Don't Make These Costly Mistakes When Driving an Automatic

We've mentioned earlier in the week about whether electric cars are worth your money over fuel cars. But just as there are many ways to save money while driving, there are also ways to drive that can cost you money, too. If you drive an automatic, here are some things you shouldn't be doing when you drive an automatic transmission to avoid expensive repairs.

As a resource, we referred to one of Jason Fenske's videos from the EngineeringExplained YouTube channel. He shares with us some driving habits we should avoid when driving an automatic vehicle. He explains by showing what we shouldn't do, as well as by demonstrating why we shouldn't do them with real engine parts and simplified diagrams.

Don't Coast Downhill in Neutral Gear

Modern automatic transmissions are able to cut fuel to the engine on their own, so putting your car in neutral won’t save you any petrol. Also, you give up some control by doing this which makes it harder to respond in emergency situations.

Don't Switch Between Drive and Reverse Without Stopping

Make sure you come to a complete stop before going from drive to reverse or reverse to drive. Otherwise you’re using your transmission to stop the vehicle instead of letting your brakes do their job. This puts additional wear and tear on your transmission, making it deteriorate faster than otherwise.

Don't “Launch” Your Car

Don’t rev your car’s engine in neutral and drop into drive to launch yourself forward. Some people do this out of habit when newly switching from a manual car. It wears out the bands in your transmission faster. These bands are expensive to replace.

Don't Shift to Park until You’ve Completely Stopped

Some models won’t even allow you to do this, but you should never do it anyway. You can damage or break the locking pin that’s used to keep your transmission from running. And just like the bands in your transmission, you don't want to be buying a replacement for this any sooner than you have to, or at all.

Some of these bad habits might seem obvious to a car geek, but not every driver of an automatic knows how it works or what kind of damage you can do with seemingly harmless actions. These tips and best practices can help anyone stay safe on the road and extend the life of their automatic vehicle.

Speaking of saving money with cars, check out our comparison tool that helps you find out the best car loans available at the moment in Malaysia. Do you have your own tips for avoiding the workshop when driving an automatic vehicle? Do let us know in the comments section down below!