Last time you walked into a service station, you may have been tempted by the little additive bottles on the shelf that make big claims. The EPA says walk away. I’m Lucas Wysocki with your Bankrate.com Personal Finance Minute.
They claim to clean your engine, improve gas mileage, some even contain jet fuel, but when it comes to actually increasing performance fuel additives don’t live up to the hype. The Environmental Protection Agency has tested a variety of gas additives and concluded that they won’t make a significant difference in reducing gunk or improving mileage as they claim.
Extended life radiator coolants fool a lot of people, too. Vehicles are designed with either regular or extended life in mind, so don’t trust the label, consult your manual instead.
Finally, we’ve all seen the ads showing sticky, slimy sludge building up in our engines. In fact oil sludge is only ever an issue in poorly maintained cars. Skip the oil additives and just make sure you’re changing your oil regularly. And as always, for more money saving tips, visit Bankrate.com. I’m Lucas Wysocki.