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OBD2 'fuel saver' boxes can actually increase costs by damaging your car - do this instead

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Why This Matters

OBD2 'fuel saver' boxes are often scams that can harm your vehicle rather than save money on fuel. Consumers should be cautious and avoid these devices, as they can cause costly damage and provide false promises of savings. Instead, safer vehicle maintenance practices are recommended to keep cars running efficiently.

Key Takeaways

If you want to save fuel, avoid things like this! Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET

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ZDNET's key takeaways

These dongles aren't tuning tools that will save you money.

They can damage your vehicle and cost you money.

You can take safer precautions to keep your car in good status.

Drivers will no doubt be aware that fuel prices are through the roof. This means scammers are out there trying to make money from people already feeling the pinch.

One thing that I've noticed making the rounds recently is "fuel saving" "economy chip tuning box" OBD2 dongles. I've had quite a few readers ask me to think about them. So let's take a look inside one of the most common ones I've seen, and see why, at best, it's a box with blinky lights, and at worse, it's something that can damage your car.

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This is one of many fake fuel savers out there. The good news is that they're all easy to spot -- they all look pretty much the same, the wording includes techie stuff like "OBD2" and "tuning box," and they push simplicity of use ("plug and drive" is a common phrase), and make totally over-the-top promises when it comes to fuel saving.

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