We’ve already seen a return of some old favorites that never seem to die out, like the selling of phony gas additives or auto add-ons like “gas tank magnets.”

All of them promise you’ll see huge increases in gas mileage. But trust me-you’ll see OPEC giving away free gas in America before you’ll see your gas mileage go up from any of those gray-haired old scams.

Butt here’s a new twist in gas schemes-people selling what is usually described as gas coupons, gas gift cards or gas rewards programs. They’ve already been spotted at several online auction sites as well as in mass spam mailings.

Some sellers claim the coupons have been clipped from newspapers, magazines or shopping guides. Others say they got them as premiums or gifts and can’t use them. All claim the coupons are genuine and you can buy them at greatly reduced prices. That part may (or may not) be true, but here’s what is true in all too many cases-

The person in whose name they were issued must use the coupons. Their value cannot be transferred to anyone else.

The coupons are from national gas companies, but earmarked for redemption only at gas stations far from your local area. There is no guarantee that local branches of national gas companies must honor these coupons.

Or….

The coupons are fake, created in Photoshop and printed on someone’s home computer. These days, even banks are being fooled-temporarily-by phony cashier’s checks produced this way. So beware any gas coupons you’re considering buying from a secondary source.

The coupons, gift cards and reward programs you can trust are those that come to you, in your name, directly from the business or program that’s offering gas savings as an incentive for your business.

For instance, high gas prices are forcing people to cut back on travel plans. That’s bad news for hotels, motels and inns that depend on travelers for their bread-and-butter, so many are offering gas-related incentives to their guests. To see if the lodging you’re considering staying at is offering a gas incentive, check their websites.

Use any search engine to look for terms like “hotel + gas + discount” or “motel + gas ” coupon.” By searching for “b&b + gas + discounts” we found a dandy list of B&B’s (bed and breakfast inns) that offer discounts to help offset the price of gas at this website: http://www.bnbfinder.com/?action=specialsSearch&specialTypeId=17

Remember, anytime there’s high prices or shortages in anything, con artists are sure to follow. Protect yourself by playing it safe.

If shelling out $70, $80, $100 or more for a fill-up at the gas pump has you looking around for ways to cut the cost of your commute, then autowrap advertising may be for you.

The idea isn’t new. The idea of paying people to put advertising on their private vehicle has been around since the 1980’s. But it attracted new interest in 1993 when Pepsico took advantage of improved techniques for printing colorful vinyl wrappers and applying them to cars, trucks and busses. Pepsico made an advertising splash when it paid to have city busses wrapped in its colorful advertising.

But except for public transit—we expect you’ve seen these wrappers gracing the exterior of city busses—there wasn’t exactly a huge amount of interest. The vinyl wrappers can turn any vehicle into a vivid rolling billboard; an idea entrepreneurs expected both advertisers and auto owners to rapidly embrace. But advertisers naturally wanted their ads shown on nicer cars owned by people who shop in nicer places—and it turns out a lot of people who own nicer cars didn’t want the beauty of their vehicle obscured by advertising.

High gas prices, however, may be turning that situation around. Companies offering to pay drivers to display colorful vinyl advertising can be found all over the world, with the heaviest concentration in the United States and Canada. And as gas prices have begun to climb, so have the numbers of these companies.

New businesses have been popping up in cities like Houston, San Francisco, New York and Phoenix, challenging older, established businesses for what they believe will be a bigger market of gas-poor drivers finally willing to deface their ride with advertising displays for everything from sun tan lotion to ice cream.

Actually, ads can promote anything from products to events to political candidates. Because the vinyl cling wraps can be easily removed and don’t damage the finish of the vehicle, they can be swapped out as easily as paper posters are replaced on roadside billboards.

(One word of warning—some wrap companies say their vinyls are removed with heat and solvents which will not damage METAL panels. If you drive a Smart car or other vehicle with non-metal panels, double-check the facts with both the wrap manufacturer and your auto dealer before committing to a vinyl covering for your vehicle.)

Depending on what’s available in your area—and what local laws have to say—you may choose between covering just the rear window of your car or truck, or covering the entire exterior. What you might be paid is all over the place. Payment for wrapping a whole vehicle ranges from $300 to $800 a month, depending on a number of factors, including how much of your vehicle becomes a billboard. Drivers in Houston can get $400 a month, for instance, just for turning their rear window into an advertisement.

For that, the motorist must agree to drive an agreed-upon number of miles in a month or a year. And they must often abide by some rules of behavior. Drinking and driving is, of course, verboten, but sometimes so is just parking outside an establishment that serves only liquor. Sometimes motorists must agree to engage in some additional merchandising, such as handing out samples or brochures. And it goes without saying that advertisers expect drivers to conduct themselves in a way that reflects well on the product they’re advertising.

If you can live with that for the prospect of getting someone else to pay for your gas, then on-vehicle advertising may be for you. You’ll have the best chance to get involved if you live in a big city or near a college campus. You’ll need to be over 18, have a clean driving record and own a clean vehicle that’s less than 5 years old. And you’ll need patience and persistence, as most agencies we spoke to tell us they now have waiting lists of drivers who want in on the program.

To find legitimate companies in your location, ask around at auto dealerships for companies that do vinyl wrapping. They’ll know who’s advertising and who’s hiring.

Be sure you’re dealing directly with the company doing the hiring. Beware of internet websites offering to line you up with advertisers for a fee.

Such sites usually claim to be a database for advertisers desperately looking for people wiling to advertise on their vehicle. Some offer free sign-ups, then encourage you to pay for a “premium” listing that will move you higher up on the waiting list. Don’t do it. Many of these sites are outright scams that will do little or nothing except take your money.

The fact is, legitimate companies have no trouble coming up with motorists who want to advertise, and they won’t charge you one cent for the chance to get on their waiting list. L.A. based ad agency FreeCar Media does business in 11 cities and says it has a list of more than a million car owners willing to wrap their vehicle for a fee. Last year they hired more than 7,000 of them.

With gasoline prices in the United States surging ahead at a breakneck pace, buyers who once embraced big oversized trucks and sport utility vehicles (SUVs) are turning away from gas-guzzlers, a move that’s putting the squeeze on both automakers and auto dealers.

None have been hit harder than Chrysler, which relies on trucks and SUV’s for 70 percent of its sales. They reported that sales were down by as much as 23 percent during the first four months of 2008. That may be why Chrysler was the first major automaker to offer what is clearly becoming the most popular incentive of the season—gasoline.

After that dismal 4-month downturn, the maker of Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge vehicles announced it would guarantee that their new customers would never pay more than $2.99 per gallon for gas for the next three years—no matter how high gas prices rise at the pumps.

In a creative marketing move, Chrysler has arranged for its customers to get a special credit card to be used for gas purchases. Customers using the card will be billed $2.99 per gallon to their charge account and Chrysler will pay the rest.

The guarantee, which is offered on 32 models, covers up to 12,000 miles annually for three years, and allows customers to buy gas anywhere they choose. The incentive also follows the vehicle if it is sold, allowing anyone that owns the car during the three-year period to take advantage of the gas incentive.

Suzuki, whose new car sales have been less affected, quickly followed suit by offering free gasoline to US buyers, but only for the summer of 2008.

Industry observers have stated they do not expect free or discount gasoline to take the place of the once most-favored incentive for new car buyers—cash rebates. As critics of the industry are quick to point out, gas giveaways do nothing to address the underlying problem. Gas prices will undoubtedly continue to rise and gas supplies will continue dwindle.

The only real, long-term solution to easing pain at the gas pump, most will agree, lies in developing vehicles that are more fuel-efficient as well as vehicles that use alternative fuel sources. In the words of one industry observer, “The days of driving on cheap fossil fuels are as dead as the dinosaur.”

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