Cars are sturdy and built to last but they can wear down like any other machine. Certain driving habits can seriously damage your car and cost you hefty repairs.
Regular maintenance including oil changes, tyre rotations, changing of drive belts, and engine inspection are essentials that ensure your car keeps running smoothly. Besides routine check-ups, you need to ensure that you’re following any bad driving habits that damage your car.
Often unknown, these car damaging driving practices are overlooked even by the most experienced drivers of the lot. Here’s an overview of the habits to help you prevent unnecessary wear and tear on your vehicle as well as costly repairs.
Bad Driving Habits That Damage Your Manual Car
Read on to determine the bad habits that are hurting your manual car driving before it’s too late:
Resting Hand on the Gear Stick
That’s right; we all usually do it and are unaware of the adverse effects it brings to the manuals. Driving while your hand rests on the gear stick is a potentially dangerous way to drive and damages the car with the pressure you’ve been putting on it.
By doing so, you unintentionally apply pressure to the selector fork and other internal parts of the gearbox that leads them to wear out earlier than expected. As a result, you may encounter noisy or dysfunctional gears in the near future.
Running on a Low Fuel Tank Level
Keeping a low level of the fuel tank is a part of reckless driving. You may be saving a few dirhams but this poses a serious threat to your vehicle in the long run. This happens because the vehicle’s fuel pump has to be submerged in liquid fuel to keep working properly.
If you’re habitual of driving on low fuel to longer distances, it’s only expected that your fuel tank drops to an even lower level by the end of the route. This results in damaging the fuel pumps and causing them excessive wear and tear, in turn leading you to pay expensive prices for a replacement. Read these fuel efficient driving techniques to save fuel.
Pressing the Brakes for Too Long
The next addition to bad driving habits that damage your car is pressing the brakes for longer than necessary. If you keep your foot pressed down on it, the brakes tend to get too hot. Again, this is detrimental for car brakes. Therefore, you must use the brakes only when necessary, such as when you completely want to pull to a halt or when there is a speed breaker or another vehicle in front of you.
Revving Up the Cold Engine
Drivers usually rev up the cold engine in the hope of getting it warmed up more quickly, but contrary to the myth, that’s not the case. Continuously turning the key in the ignition does more damage to the car instead of good. This is because it causes sudden changes in the temperature of the engine that negatively impacts its tightly fitted components.
Instead of revving up a cold engine, simply start the car and let it warm on itself while idling. This will bring a gradual increase in the temperature instead of sudden bursts that damage your manual cars.
Riding the Clutch
Keeping the clutch partially depressed is one of the cars damaging driving practices for it minimizes your control on the vehicle and aggravates the wearing away of the clutch. Remember, the clutch is as important as anything else in your vehicle, so ensure you’re not on the track of expensive repairs and replacements.
Overtaxing Your Car
Cars are designed to carry passengers, not cargo. Overloading your vehicles causes the brakes and suspension to get strained, while the fuel consumption and exhaust emissions increases. Stop carrying your cargos and heavy items in your car if you’re in the habit of doing so.
Not Paying Attention to the Warning Signs
Check-engine lights, brake lights, or other warning indicators are there for a reason; you must get your car inspected for faults in case these warning signs are put on. Stop ignoring these indicators for the eleventh hour.t might not be obvious in the start, but if you continue driving despite the warning lights you’re doing grave mechanical damage to your car.
Aggressive Braking
Do you press the brakes at the last moment when you’re nearing a bumper or another vehicle? That means you’re putting bigger strains on the brakes and wearing out the pads as well as the discs. Learn to slow down your vehicle gently and gradually instead of aggressively braking and making your car, as well as your passengers, annoyingly uncomfortable. It must also be kept in mind that brake pads and discs are quite too expensive to replace.
Zooming in at Full Speed
When you want to speed up and go full throttle, you put a lot of pressure on the right foot. While the experience is breezy and fun, it’s nothing similar for your vehicle. The heavy weight strains the drivetrain and transmission components, along with the possibility of applying full-force brakes when you’d want to slow down. Therefore, every time you race your car, you’re inviting unnecessary battering of the internal components.
Shifting from Reverse to Drive
This happens in the parking lots, when you usually shift from the reverse gear to drive while still moving backwards slowly. Seemingly trivial, this habit is seriously life-threatening for your vehicle as it places a heavy strain on the drivetrain. In manual cars, this practice causes a crunching noise that clearly shows it’s a sign of protest.
Grinding into Potholes and Hitting the Speed Bumps
Avoid potholes at all costs, instead of casually driving over them. It may appear as a harmless bump for you as the passenger, but it’s the root cause of buckled wheels, lumps in the tyres, and cracked alloys. Road depressions can even upset your wheel balance without you even knowing it. Steer away from such rock-erosions at all costs.
Other Driving Habits that Damage Both Manual and Automatic Cars
- Missing car service routine
- Incorrect tyre pressure
- Not driving your car at all
- Neglecting warning lights on the dashboard
- Overspeeding
FAQs
What Damages a Manual Transmission?
The following instances can bring damage to the manual transmission of your car, to name a few:
- Keeping the car in gear when idle
- Leaving hand on the gear stick
- Using the clutch as the footrest
- Accelerating hard at low engine rpm
Does Bad Driving Ruin the Clutch?
Yes, bad driving will eventually damage the clutch. To prevent it from happening, only press it when you’re changing gears and not using it as foot rest.
Can Fast Driving Damage My Car?
Driving fast or zooming are a few reasons that damage cars to a certain extent. Driving speedily causes your car to consume more fuel per mile that may exceed your transmission’s ability to keep up. Similarly, fast driving puts unnecessary strain on all parts of the engine, leading them to wear faster. When you can drive at a standard accelerating speed, avoid racing unnecessarily.
Many of the drivers are involved in one or more of the bad driving practices that harm the vehicle, without them even realizing it. As a result, the majority of the repair and replacement work vehicles demand at an early stage are their own undoing. Keep in mind the driving habits that damage cars and adapt to good driving habits to extend your car’s life and enjoy an ultimate driving experience for a long time.
If the damage is done due to any of the bad driving practices discussed above, its better that you buy another car. But, either you buy a new or used vehicle, make sure you don’t follow car damaging practices. Those looking for second-hand cars in the UAE may find a suitable option on dubizzle. There is a huge list of used vehicles of different makes and models. Take a look at some of the popular automakets’ vehicles available online on dubizzle:
- Used BMW for sale online in the UAE
- Second-hand Audi for sale in the UAE online
- Used Mercedes-Benz in the UAE for sale
- Second-hand Land Rover in the UAE for sale online
Stay tuned to UAE’s top auto blog for more tips related to driving.
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