Gas prices. Nothing causes American motorists more financial frustration than seeing that number on the side of the gas station go up: “it was just $3.20 yesterday, how the heck is it already $4.50?!” The price of gas is on a steady climb upwards; just this month, there was a 14% spike in the price of a gallon. Luckily, there are a number of little solutions that, when added together, can save you lots of gas. Here at B&W Service Center, we never miss an opportunity to tell our customers about these 12 things you can do to save your pocket some stress:
- Drive Sensibly: aggressive driving (speeding, rapid acceleration and braking) not only ruins your breaks but wastes gas as well. It can lower your gas mileage by 33% at highway speeds and by 5% around town.
- Use Cruise Control: using cruise control on the highway helps you maintain a constant speed and therefore save gas.
- Keep the Windows Rolled Up: many people think that the AC drains more gas than driving with your windows down. Quite the contrary. Driving with your windows rolled up and using the AC on the highway can save you up to 10-15% on fuel cost.
- Drive at the Speed Limit: driving within the designated speed limit on highways can add as much as 50 miles to a tank of gas.
- Vehicle Maintenance: too busy to take your car to the mechanic? Not only are you putting yourself in danger, but you are increasing your fuel costs by 20% every time you fill up your tank.
- Pay Attention to your Check Engine Light: in most cases, the problem with your engine directly affects the fuel system. The point of the fuel system is to allocate the right amount of fuel and oxygen to your vehicle, so when something is out of whack, you can lose a lot of money at the pump (as well as cause more pollution).
- Keep Tires Properly Inflated: 80% of the cars that come into our shop have tires low on air. You can improve your gas mileage by up to 10 cents a gallon by keeping your tires inflated to the appropriate pressure.
- Avoid Rush Hour: not only is stop-and-go traffic extremely annoying, it’s bad for your vehicle’s gas mileage. Stagger your work hours so you can time your commute to avoid the peak rush hours.
- Plan Ahead: how often have you pulled into a gas station in the middle of nowhere and the price per gallon was ridiculous? Be proactive and use apps like gasbuddy.com that allow you to pinpoint the cheapest gas stations before your journey begins.
- Avoid Unnecessary Idling: it wastes fuel, costs you money and pollutes the air. Turn off your engine if you anticipate a wait longer than 30 seconds. Any time longer than that uses more fuel than is required to restart the engine.
- Avoid Premium Gasoline: many people are under the impression that you will get better fuel economy using Premium gasoline. Although Premium for high-compression engines will add some additional power, the costs are simply not worth it. No matter what type of car you have, we recommend using regular gasoline – this will save you up to 30 cents a gallon and $200 a year.
- Tighten your Gas Cap: gas will evaporate from your car’s gas tank if it has an escape route. Loose, missing or damaged gas caps cause 147 million gallons of gas to evaporate each year. Not only will tightening your gas cap save you money on gas, but it may also prevent your check engine light from coming on, saving you a diagnostic fee.