Here are 8 Ways You're Shortening Your Car's Life

Stop making these common mistakes to keep your car on the road and out of the shop!

Banging through potholes

Your car's suspension is excellent at absorbing road imperfections, but it has a limit. Potholes are sometimes unavoidable, but driving through them at any speed faster than a crawl can bend wheel rims and brake struts.

Using cheap gas

Trying to save money by using lower-quality fuels can lead to costly engine damage down the road. When filling with regular grade when the engine requires premium, drivability issues and warning lights may occur.

Not driving it enough

Too much inactivity will kill your car's battery, misalign its tyres, and leave it with a tank full of stale gasoline. If you need to store a car for an extended period of time, find a suitable (and preferably indoor) location. Then wash it to protect the paint, overfill the tyres to keep them round, use peppermint-oil-soaked mothballs to keep rodents away, and connect the battery to a trickle charger to keep it alive.

Driving on improper alignment

“This commonly neglected issue can wear down your tires, increase your chances of an accident, and hurt your car’s fuel economy.” —David Ambrogio, a consultant with Superior Honda in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Not washing it

It's natural to wonder why you should keep the outside of your car clean. After all, it'll just get dirty again, right? Washing your car on a regular basis will protect the paint and reduce the likelihood of rust. Giving your car's underside a good spray is especially important in the winter, when salt can quickly eat away at the bare metal of your chassis.

Not cleaning under the hood

We tend to focus on keeping the outside of our cars clean, but not the inside. This is a blunder. Periodic cleaning of the exterior of your car engine can remove built-up sludge and debris that is reducing the life of your engine.

Holding the shifter

This one's for the last few manual-transmission drivers: Keep your hand off the gear shifter! While keeping your hand on the stick shift may feel natural, doing so will result in premature wear to the transmission's components.

Using incorrect or discount parts and fluids

You may be keeping up with maintenance, but cutting corners by using subpar or incorrect parts and fluids is a bad idea. Regular oil changes necessitate the use of the proper viscosity oil, not just the cheapest stuff you can find at a big-box store. The heat range of the spark plugs should be correct. Fuel and air filters should be name-brand, OEM-equivalent or better, rather than the cheapest item available.