We recently posted an article regarding ways that people ruin their cars doing everyday activities with their car. Some people do bad things to their car with out properly thinking them through. Due to popular demand, here is a second installment of things that people do that people do that can cause major damage to their car.

1. Forgetting to release the parking brake: Maybe you are not a person who forgets to use their parking brake. Perhaps you are the type of person who forgets to release the parking brake when you drive your car. Driving a short distance will not do too much damage, but if you constantly are driving around town or on highways with it on it can become bad news really quick.

2. Not taking care of your car’s interior: I am not talking about leaving some empty wrappers in your car after a long road trip. I am talking about people who develop a bad habit of keeping trash and leftover fast food in their car on a consistent basis. Mold can build up in your car, especially when you do not vacuum out your carpets on a regular basis. Save yourself from having to take your car to a Utah auto repair shop or auto salvage shop and keep the interior of your car clean.

3. Revving your car in the wintertime: It may seem like the right thing to do during the winter, but revving up your engine when you start your car is not going to help your car warm up. Rather, revving your engine will force your engine to work with out lubricant since the oil has not had time to get through the system. Instead of revving your car when you start it, have it sit idle for a minute to give it time to warm up properly.

4. Ignoring the check engine light: A lot of people choose to ignore their check engine light when it goes on. Some cars show no sign of distress, so they mistakenly believe there is no actual problem with the engine. While this may be true in rare cases, it is still best to take the car in to the Utah auto repair shop you use just to make sure.

5. Driving on empty: There is still some debate about whether driving on E actually causes sediment in the tank to get stuck in the system and ruin the fuel injectors. Regardless of this, driving your car on empty serves other purposes. Having fuel in your tank cools your fuel pump, so driving on empty takes away from the life expectancy of your fuel pump by a good deal.

6. Ignoring bad sounds with the car: I am constantly amazed when someone comes in to the shop for a repair and tells me that they have been hearing squeals or other sounds that were not normal for MONTHS before they chose to bring it in to be fixed. A lot of times your car starts making noises to warn you to fix the problem before it erupts in to something else. Listen to the sounds of your car and if something sounds amiss check it out.

These are our top list of things people do to ruin their car. Many times taking a car in to a Utah auto repair dealer is done because they have not been following proper procedures with their car. Don’t make that same mistake and use common sense when driving and using your vehicle.