Owning a car of your own is considered a pretty big investment and most of us want to keep it running for as long as possible. We often treat our cars like our baby but sometimes we don’t realise that our daily habits and routines are actually a killer for our car. Here’s a list of bad habits we need to kill off before it kills our cars:
1. Keeping the gas tank low
Source: Travel + Leisure
Most of us have been in situations where we only have RM10 to spare for gas. Although it’s only what you can afford at the time for gas, little did you know how it’s gonna blow a hole in your bank account if you continue doing so. Having your gas tank constantly at an all time low can seriously damage your car’s fuel system.
Many fuel pumps keep cool by staying submerged in fuel in the tank. Hence, when you’re regularly running your car at a quarter full or less, you risk speeding up the need to get a fuel pump replacement.
What you should do: Keep your tanks fully filled, instead of skimming day by day with minimal fuel!
2. Suddenly shifting from Reverse to Drive
Source: Carlist
Sound familiar? Most of the time we do this when we’re in the rush, trying to reverse out of a parking lot and before the car has finished reversing, we switch gears to quickly speed off. This might not seem all that serious at the time but over a long period of this prolonged bad habit, your car’s drivetrain is going to be seriously damaged – not to mention other parts like the axle, engine, and transmission.
What you should do: Make sure you come to a complete stop and wait for a second or two before switching gears.
3. Revving your engine when it’s not fully heated up yet
Source: Protein Munchies
I’m sure most of us have the habit of revving our engines to “warm it up”. It may sound like the quickest solution, especially when it comes to older generation cars but little did you know, revving the engine won’t speed up the process at all. In fact, doing this could cause damage as cold revving causes abrupt temperature changes that creates stress between the engine’s components.
What you should do: Give it 60 seconds or so before you hit the road. Patience is key!
4. Riding on the brakes when you go downhill
Source: YouTube
It’s common for most drivers to ride on the brakes when they go downhill to prevent the car from speeding up. Although it seems like the safest thing to do, riding on your brakes when you go downhill can cause heat to build up in the brake pads and rotors. From that, it can cause serious wear and tear, as well as increasing the risk of overheat or warp.
What you should do: Shift into a lower gear so that the natural decompression that occurs in the drivetrain can keep the car at a safe speed and prevent your car from damage.
5. Driving an overweight car
Source: Pixabay
We all know how lazy us Malaysians are. If we can do it in one trip, your best bet is that we’re going to no matter how cramp or stuffed our car’s gonna get. We’ve done it with passengers (despite the law…) and we’ve done it with all the crap we need to transport around during our errand runs. It may be convenient at the time but in doing so, you are causing serious stress to your drivetrain, suspension and brakes. Not to mention, you consumed a whole lot more fuel.
What you should do: Don’t max out on the capacity of your car! Plus, it’s illegal to be having more than 5 passengers in the car! You know I know, we all know!
6. Putting your car in neutral when the lights are red
Source: Auto Repair Boulder
This is literally what most Malaysians do at the traffic lights. Most Malaysians like myself think that we’re actually doing our cars a favour but in actual fact, constantly putting your car in neutral gives it more wear.
If you think putting it in neutral while you’re at a halt is bad enough, beware of doing so when you’re slowing down. NEVER do so as it is very harmful to the car’s transmission.
Yes, these 6 things are something we do TOO commonly. So, the next time you or your friend drives, do NOT repeat the same mistakes!
Also read: 8 Types of Travel Kaki Malaysians are Familiar With
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