Car maintenance is undoubtedly very essential to prolong the lifespan of your beloved vehicle. However, do you know that your car could still be damaged even if you’ve already done regular and proper car checkups? In fact, your daily driving habits also have decisive influences on your car and its components as well. Even professional drivers also make some mistakes that do serious harm to their vehicles.
8 Driving Habits That Ruin Your Car and Drain Your Wallet
Philkotse.com has put together 10 most common bad driving habits that you need to give up right now in order to avoid causing unnecessary damage and ensure the smooth and reliable operation of your car.
1. Carry too many unnecessary items
You might already know that hauling too many unnecessary items on your car will cause your car to consume more fuel. Another lesser-known negative effect of this bad driving habit is that it could even impact the handling.
Hauling too many unnecessary items on your car will impact the handling
The more unneeded weight you add to your car, the extra pressure you place on the brake, drivetrain components and suspension. Remove all the unnecessary stuff and remember to clean your vehicle frequently to keep it neat and tidy for the essentials. Philkotse.com suggests you to always have these 8 essential toolkits on your car.
2. Not use the Handbrake while parking
Many drivers even experienced ones don’t have the habit of using the Handbrake while parking. However, this is one of the first things that you should stop doing otherwise you will ruin the “P” on your gearshift.
When you neglect to use the Handbrake, the parking pawl will be forced to suffer the entire weight of your car. As being a small metal piece, the Parking pawl is not supposed to be put under such massive pressure. If you do so in a long period of time, this component will be slowly worn out and eventually broken.
Not using the Handbrake while parking will ruin the “P” on your gearshift
3. Always keep your hand on the gearshift
Always resting your hand on the gearshift while driving means putting the synchronizers and bushings of the tranny under constant pressure. And if you keep repeating this bad habit on a daily basis, the internal parts of your car will be gradually worn off. Remember to keep both hands on the steering wheel while driving and only touch the shifter when you need to change gears.
Remember to only touch the shifter when you need to change gears
4. Hard starts & sudden stops
Sudden stops mean faster wear to rotors and the brake pads while hard starts consume considerably more gas than needed, which is totally harmful for your car. There is no cool in smashing on the gas and this also should not be done as a daily driving habit. People should only do this in cases of emergency.
Drivers are always advised to pay 100% concentration while behind the wheel so as to minimize the possibility of such situations to happen.
5. Not fully fill up the fuel tank
Fuel pumps of many modern vehicles are designed to be cooled by being immersed in fuel. If you have the habit of not having your gas tank fully filled up, the fuel pumps might be be kept in overheated condition and consequently reach the end of their life cycle more quickly. Therefore, it is advisable to fill your tank at least a quarter full.
In fact, getting your fuel gauge reach the “E” line inadvertently can even damage other crucial components of the car. Click here to find out which parts are most heavily affected by draining your car’s fuel tank?
6. Rest your foot on the brake pedal when sliding down a slope
Rest your foot on the brake pedal when going downhill willcause extra pressure and heat to the brake system
Some drivers do this in order to be ready for any unexpected situations. Nevertheless, doing so will ruin the brake system including rotors and brake pads as it cause extra pressure and heat to these components. While driving down a slope, you’d better change into a lower gear in order to make use of the natural drivetrain decompression to slow down your car. This is actually no less effective than regular braking when it comes to maintaining the downhill speed.
7. Rev the engine to warm up in cold weather
This is actually a very common mistake of automatic car owners. Many have the bad driving habit of revving the engine before changing gears or to warm up when it’s cold and let the oil some time to circulate. It might be a good idea to give the engine for a few minutes (no more than 2) after a cold start. However, revving the engine to warm up in cold weather is a bad idea as it will lead to undue wear on engine components which have not yet been thoroughly lubricated by oil circulation.
8. Neglect the warning signs
Pay attention to the waring signs to prevent your car from unnecessary issues
It might be common to hear unusual noises or strange squeaks from your car engine. Sometimes they pose no threat to your car’s overall health. However, there is no reason to ignore those warning signs because it will take you no time to have a quick checkup. The sooner you detect the issues, the better it is to have your car properly repaired and maintained.
9. Changing from reverse to drive before coming to complete stop
This is another common mistake of many drivers when maneuvering the cars into the parking space. Some people usually change from reverse to drive when their vehicles are still moving backwards. Such driving habit will put the drivetrain under unnecessary pressure when it is at the same time being forced to shift to the opposite direction. So, the lesson here is that make sure to switch from reverse to drive only when you have come to a complete stop.
10. Press the clutch while at the stop light
Many manual transmission car drivers often ride the clutch while waiting at the stop light so as to release it as soon as the light turns green. However, this is a no good habit as pressing the clutch will result in scratching its surfaces against each other, forcing it to wear out more quickly and even causing sudden failure on the road. In brief, not until when the light turns green should drivers press the clutch and using gear to keep moving.
Conclusion
It is undeniable that bad habits are not easy to discard at all. However, it’s better late than never. Let’s carefully consider the amount of repair costs you could save to motivate yourself to give up these bad habits from today. Don’t forget to visit Philkotse.com to find more useful tips for safe driving.
