This Article Contains:
- Starting The Car Engine And Driving Immediately
- Speeding With A Cold Engine
- Re-Fueling Mistakes
- Changing The Oil Too Often Or Too Little
- Too Lazy To Do Visual Inspection
- Not Checking Tire Pressure
- Driving With Bald Tires
- Not Checking Their Spare Tire Condition
- They Don’t Study Their Car
- Too Lazy To Clean Their Car
- Ignoring The Check Engine Light
- Driving With Old Fuel And Air Filters
- Maintaining Their High-Tech Vehicles
- Buying Cheap Parts
- Buying Expensive Cars And Not Maintaining Them
#1 Starting The Car Engine And Driving Immediately
#2 Speeding With A Cold Engine
I cannot stress it enough. This is very bad for your engine. First, cold or warm engine, you shouldn’t speed your vehicle or rev the engine it IF IT’S NOT DESIGNED TO TAKE IT. What I mean by this is your 1980 Suburban is probably not designed to be ‘reved’ or to be driven 100mph’s everytime you get on the highway. However, if you have a NASCAR, then you can drive it as fast as it goes. Why is it bad? Well, your car has been sitting in the garage over the night and all the engine drained from the top of the engine parts. When you start your car, the oil tries to get into all the critical components. Not allowing it to reach it’s destination and speeding with a cold engine will do some damage over time. Also driving your car with high speed will increase your gas mileage. If you are having an emergency, then do what you have to do. But if you are not in a hurry, wait until the engine reaches its optimal temperature.
#3 Re-Fueling Mistakes
You should know if your car needs regular fuel or premium. How do you know this? Well, it says in the car manual and there is a sticker on the fuel tank cap. On my car, it says premium recommended, so I only put premium. If your car needs regular, and you put in premium, you are not helping your car. There is no performance benefit or better fuel economy. Now, what happens if you put diesel instead of gas? This is a whole different story. When you get a new car, you need to know which fuel it needs. Putting premium instead of regular won’t do as much damage as putting gas instead of diesel. If you got a new car, and it was a gift, make sure you ask about the fuel type before driving it to the gas station and making this critical error. Also, on some old gas stations, the labels are worn out and it is impossible to read if that pump is for diesel or gas. If you make this kind of mistake, stop driving your car. Push it to the side of the road and call a towing company. What you need to do is drain the fuel tank and fuel lines, rails, and injectors. You obviously cannot do this on the highway.
#4 Changing The Oil Too Often Or Too Little
#5 Too Lazy To Do Visual Inspection
#6 Not Checking Tire Pressure
- All vehicle manufacturers specify how much PSI(pounds per square inch) of pressure the tires need. It is best to measure it when your tires are cold.
- Measure the PSI with a pressure gauge. Press down the gauge to the valve stem until you get a reading.
- Write down the PSI for all 4 tires.
- Deflate the tires that have more than the recommended PSi, and inflate the ones that have under the recommended PSI.
Ideally, you should check the pressure of your tires every month. It’s something that you can do in less than 5 minutes.
#7 Driving With Bald Tires
#8 Not Checking Their Spare Tire Condition
I will admit. I even drove my car without having a spare tire. And when I finally got a spare tire, I never checked it. When you are checking your tire pressure, make sure to take a look at your spare tire. Perform a visual inspection and check the condition, check the tire pressure and the manufacture date. If your spare tire is older than 10 years, it’s time to get a new spare tire. Also, while you are at it, check the depth with a quarter. What good will it be if you have a flat or bald spare tire?
#9 They Don’t Study Their Car
#10 Too Lazy To Clean Their Car
#11 Ignoring The Check Engine Light
You should check the dashboard from time to time and see if there are any lights, especially the check engine light. That light doesn’t only say that your engine has an issue. It can come on if you have a faulty oxygen sensor, faulty catalytic converter, faulty mass airflow sensor, or your gas cap is missing. Whatever the reason might be, you shouldn’t drive your car. That light doesn’t come on for nothing. You should take it to the mechanic and have it diagnosed. Performing a routine maintenance can prevent this light from coming on.
#12 Driving With Old Fuel And Air Filters
Car’s air and fuel filters are essential to the car.
Air filters lose their capacity over time and are not able to clean the bug bits, dirt, and pollution coming from the outside. When the air filter gets build up with dirt, it cannot filter the air and shards of debris go through the filter and damage the engine. So, make sure you change your air filter every 10,000-30,000 miles. It is a cheap and quick process.
Fuel filters don’t last forever as well. Their mission is to filter the fuel and keep the dirt and rust particles on themselves. The fuel from the gas stations is clean, but there are many ways to get a dirty fuel tank. When you open the fuel tank cap before you pump gas, dust might get inside the tank. Also, the paint from the fuel tank chips and creates debris. If your engine stalls, feels sluggish or hesitates, it’s time to change your fuel filter.
#13 Maintaining Their High-Tech Vehicles
It’s not a coincidence that this mistake is under number 13. This is actually very bad. High-tech vehicles are not like the old ones. With the older vehicles, you can do anything you want, and in the end, if the car doesn’t start, it doesn’t matter. You can take it to the mechanic and they will fix it. The parts are cheap and so is the labor. But on your high-tech car, you shouldn’t play a mechanic. You should take your new car to a routine maintenance checks. Especially if you have an electric vehicle. The only thing that you should do is to add more fluid for the wipers, check the tire pressure and maybe, but maybe change your oil (if you know what you are doing).
#14 Buying Cheap Or Used Parts
All of us want to fix our car and not spend a lot of money. But does cheaper means better? Of course not. You might pay $50 for a ‘used’ part, instead of a $100 for the brand new, but will it last long and perform as good as the brand new? Trust me, you will end up changing the part again and spending more money. Always buy new parts and from official part stores.
#15 Buying Expensive Cars And Not Maintaining Them
I had a friend that made this mistake. His budget was $15,000. Guess what he did. He went and bought a car for $15,000. He ended up with not having enough money to change the engine oil, buy new tires and do a general check-up at the mechanic store. I strongly recommend that you leave at least $1000 aside and change the engine oil, air, and fuel filters, add coolant if needed and replace the tires. If your car requires some visual fixing, like chipped paint, it can wait. Make sure you invest in the engine first.
That’s it. These are the most 15 common mistakes that car owners do. Please be honest and write in the comments, did you make any of the 15 mistakes? Also, if you have done another mistake, feel free to mention it in the comments. Your mistake might teach another person.
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