It’s hard to believe, but sometimes your own habits are a problem for your car. J&S Auto Repair warns that you could actually be damaging your automobile every time you drive it, even though you don’t mean to. Here are five of the biggest bad habits that you might want to rethink for the sake of your car.
1. Waiting Too Long to Get Gas
Keeping the gas tank close to empty is not a great idea. When you’re regularly letting the tank get to a quarter-tank or less, the fuel pump isn’t fully submerged and could be running hotter than it needs to. All you need to do is start getting gas a little bit sooner to prevent this from happening.
2. Not Stopping Between “Drive” and “Reverse”
How often do you find yourself taking off quickly when you’re switching between “reverse” and “drive”? If you’re honest, there might be times when you don’t fully stop at all. The thing is that over time, you’re putting more wear and tear on your transmission and drive train than you have to. Take a second and fully stop before switching directions.
3. Never Using Your Parking Brake
Lots of people ignore the parking brake, especially in a car with an automatic transmission. The truth is, when you’re not using the parking brake you’re putting extra wear and tear on the transmission. There’s a piece called a parking pawl that keeps the car from moving when it’s parked. But that piece can break over time, which might mean your car isn’t where you left it.
4. Hauling Too Much in Your Car
If you’re carrying a lot in your car’s trunk or cargo area, you’re putting more strain on multiple systems than you expect. You’re also burning a lot more gas. Heavy loads tax the drivetrain, the brakes, and the engine, not to mention the suspension. It’s time to get that trunk cleaned out of unnecessary items.
5. Riding the Clutch
Manual transmissions mean that you’re using the clutch pedal often to switch gears and when you get to a stoplight, you might be leaving the clutch pedal depressed until you take off again. But what’s happening there is you’re keeping those surfaces engaged against each other, increasing the wear and tear factor. It’s much better to sit in neutral with the pedal released and then depress it when you’re ready to get moving again.
A bonus habit to kick is ignoring preventative maintenance and repairs. Contact us at J&S Auto Repair in Warwick, RI, if you’re experiencing any issues with your car. We’ll make sure everything is a-okay and fix anything that isn’t.
