Suzuki is offering three months of free gas to anyone who purchases a new 2009 Suzuki SX4 sedan or crossover through Aug. 31. It’s also offering $2,000 cash back on all SX4 models equipped with a manual transmission. That deal is good for the same time period.

Suzuki’s free-gas offer may not carry quite the same weight as all the gas offers from last year. At $2.63 a gallon nationally, gas prices are a far cry from last year’s prices of more than $4 per gallon. It just isn’t the terrifying economic boogeyman it was in 2008. The pre-paid gas cards also equal less than $300 in terms of real money.

Furthermore, as a general principal, offering three months of free gas isn’t as good as building a more efficient car. The Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic both eat the SX4’s lunch when it comes to fuel economy.