Frequently asked questions

Fuelsaver frequently asked questions and answers

What is Fuelsaver?
Fuelsaver is a website administered by the NZ Transport Agency. Fuelsaver can help you work out how much you currently spend on fuel and gives tips on how to cut down the amount of fuel you use. It has information on the fuel efficiency of vehicles sold in New Zealand since 2005 when regulations started requiring importers to supply fuel economy information. You can compare the running costs of different makes and models.

Since 7 April 2008, cars for sale have had to display information about the vehicle’s fuel economy. This helps buyers choose a vehicle that uses less fuel. Fuelsaver explains what you need to know about fuel economy labelling - what it means and how to produce and display the information and labels if you need to do so.

How does the Rightcar site link with the Fuelsaver website?
Fuelsaver.govt.nz is a website that provides information about the fuel consumption of vehicles available on the New Zealand market. The fuel consumption figures on Rightcar are obtained in the same way as on Fuelsaver. The two sites are linked and provide complementary information. Together, Fuelsaver and Rightcar provide potential car buyers with the decision-making tools to purchase better, safer vehicles.

Why can’t I find my own car on this site?
If you can’t find your vehicle, it’s probably because this site only lists cars, 4WDs, SUVs, vans and utility vehicles that have been sold in New Zealand since 2005 when regulations started requiring importers to supply fuel economy information.

Over time, more models will be added to the site as they enter the country. You should be able to find most new cars as their information is added to the site as soon as it is supplied by the manufacturer. If a new car can’t be found it may be that it’s too new - the manufacturer or importer hasn’t provided the information yet, or it hasn’t yet been uploaded into the database.

Ex-Japanese domestic vehicles built since 2000 are also listed if they’ve been imported since 2005.

Apart from the distinction between new and old, cars are not searchable by year.

Another reason that you may not be able to find your car may be that you are not using the official title of the model you are searching for, eg. a Toyota Surf is officially a Toyota Hilux Surf so the model will be ‘Hilux’ not ‘Surf’.

The fuel consumption figure shown for my vehicle on this site is different than my experience of its fuel consumption in real life driving. Why is this?
The fuel consumption figures used on this site are supplied by the manufacturers who test new vehicles as they are produced. Standardised fuel consumption tests are carried out under laboratory conditions where all outside influences, such as driving style, weather, gradient and road condition, are controlled. Because these tests are standardised for all vehicles, fuel consumption figures can be compared for different vehicles. For more information, see http://www.fuelsaver.govt.nz/explain.html.

The amount of fuel your car uses in ‘real life’ may differ from the test results. This is because there are a number of variables that can significantly impact on fuel consumption including driver behaviour, tyre pressure, weight of load and vehicle maintenance.

You can use Fuelsaver.govt.nz to obtain a more personalised fuel consumption figure for your vehicle. Fuelsaver asks you a few simple questions to work out your driving profile. It then calculates how much you will spend on fuel each year. The calculator has four categories: car, distance, fuel, and driving habits. Under each of these categories are a number of variables, which you can manipulate to find the fuel consumption and fuel running costs of a specific vehicle.

Why should people be concerned about fuel consumption?
Cars are not cheap to run. The less fuel you use, the more money in your pocket. Transport accounts for around 44% of New Zealand’s energy use (with passenger transport making up 57% of that) and 40% of its carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, and it’s growing fast. There isn’t an endless supply of fossil fuels. Also, the more fuel efficient your vehicle is, the less carbon dioxide it produces. Carbon dioxide is the main greenhouse gas contributing to climate change. It makes financial and environmental sense to own a fuel efficient vehicle, maintain it and drive it well.

Is it possible for the NZ Transport Agency to supply me with personalised reports on different data sources and variables used in the Fuelsaver and Rightcar websites eg. a spreadsheet showing fuel economy for all new cars?
No. The websites are made up of thousands of pages from different sources and it is not possible to provide personalised reports. Both Rightcar and Fuelsaver are updated regularly so the most accurate and up-to-date information will be what is current on the websites.

Why can’t I print out fuel economy labels from the Fuelsaver website?
The most likely reason that you can’t print out a label is that fuel economy information is not available from the database. This may be because the car is not in the database (it’s too new, or too old, or outside the range covered) or because there isn’t adequate fuel economy information on it. For more information, see http://labelling.fuelsaver.govt.nz/allfaq.html

The fuel economy labelling programme is administered by the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) in consultation with the NZ Transport Agency. To contact EECA with any queries, please phone 0800 749782 or email fuel.economy@eeca.govt.nz.

The information you have for a vehicle is incorrect or incomplete. Why is this? What can I do about it?
The vehicle information hosted on this site comes directly from the manufacturer. We value your comments and continue to make improvements and add information to the site. If the vehicle information displayed on this site differs from that published by the manufacturer, please contact us and provide a link or reference to the manufacturer’s material so that we can bring it to their attention.

Who should I get in touch with if I’m still having problems?
Please use the ‘Contact us’ form at the bottom of the page. So we can work out what is causing the problem you are having, please let us know as much as possible of the following information about the computer on which you accessed the Fuelsaver site:

What address you are visiting to use Fuelsaver. (The main address is www.fuelsaver.govt.nz, but some other addresses also point to Fuelsaver.)
What type of computer you are using eg. PC or Mac.
What operating system you are using eg. Windows XP or OSX 10.3.
What browser and browser version you are using eg. Internet Explorer 6, Firefox. (Please be as precise as possible – knowing that you’re using Firefox 2.0.0.16 is more helpful to us than knowing you’re using Firefox 2.)
Whether you have JavaScript turned on or off in your browser preferences.

Please supply a contact phone number so that we can contact you if we need further details to help resolve the problem.