ready to take our friendship to that level yet.

So the cool-down—the literal one—was actually welcome.

It’s not you, babe; it’s me. You deserve a better guy—one who’s willing to actually step on the accelerator more lightly when he finds out his heavy-footed driving style is turning his car into a guzzler.

That guy’s just not me. I’m a man of die-hard habits who only wants something cool to ride with him in his car and keep him amused during long rides.

You also need someone who lives in a tropical country, or one who only needs a friend when the skies are blue and the temperature is above zero. That’s not me either, as I will never forsake Chicago.

So good-bye. I hope you find that better man.

Cons of the ScanGauge II:

• Likely to break down in cold weather. Not a problem if you live in Hawaii, Florida, or California. Forget about it if you live in Alaska.

• OBDII code reader only gives the generic code, not the explanation. (You can get and print out the OBDII code explanations from here.)

• Manual data entry. You have to tell it the size of your gas tank, how many gallons you put in, etc., taking up about five seconds of your precious time.

• Limited usefulness for cars with a dashboard full of meters. If your car already has meters for RPM and avg. MPG, you probably won’t have much use for this baby.

Pros of the ScanGauge II:

• Up to 37 digital gauges in one—that’s about five times more information than you can fit in your entire dashboard!

• Compatible with all OBDII car models from 1996 or newer.

• Adapts automatically to either OBDII or Controller Area Network system.

• Easy to install, easy to transfer. Once you’ve learned how to drive in an MPG-efficient way, you can easily transfer this device to your wife’s/husband’s car.

• Records speeds up to 158 mph—very useful if your teenager borrows the car.

• Also records if the unit has been disconnected, just in case your teenager gets a bright idea after the last time he borrowed your car and you cited him for speeding.

• Large, high-contrast LCD makes it easy for you to read it. (Unfortunately, that also makes it easy for your backseat drivers to read it. “You are wasting gas, Daddy. The machine says so.”

• Backlight comes in 63 different shades and hues. There is no interior motif it cannot match.

Recommendation and Results

This fuel saver is “cool” when you first get it. However, after a few short days, you realize that most of the crucial data you get from the ScanGauge II are already found in the regular meters on your dashboard.

The other data you get that are not found on your dashboard are also data that a lot of us could quite do without.

Sure, it’s nice to get real-time MPG. But once you’ve discovered what it is you need to do to improve your MPG, the usefulness of the ScanGauge II sharply plunges.

Remember, what this device does is tell you how to save gas; it does not actually do the gas saving for you.

Its other purpose is for troubleshooting your engine. As this user complains, though, it only gives the OBDII code, not the explanation for it. Sure, we can get the explanations online, but since there are actually cheaper devices available that could troubleshoot your engine and explain the code as well, why should we trouble ourselves, right?

And finally, the device is quirky in cold weather, as this user attests. (This one too.) Unfortunately, North America is a cold-weather continent, which means the ScanGauge II will be unusable for many of us for a significant part of the year. What’s worse, when things go wrong, there doesn’t seem to be good customer service staff that you can run to, as this user complains.

As nobody likes a fair-weather friend, we at Fuel Saver Reviews are unable to recommend the ScanGauge II.

Technorati Tags: fuel saver, fuel saver device, fuel saver devices, scangauge 11 review, ScanGauge II Review

PLX Kiwi OBDII Scanner and Fuel Saving Device Review

What We DID NOT LIKE About the PLX Kiwi OBDII Scanner and Fuel Saving Device:

Our biggest problem with the PLX Kiwi OBDIII Scanner and Fuel Saving Device is this: we’re already great drivers. Really! We accelerate slowly, drive smoothly, never, never exceeding 50 mph, and if we see a stoplight coming up, we let go of the accelerator immediately, so we either come to a stop without ever stepping on the brake or the light has turned green by the time we reach the other cars.

And you know what? We think perfect driving such as ours is so rare that our fellow drivers on the road just can’t help express their appreciation of our good driving. We’ve got a bumper sticker that says “Honk if you love me,” and you’d be amazed at how well-loved we are, especially near traffic lights and in freeways.

By the way, if you intend to ride with us, please make sure you weigh less than 100 pounds, and no baggage please, as every pound decreases our car’s MPG.

Anyway, enough about us. We’re here to talk about what we don’t like about the PLX Kiwi OBDIII Scanner and Fuel Saving Device.

Basically, this is a tool that’s only useful for mortals with less than perfect driving skills. If you have faulty, gas-wasting driving habits, then this device can help you eliminate those habits, as attested to by this user, and this, and this. What’s more, as this user adds, it’s fun.

Obviously, the faster the device corrects your bad habits, the faster its usefulness decreases as well.

And then, one day, this magic mirror—er, we mean fuel saver—will only serve as a daily reminder of “who is the best driver of them all.”

But who’d be complaining?

Cons of the PLX Kiwi OBDII Scanner and Fuel Saving Device:

• Shipped only within the U.S.

• Usefulness decreases as time passes. If it doesn’t, then it was never useful to you in the first place.

• Can’t be used with non-computerized car engines. (So let’s get this straight: you’re driving a 15-year-old car, and you say you want to be fuel efficient?)

Pros of the PLX Kiwi OBDII Scanner and Fuel Saving Device:

• Compatible with all vehicles from 1996 and newer.

• Easy-to-read text.

• Easy-to-use interface.

• Fun. Get a thrill out of beating your own previous score and saving gas at the same time.

• Easy to install. (Too easy, perhaps. Keep an eye on it, or you just might find it in your partner’s car one of these days!)

• Helps with car troubleshooting. Your mechanic would absolutely hate it.

Recommendation and Results

The PLX Kiwi OBDII Scanner and Fuel Saving Device is very low maintenance, is easy to figure out, saves you money, and costs less than $200 to get.

That’s at four reasons right there on why it’s better to get this fuel saver than a wife.

Oh, by the way, did we mention too that it wakes up when you need it, goes to sleep when you don’t, can troubleshoot the car accurately, and can actually critique your driving without ever being sarcastic or offensive, and without that annoying panicky tone in its voice?

Four reasons why this device is better than a husband.

If you’re already a perfect driver, like we are, then we at Fuel Saver reviews would only recommend the PLX Kiwi OBDII Scanner and Fuel Saving Device to help you troubleshoot your car when the need arises, as this user did—although that may not be enough to warrant the price.

On the other hand, if you know deep in your heart that your driving habits need correction, then we at Fuel Saver Reviews would highly recommend this product to you. It gives immediate feedback, creates results, and tells you when you’re doing something right without ever asking for anything in return for the compliment.

Technorati Tags: fuel saver, fuel saver device, fuel saver devices, plx kiwi obd ii scanner, PLX Kiwi OBDII Scanner and Fuel Saving Device Review

Petro-Mag Magnetic Fuel Saver Review

What We DID NOT LIKE About the Petro-Mag Magnetic Fuel Saver:

It looks like a spaceship component that had broken off after the spacecraft was hit by a nasty death ray.

In other words, it looks like junk.

The Petro-Mag Magnetic Fuel Saver’s biggest flaw, we think, is that it takes a rocket scientist to understand what makes it work, so in effect, it is hard to believe that it does. Heck, some of us don’t even believe we’ve really sent a man to the moon already!

Sure, the Petro-Mag is patented and produced by the FBI. Unfortunately, FBI stands for “Fuel Based Industries” and not the investigative body that may have assured us that this product is not a scam.

In its Web site, there’s an instructional video on how Petro-Mag works. We had our hopes up until we started playing that video. It turned out, it was just some Flash video of clustered colored balls that are supposed to represent fossil oil molecules which, for some unexplained reason, turn to unclustered colored balls after they pass through the magnet.

The video did not convincingly explain how the magnet does this unclustering and what the significance of this unclustering is.

In fact, were it not for the text surrounding the video, we would have thought it was a Flash rendition of Christmas lights.

And then, there is the lack of credible testimonials from people who have used it. There is not a blog or even a word from Twitter that we could find to support—or refute—the Petro-Mag Magnetic Fuel Saver’s effectiveness. Why doesn’t anyone speak up and proclaim its good deeds? Has nobody bought this product yet? Does it really exist? Have we really sent a man to the moon? Why did the chicken cross the playground?

Of all these questions, we only know the answer to the last. (Why, to get to the other slide, of course!)

Perhaps there really is nobody who has bought the product yet. Maybe people are unwilling to risk their time and effort into ordering a product that looks unconvincing.

We didn’t say “risk their money” because, to its credit, the Petro-Mag Magnetic Fuel Saver actually offers a lifetime warranty and a 60-day money-back guarantee. Besides, at $50, it is much cheaper than a few other fuel-saving devices we’ve seen out there.

Cons of the Petro-Mag Magnetic Fuel Saver:

• No user reviews available. (In the age of Web 2.0, when everyone has something to say and gives no second thought to saying it—has nobody ever bought it?)

• Can be hard to install. You need to find where your car’s fuel injector is located. (If your mechanic can’t help you, he should quit his day job and try singing country songs instead.)

• May void your car warranty. Make sure to remove it before bringing your car in for any kind of work at your dealer.

Pros of the Petro-Mag Magnetic Fuel Saver:

• Easy to remove.

• Easy to install once you’ve identified your fuel line. With your mechanic’s help, it should take a little less than 10 seconds.

• Lifetime warranty against defects. (Just how much can go wrong with a piece of magnet?)

• 60-day money-back guarantee.

Recommendation and Results

One of the best things the Petro-Mag Magnetic Fuel Saver has going for it is the fact that it has a patent. That proves that, in one way or another, it works.

The big questions really are, how does it work, and does it work well enough to make a substantial difference in your fuel consumption? In other words: Sure, it may save fuel, but does it save as much fuel as it claims it does?

Well, the truth is, since we at Fuel Saver Reviews don’t understand how it works, we are not going to recommend it—and we’re not going to dis-recommend it either (is there such a word?) We have no idea if it will work in your car in the same way it worked in ours.

All we can say is this: It’s easy to use, it’s very durable, and it has a lifetime warranty.

If you’re intent on getting a fuel saving device, this is one of the cheapest, simplest you can get, and it has a money-back guarantee. You decide if that’s enough for you to try it out.

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Bully Dog 40410 Triple Dog GT Gas Gauge Tuner Review

What We DID NOT LIKE About the Bully Dog 40410 Triple Dog GT Gas Gauge Tuner:

Although this looks like a good product overall, we’ve found that it does not work with the 04 Expedition 4.6L model.

“Well,” you may be saying, “my car is a 07 Nissan Xterra, so that does not concern me.”

Perhaps. But you see, the product documentation of the Bully Dog 40410 Triple Dog GT Gas Gauge very clearly and explicitly says that the unit works on the 04 Expedition 4.6L.

So now you’ve got to wonder: If the product documentation is wrong on this, what other car models is it wrong about? Could it be wrong, too, when it says that the unit will work on your 07 Nissan Xterra?

(For the record, it does work on the 07 Nissan Xterra. Sorry if we got you worried for a bit there.)

The lesson here is, don’t just depend on the product documentation to know if the device will work on your car.

Call customer service before you make your purchase. Get their categorical assurance that, yes, it will work on your 09 Chevy Silverado 5.8, and that if it does not, they will give you a full refund and will not make you pay shipping and handling charges to return the device.

Then make sure you get and keep your transaction number with whomever you’re speaking with!

Cons of the Bully Dog 40410 Triple Dog GT Gas Gauge Tuner:

• Small display. (Adjust the colors and contrast for maximum visibility.

• Necessary fuse link sold separately. (Now that you’ve been warned, go out and get that fuse link before your Bully Dog unit arrives.)

• Does not work on certain vehicles. (Call customer support first to confirm that your vehicle is one of the “chosen” ones.)

• 1-year warranty. (Still better than nothing.)

Pros of the Bully Dog 40410 Triple Dog GT Gas Gauge Tuner:

• Easy to install.

• Compactly sized. Won’t block your view of the traffic—or the pedestrians, depending on which you find more interesting.

• Multiple color schemes. (Oh, the wife is gonna love this!)

• Comes with a windshield mount. (Sorry, one color only for this one.)

• Driving coach feature lets you see which of your driving habits are causing fuel inefficiency. (Much less annoying when it comes from a machine rather than the passenger, right?)
• Tuner feature let you easily customize your car’s engine, transmission, vehicle, and safety parameters.

• Free downloadable software updates. (Did somebody say “free”?)

Recommendation and Results

The reviews on this product are mixed. Truck owners (like this one) have said that it noticeably increases the truck’s responsiveness, but not so much the mileage.

On the other hand, a Chevy Silverado owner says the device gave his vehicle only a slight power increase but has boosted his fuel economy. Read his story here.

At Fuel Saver reviews, we find that the biggest pro of this device is the driving coach feature, which can really help you improve your overall driving skills. It can be annoying, though, if you’re the type who hates receiving corrections, especially from an inanimate object. That’s how one user felt anyway. (Read the story here.)

Another good thing about this device is that it lets you customize your car parameters easily, so if you’re the type who would want to do that, this can be a useful device.

Overall, the device is easy to install and generally easy to use, if you don’t mind the small display, which is a natural consequence of having a small unit. And it can help you save gas by helping you adjust your vehicle settings and driving style.

But if your goal, like most of us, is to just save on gas without changing your driving habits, we think the price of this device is a little too steep compared to other fuel saving devices out there, and we can’t even guarantee that you’ll get a satisfactory return on your investment.

So while we at Fuel Saver Reviews do recommend the Bully Dog 40410 Triple Dog GT Gas Gauge Tuner, we do so conditionally.

Technorati Tags: bully dog review, fuel saver, fuel saver device, fuel saver devices

Mile Edge Plus Review

What We DID NOT LIKE About the Mile Edge Plus:

To be perfectly honest, we have to admit we had to bend over backward to find something not to like on this one. After all, it has a lifetime warranty for any defects and a 60-day money-back guarantee if, for any reason, you are not satisfied with the product.

But we found something not to like, never you fear. Note that the 60-day money-back guarantee does not include shipping and handling charges. Those things, you’ve got to pay for. So if the Mile Edge proves unsatisfactory, or if it gets damaged, we’d lose money from shipping and handling, right?

And as you know, the reason why we’re buying a fuel saver is because we’re the type of people who like to count our cents and dollars. So those shipping and handling charges will pinch somewhat—if we ever have to pay them, that is.

From what we’ve seen so far, though, there’s no way we’re going to return this thing. And it’s designed so simply, what could possibly get damaged?

Cons of the Mile Edge Plus Fuel Saver:

• No user reviews available. You’ll have to take advantage of that 60-day money-back guarantee.

• No offline distributors. Sorry, man, you can’t use this as an excuse to get out of the house and, on the way, get some of those donuts your wife won’t let you eat at home.

• Vehicle-specific. When you buy your new car, you’ll need to make sure you set aside $50–100 to get a new Mile Edge Plus as well—unless you’re buying the exact same model as your old one.

Pros of the Mile Edge Plus Fuel Saver:

• Lifetime warranty against defects. (To tell the truth, we were sold at “lifetime warranty.”)

• 60-day money-back guarantee. If not completely satisfied with what you got for any reason, you can return it to source and get your money back. (If only marriage worked that way too, huh?)

• Decreases emissions. Fashionably green.

• Tested and approved by the California Air Resources Board and an EPA-approved laboratory. (We didn’t expect you to take our word for “decreases emissions,” so we had to add this.)
• Easy to install, but if you are that unskilled in automotive fiddling, you can bring it to your mechanic—then maybe ask yourself if you should be driving a car at all!

• Works with biodiesel, cold air intakes, ram air intakes, and high flow air filters. (Did we miss anything?)

Recommendation and Results For This Fuel Saver

When a product gives out a lifetime warranty and a 60-day money-back guarantee, it’s just too hard not to try it out. After all, what do we have to lose? Shipping and handling fees, perhaps?

It’s a risk, we must admit, but such a small one that if you’re the type who’s afraid to take it, then you’ve got to ask yourself, should you be taking a the risk of maneuvering a speeding chunk of metal in a limited area (i.e., the road), with other speeding chunks of metal all around you?

And if it works? Why then, you get better torque, better mileage, and you even do the environment a favor.

So we at Fuel Saver Reviews see no reason why we shouldn’t try out the Mile Edge Plus fuel saving device.

Hope you enjoyed my fuel saver review.

–Phil

Technorati Tags: fuel saver, fuel saver device, fuel saver devices, Mile Edge Plus, Mile Edge Plus Review