6 Habits That Are Ruining Your Car

Cars aren’t cheap, and you want to keep it running for as long as possible. However, sometimes our own bad habits are what’s keeping us from having the longevity from our vehicle.

We’re all guilty of some of these, so check out these 6 bad habits that you should probably stop doing to your car.

Accelerating way too quickly

Yes, there’s nothing quite like a full-throttle blast. It feels amazing. But your car is suffering for it. When you accelerate hard, you’re burning tons of fuel and putting a heavy load on drivetrain components. Not only that, but when you blast off, you usually have to stomp on your brakes to come to a stop. This won’t do any good to your brake pads or rotors. If this doesn’t convince the car enthusiast to chill out when it comes to accelerating too quickly and harshly, maybe the car bill will.

Not using your parking brake

Some people use it religiously, and some only use it when they are parked at a 90 degree angle. Well, use it every time. Even when on flat surfaces. “Not engaging the parking brake puts the entire weight of your vehicle on a little piece of metal in the transmission called the parking pawl. It’s only about as big as your finger, so it can wear out or break eventually from holding all that weight”, says Alex Leanse from popularmechanics.com. Using your parking brake will help keep those delicate transmission components safe.

Keeping your gas tank low

Did you know that only putting a little gas in your car is damaging the fuel system? Many fuel pumps keep cool by staying submerged in the fuel in the tank, so if you’re regularly running at a quarter full or less, you risk speeding up the need for a fuel pump replacement. Although it may feel like all you can put in your tank is $10, try and pay a little more. It will be cheaper than paying for a new fuel pump.

Revving before your engine is warmed up

It’s a good idea to let you car sit for a minute after you’ve turned it on before you get going. It helps distribute oil throughout the engine and get the engine block and engine oil up to temperature. When you rev your engine cold, it causes stress on your engine. Just wait 60 seconds if you can before hitting the road.

Carrying too much weight

The more your car weighs, the more stress is getting put on it’s drivetrain, suspension and brakes. Not only that, but it’s eating your fuel economy. Take out any unnecessary heavy load that’s been sitting in your trunk for the past 5 months, and keep only the essentials. Your car and fuel economy will thank you.

Shifting quickly from reverse to drive

We all do it. Flicking the shifter from reverse to drive is just too easy – and may come second nature. However, over time you are damaging drivetrain, engine, transmission and axels. Come to a complete stop being switching to drive.

While there are many other things to remember when owning a vehicle, you’ll want to make sure you’re watching out for these 6 bad habits that are ruining your car.

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