With the cost of gasoline exceeding $4 a gallon — and soaring — Chrysler Corporation has done something the government has not been able to do: help ease the pain at the gasoline pump.

As incentive to purchase, the company initiated a national “Let’s Refuel America” program, which provides a gas card with the purchase of almost any of its new cars. The card essentially lowers the price of gas to $2.99 per gallon — for three years, or 36,000 miles.

“Nobody else has anything like it,” Porterville Chrysler Jeep Dodge Sales Manager Jack Copus said. “KIA is doing something for the summer and Ford is doing a copycat thing, but nobody is doing what we’re doing. It’s a beneficial program that is working well enough for Chrysler to extend it.”

Clevenger Ford Sales Manger Billy Delay said Ford’s incentive is a $1,000 rebate or a gas card in that amount. General Motors has not joined the gas incentive movement yet, according to Jack Brassfield, sales consultant at Faggart Buick.

Let’s Refuel America was scheduled to end June 2, but has been extended to July 7.

Logistics of the program are simple: The customer, who must have a Visa or Mastercard, purchases the car of his or her choice, registers to participate in the program, and Chrysler issues a gas card that is linked to the customers credit card. Once the gas card is received, the customer swipes the card at the pump and enters a designated PIN number to begin to add gasoline to the car. No matter what the price is at the pump, the customer’s credit card is charged $2.99 per gallon.

If, for example, the pump price is $4.50 per gallon, the customer’s card is automatically charged $2.99 per gallon. Chrysler pays the difference of $1.51 per gallon.

Rebates sweeten the deal, Copus said, and are not too complex.

Customers can opt for a $4,500 rebate with the gas card, or not accept the gas card incentive and receive up to $6,500 in rebates, depending on the model car.

The gas card deal is one Gina Miller and husband Michael Bumpus, and Hanya Sokoloff and husband Bruce Sokoloff could not pass on. The two families purchased new cars and are enrolled in the Let’s Refuel America program.

Miller, 39, was out shopping for a new car for her daughter Ashley, when the 18-year-old spotted the huge banner flying above the Porterville Chrysler Jeep Dodge lot.

“We stopped at the lot and looked at the Charger, and I fell in love with the car immediately,” Miller said. “So even though we were looking for a car for my daughter, I bought a car for me. The main reason I stopped here is that gas for $2.99 deal. It’s awesome, what with gas constantly rising. Gas is $4.09 now — and I was driving a Hummer H2. It only gets 10 miles to the gallon.”

Ashley Miller was happy for her mother, but is still looking for a new car for herself.

“I already have a car, but I have to admit I was pretty jealous,” she said, laughing. “Plus, I was the one who spotted the sign about the gas for $2.99. The new car should have been mine.”

Sokoloff, 35, like Gina Miller, could not be happier with her new car. On Mother’s Day, her husband suggested going into Porterville and do some shopping. The couple found themselves looking at cars.

“I said OK, and ended up going in there with no purse or money and buying a car,” Sokoloff said. “It turned out to be a Mother’s Day gift.”

She purchased a Dodge Nitro (Both women purchased blue vehicles). It’s coincidental that the two families, who did not know each other before Thursday, were both Hummer H2 lessees.

Sokoloff and her husband have just built a new home on the Ducor/Terra Bella board. The H2 was good for climbing up the hill to the house and carrying their two children — and the two dogs if they needed to. But the Hummer thirst for gasoline caused them to rethink the next vehicle.

Initially, when the cost of gasoline began its apparent never-ending ascent, Sokoloff took to driving the family Silverado. As the cost of gasoline continued to escalate, they decided to downsize.

Enter the Chrysler incentive program — and the Nitro.

“The $2.99 gas deal is amazing,” Sokoloff said. “And the Nitro reminds me of a mini Hummer. I love the shape of it. I just love the car. It’s sporty, functional and gas efficient. It’s exciting that we get the deal with the gas for three years.”

Porterville Chrysler Jeep Dodge Owner Mark Sidley said the incentive program is the deal of a lifetime.

“This program is generating a lot of traffic and a fair amount of sales,” Sidley said. “About the only cars that don’t qualify are the SFT models, like the new Dodge Challenger, and the Dodge Viper [and Jeep Wranglers]. [The program] is available on almost every product, even diesels. Just think about it — no matter how high the cost of gasoline goes over the next three years, our customers who buy a qualified car will not pay more than $2.99 per gallon for three years. You can’t beat that.”