Drive out bad habits to ensure good vehicle maintenance

Daily habits that damage your vehicle

Did you know that some things we do every day can damage our vehicles, and being aware of these bad habits will help to avoid unnecessary wear and tear.

Avoid these driving habits to prevent damage:

• Don’t rest your hand on the gear lever. Avoid keeping your hand on the gear lever when you aren’t changing gears. The weight of your hand puts pressure on the sliders in the transmission and causes unnecessary wear.

• Use the handbrake. When parking automatic vehicles, leaving the vehicle in “park” instead of engaging the handbrake will put pressure on the pawl, a small metal pin that engages a notched ring attached to the transmission output shaft.

• Don’t ride the clutch. If you push the clutch in even when you aren’t changing gears or braking, then you can mess up the hydraulic system where the pressure plates meet the flywheel.

• Don’t pump the brakes too hard. Excessive braking causes unnecessary wear on the brakes. Besides, hard stops and starts are heavier on fuel.

• Don’t drive in the wrong gear. Being in a gear that is too high at a low speed puts unnecessary pressure on the engine. It can damage cylinder heads and require costly repairs. You should also not drive in a gear that is too low for your speed because it will also cause wear and tear on the engine.

• Don’t ignore warnings. Monitoring dashboard warning signs, for example, the oil light, fuel light and engine temperature, might seem elementary, but it can lead to serious consequences. Listening out for unusual noises in your vehicle will alert you to something that is wrong before the problem escalates.

• Don’t carry extra weight. Make sure you aren’t weighing down your vehicle with stuff you don’t need because carrying extra weight will add to your fuel bill and wear and tear on your vehicle.

Why Avis Fleet Managed Maintenance and solutions will reduce your fleet costs

For your vehicle fleet, simply outsourcing to Avis Fleet will go a long way in reducing fleet running cost.

Not only will we take on your vehicle maintenance for you, we will keep track of which vehicles within your fleet require services, and ensure that only necessary maintenance work is carried out using genuine parts.

Our fleet maintenance solution includes screening and approving maintenance requests against our databases and taking care of the administration and paperwork for you.

Find out more about our Managed Maintenance and solution here.