Americans use their vehicles for everything and are accustomed to dealing with the wear and tear that come with heavy driving. Some vehicle damages are avoidable, however, if you can avoid some bad habits. Have you caught yourself doing any of these things that could be hurting your car?
5 Really Bad Habits That Hurt Your Vehicle
- Leaving Your Tires Low on Air
- Allowing your tires to run with insufficient air is not only bad for the tires, but it will force you to incur more energy costs. What catches people off guard is the fact that you cannot simply rely on the dashboard light to tell you when to inflate your tires. The Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) is a nice emergency mechanism to help you avoid a blowout, but the best way to take care of your tires is to check each of them regularly using a PSI gauge. If you inflate your tires to the appropriate level, they’ll last much longer, and your engine won’t need to compensate and burn through as much gas.
- Never Using the Parking Brake
- The parking brake helps mobilize the wheels of your vehicle to secure it in such a way that cannot be done with a parking pawl (even with an automatic transmission system). Especially if you park on a hill, the forces of weight and gravity produce a lot of pressure for just a parking pawl. In the worst circumstances, it could break and lead to an expensive repair. Using the emergency brake can prevent such problems.
- Letting Your Wiper Blades Fall Apart
- Many drivers push the test with the durability of their windshield wiper blades. Of course, this tends to end badly when you find yourself in a torrential downpour, on the highway, with wipers only half functional. Consider changing your blades annually to avoid a disaster; prior to winter is the best time to replace them.
- Shifting Too Quickly
- Changing from reverse to drive too quickly can wreak havoc on your transmission. That’s not a cheap repair either, so it’s wise to break the bad habit of shifting abruptly. Whenever you feel a shudder or jolt from the vehicle while shifting, that’s a good indication that you’re shifting too fast and damaging the transmission.
- Running On Empty
- This is one problem where we ought to know better. Nothing is worse than running out of gas unexpectedly, but it creates a huge strain on the fuel pump if you let your gas tank get down to “E” too often. The fuel pump is designed to keep everything fueled, which doesn’t work well without any fuel to distribute. Letting things go empty too often can lead to overheating. As a rule of thumb, try to keep at least a quarter tank of gas in your car.
Scotti’s Auto Sales thought it might be helpful to review some of these typical bad habits that lead to unnecessary vehicle damage. We know that you invest a lot of money into smart car purchases, so it’s important to have good maintenance and driver habits. We’re always happy to help you take care of your vehicle, and if you’re ready to find the car of your dreams, Scotti’s has a huge inventory of pre-owned luxury vehicles available. Find out more about us by calling (941) 924-5885.