How to Avoid a Car Breakdown: 6 Driving Habits to Avoid Breakdowns

The way we drive is a factor that can help increase or decrease the useful life of a vehicle. Today we tell you 6 driving habits to reduce breakdowns.

Believe it or not, our way of driving can cause some breakdowns in the vehicle. They can be small oversights, which could become a problem in the long run. For this reason, we want to show you how we should keep some small vices at bay to avoid having to visit the workshop .

For this reason, today we want to teach you 6 habits and good practices while driving to avoid generating breakdowns or, at least, reduce them as much as possible.

6 Driving habits to avoid breakdowns

Here are the main tips while driving to avoid breakdowns:

1. Avoid driving with your foot resting on the clutch

One of them is driving with your left foot on the clutch . This insignificant gesture generates unnecessary friction and in the long run, a step through the workshop. This is the main reason why we will have to change the clutch disc before it is necessary.

2. Avoid driving with your hand on the gear lever

Another aspect to keep in mind is not to drive with your hand constantly on the gear lever . It doesn't matter if the car is manual or automatic, this gesture will generate play in the elements between the lever and the gearbox (gears, bearings...). You have to keep both hands on the wheel.

3. Use water without antifreeze

Use water without antifreeze can give us an unpleasant surprise in the long run. Low temperatures can freeze the water and break the weakest part: the sleeve. It is true that changing a hose is not expensive, but if it is a running hose it can cause the total loss of coolant and a much more expensive breakdown.

4. Drive in a balanced way

Regarding speed, it is important to know that the ideal is a balanced driving . A style that is too aggressive and stretching the engine to the maximum will accelerate the wear of the entire mechanics. And driving at very low revs will have the same effect.

5. Check the oil and coolant

There are two levels of our car that it is essential to check: the oil and the coolant . Wearing them wrong can cause overheating and major and also costly breakdowns. A very dark oil or one with impurities will indicate that something is not quite right.

6. Check the tires

Last but not least, we must pay attention to caring for car tires . They are the only part of the car in contact with the ground and therefore influence all aspects related to driving: stability, braking, steering... It is essential that we drive them with the pressure set by the manufacturer so that they last longer and the car responds better to our commands.

18 Tips to Avoid Car Damage When Parking

Parking is an activity where you will easily scratch or crash your car. Here are 18 tips to reduce the damage that occurs to your car both when it is parked and when it is parked.

1. When parallel parking on a descent next to the sidewalk, steer the wheel toward the curb in case your handbrake does not work. If the car slides forward the left front wheel will slide toward the curb at low speed and then will stop. When you park on an incline, you do the opposite,

2. Choose first or last parking in parallel parking if possible. This means that you have more space when exiting the parking lot. Park as far forward as possible and as far back as possible to make room for other drivers,

3. Use shop window reflections to see how much space you have when parallel parking backwards, or to avoid damage to the front bumper from high sidewalks when parking on an incline,

4. Don't let valuables visible in your car, thieves will try to break the glass or break the keys to retrieve it,

5. Park away from other vehicles, especially in multi-storey car parks where the parking spaces tend to be narrower,

6. Do not let pets in parked cars when the weather is hot. The police will break the glass to set him free,

7. When parking in the garage, hang something that can touch the hood when you are far enough ahead,

8. Perform the most difficult maneuvers during the day if you are going back to your car in the dark. This is to minimize the risk of the car being scratched when trying to do difficult maneuvers in the dark,

9. When parking on unfamiliar roads, walk around the car on your return to ascertain the potential hazards,

10. Avoid parking near trolley stands in supermarket parking lots, sometimes people just push the trolley towards the storage area, and the trolley may move wildly and crash into your car,

11. Do not park in a place where people will be crammed past your car all the time. For example, tourist attraction doors,

12. Be careful when conditions are windy. The wind will blow the car door sideways towards another car,

13. Avoid parking on the street where children play soccer,

14. Purchase a reverse camera or reverse sensor (if this feature is not already available) and an additional convex mirror if you want to increase the visibility of your surroundings when you are parking backwards,

15. Know how tall your vehicle is. If you are driving an SUV, some multi-storey parking lots are quite low in height,

16. Adjust your rearview mirror properly,

17. Lower the window glass when maneuvering because you will more easily hear the traffic conditions around you and at the same time can look out the window to find out where you are.

18. Be careful parking on loose ground, especially if your vehicle is a fairly heavy vehicle, the car can sink and roll over.

Those are 18 surefire tips that you can apply when you are going to park or have parked. These tips are useful for avoiding the risk of your car being accidentally scratched because you don't understand the correct parking rules.