Are your bad driving habits putting unnecessary strain on your vehicle? Could any damages you’re noticing be caused by your driving habits? In this blog post, we are going to help you identify any habits you may have that could be putting your vehicle at risk of damages.
Regularly running on low fuel
Whether it’s close to payday, you just haven’t had time to fill the tank up, or you are playing chicken and seeing how long your car can run for, driving on an empty tank can actually cause more damage than you think. Your vehicle picks up more dirt from the bottom of the tank. As well as using dirt as fuel, your petrol works as a lubricant for the fuel pump. If this no longer has the fuel running through it to lubricate it, it can cause increased wear and tear to the pump that can lead to failure. This can be an expensive fix, so it is best to always run on as much fuel as you can to ensure this does not happen.
Resting your hand on the gear stick
Believe it or not, this is one of the least known habits as it’s something that you may be doing without even realising. When you first start learning to drive, whether it was recently or feels like a millenia ago, your driving instructor would have told you to always keep both hands on the wheel at all times. However, over the years after the L plates come off, many bad habits can come into play. This can include resting your hand on the gear stick. But, did you know that this could be bad for your transmission?
By resting your hand on the gear stick, this affects your vehicle because the gear stick is attached to a control rod in the gearbox that has selector forks. This has been designed to make contact with the car’s rotating collar. If your hand is resting on the gear stick, you are increasing the risk of applying pressure to the selector fork which results in unnecessary wear, shortening the longevity of your car’s life.
Delaying regular maintenance
It’s something we all love to put off, be it you don’t have enough time in the day, or it’s not quite payday yet. Either way, ensuring your vehicle is regularly checked and maintained is probably one of the most important things to keep on top of. If you don’t, both the problems and the prices will stack up against you. Burnt up oil and sludge can be one of these issues that arises, which can stop the oil from protecting your engine. This can cause huge risks in catastrophic failure and risk of accidents and injuries.
Ignoring warning lights
Another really easy one to do. Lights such as ‘washer fluid’ or ‘bulb gone’ are warning lights that you can leave for a little while until you have a chance to stop and get it sorted. However, any warning light should be checked at the earliest possible convenience to avoid any serious damage.