Asides from keeping up with regular vehicle maintenance such as oil and tyre changes and engine change. There are driving habits that can cause damage to your vehicle.
Your bad driving habits placing your car under unnecessary strain and you might not even realise you’re doing them. In this article, we would examine some bad car habits and how to control them.
Ignoring dashboard warning signs
In a previous article, we talked about your car warning light, https://blog.tyre45.com/2021/08/16/car-warnings-you-shouldnt-ignore/. These warning lights are important when they appear as it literally your vehicle is asking for help.
Make sure to pay attention and have it investigated as soon as possible. Disregarding warning lights can leave you stranded on the road with costly repair bills.
Switching gears abruptly
Make sure you come to a complete stop before switching gears. Sometimes in a hurry, we forget to change gears appropriately. Switching to “Drive” while the car is still rolling backwards in a reverse can put a toll on your car’s transmission system. The transmission system relies on the breaks to stop the motion of the car so it can shift smoothly between gears. Make sure you come to a complete stop before switching gears.
Driving into pothole
Potholes are best avoided on the road when you run into them without care, the impact can cause buckled wheels, lumps in the tyre and cracked alloys, as well as upsetting the tracking and wheel balancing. So it is important that they should be avoided.
Just like potholes, speedbumps have a negative effect on your vehicle’s steering, suspension, and alignment if driven over at high speeds. So it is important, you slow down when approaching a speed bump.
Abrupt Braking
There may be a time when you need to perform an emergency stop, in which case sudden braking is essential.
But consistent late braking will place more strain on the braking system, wearing out your pads and discs faster, as well as costing you more fuel in the process.
In general, a slow and considered approach to driving, anticipating the road ahead, is better foryour car and the environment.
Driving your car with low fuel
Driving your car with very low fuel is not a good thing for several reasons. Firstly, the fuel pumps in some modern cars are inside the fuel tank and they’re designed to be cooled and lubricated by the fuel in the tank. Running your tank down to almost completely empty could damage your car’s fuel pump over time. In older cars with steel fuel tanks, regularly running them low may increase the potential for condensation to cause corrosion.
Ultimately, your cars are designed to be driven regularly. Regular driving keeps the engine and its vices in good shape. It also keeps your battery and tyres in good condition. So it is important you drive your cars frequently.