With how expensive cars can be, it makes sense you want to treat it right. However, what if you were causing damage to your car, and worst of all, had no idea about it? Practicing some common bad driving habits could mean you’ve been doing just that. If you’ve been doing these habits, it’s best to break them ASAP…
Bad Driving Habits: What To Avoid
Riding the brakes downhill
Riding your brakes when heading downhill doesn’t seem like it would be considered under bad driving habits. After all, isn’t it better to control your speed when heading down an incline? The reality of the situation is you could be setting yourself up for brake failure in the future.
When riding your brakes, your brake pads will generate a lot of friction. Eventually, this will wear away at the pads, and cause them to stop working as well, or at all. It’s much better for your car to just anticipate any upcoming slopes and slow down in advance.
Idling your car
Drivers like to idle their cars for a lot of different reasons. During the winter, they think it’ll help their car warm up faster. Or, they don’t think it’s a big deal if they leave in running while making a quick trip to the store. However, this is actually another one of the bad driving habits you want to avoid.
Idling your car actually doesn’t warm it up any faster. In fact, it tends to warm up faster when you’re driving! Idling just adds a lot of extra wear and tear onto your engine. Plus, it wastes a good bit of gas in the process, hurting your wallet as well as your car.
Running of fumes
Considering how high gas prices can get, it’s not surprising people like to put off getting gas. Many drivers like to wait until their gas tank drops to E before heading to the gas station. However, while you might think this helps save you money, the internal damage to your car makes this another one of the bad driving habits.
Constantly driving on low gas can cause your car’s fuel pump to burn out. It also leads to sludge build-up in your gas tank. Over time, this sludge can clog up the fuel injector, and start to gunk up the engine. While it can be pricey, getting gas consistently is a lot more cheaper than car repairs.