REDMOND, Wash., June 30, 2004 — Summer is finally here, and for many Americans that means barbecues, pool parties and, of course, road trips. But with the high price of gas, even a short road trip can leave drivers feeling a lot lighter in the wallet. People tired of emptying their wallets every time they fill up the tank can now turn to a free service on MSN®
at http://www.autos.msn.com/ that makes it easy to find less expensive gas in their area. The customized service analyzes prices at 30,000 gas stations daily. All consumers have to do is type in their ZIP code, and MSN will tell them less expensive places to fill up.
With gas prices in many places around $2 a gallon, the savings can be significant. On Tuesday, June 29, just a few days before the start of the July Fourth weekend, gas in Los Angeles ranged from $2.25 per gallon to $2.70 per gallon. Owners of a sport utility vehicle with a 25-gallon gas tank could save more than $11 if they knew which station to visit.
The gas prices feature can be found under the My Car section of MSN Autos, which also offers traffic reports and maintenance information including service notifications, oil change reminders and online service repair scheduling.
“Polls show that gas prices are one of Americans’ biggest concerns this summer,” said Christine Andrews, lead product manager for MSN. “Helping people cope with that is a perfect example of MSN’s mission to provide high-quality free content that makes people’s lives easier and more efficient. With one click of the mouse, people can save a few dollars every time they stop at a gas station. If only saving money were always this easy.”
About MSN
MSN attracts more than 350 million unique users worldwide per month. With localized versions available globally in 38 markets and 18 languages, MSN is a world leader in delivering Web services to consumers and online advertising opportunities to businesses worldwide. The most useful and innovative online service today, MSN brings consumers everything they need from the Web to make the most of their time online. MSN is located on the Web at http://www.msn.com/ . MSN worldwide sites are located at http://www.msn.com/worldwide.ashx .
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
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