7 New Car Driving Practices You Should Never Do! (Surprising Advice!)

Check out our seven new car driving practices you should never do. Follow them and give your vehicle every opportunity to last as long as possible.

Those Jack rabbit starts, you know like you see people do when a traffic light turns green? Avoid them.

They can really harm your engine, especially during the break in period of the first 1,000 miles. Flooring it will just wear down your piston rings and any manufacturer imperfections can be compromised by hot spots. Don’t do it!

We love cruise control the same as the next person. It’s great for a long trip. But when you’ve got a new engine, vary the RPM’s as you drive. This will ensure a constantly changing load and speed allowing your new engine to wear properly.

Forget about redlining. On a new vehicle, think low instead of high RPM’s unless factory technicians broke in the vehicle at the manufacturing plant. Guidelines vary but a good rule of thumb is to stay under 3500-4500 RPM’s for the first 150-500 miles.

According to the AAA Auto Club, using your new vehicle to tow especially when it’s not designed to do so will tax the vehicle unnecessarily—before it’s really broken in.

Towing a new car in extreme heat is even worse! So is towing it in extremely dusty parts of the US or driving it at high altitudes.

These days, buying premium gas is a waste of money. Most cars run just fine on regular unleaded. If your vehicle doesn’t specifically require premium gas, a higher octane may even harm the engine.

Waiting until your car is almost out of gas to fill it up could damage it. That’s because gas acts like a coolant for your electric fuel pump motor.

When fuel is really low, the pump sucks in airs and that creates heat. The heat can then cause the fuel pump to wear out prematurely. It could even potentially fail, according to Consumer Reports. 

Whenever possible, fill your vehicle with Top Tier gas. Not the same as premium gas, Top Tier gas contains extra detergents which clean the carbon deposits in the engine that build up over time. Premium gas, on the other hand, pertains to the octane rating and has more detergents.

You can find Top Tier gas at places like Costco. For a complete list of the licensed retail gas stations that carry Top Tier gas, click here.

It’s about your oil changes. Most new car owner’s manuals recommend changing the oil every 5,000 or 7,500 miles. That’s under normal conditions.

If you drive under severe conditions, drop that figure to 3,000 miles. So, what are severe driving conditions? It’s surprising! Learn more about them here.

In the meantime, follow these new car driving practices and help your vehicle last as long as humanly possible!