Driving an automatic is a lot easier than a stick. But apparently you still might be screwing it up. Here are four things you should never do when you’re driving a car with an automatic transmission.
1. Don’t coast downhill in neutral. Some people think it saves gas, but modern transmissions automatically cut fuel to the engine. Plus it’s dangerous, because you can’t speed up if you need to, so it’s illegal in 15 states. (There’s a list of the states in the YouTube description here.)
2. Never go from drive to reverse without coming to a full stop. It wears out your transmission, because you’re using THAT to stop the car instead of your brakes. And you shouldn’t put it in park until you’re at a full stop either.
3. Don’t put your car in neutral at a stop light. If you sit there for 30 seconds, it saves you less than a PENNY in gas. And it’s not worth it because of the extra wear and tear that shifting puts on your transmission.
4. Never “launch” your car by revving it in neutral, and shifting into drive. First because it’s dangerous, and you look like an A-hole. But it also wears down your transmission bands. Which aren’t an expensive part, but they’re hard to access, so you end up paying a lot for the labor.
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