Yes, British funnyman Jeremy Clarkson’s knee-jerk anti-Americanism jerks my chain. (If it’s supposed to be funny, how come I’m not laughing?) But, anti-elistist that I am, Ride Lust’s contribution to the top ten genre– “Top 10 Everyday Things People Do To Ruin Their Cars“– is worse. Vito Rispo’s dietribe [sic] begins by dissing the geography skills of what Bill O’ Reilly oleaginously refers to as “the folks.” “Two thirds of all Americans aged 18-24 cannot find Iraq on a map; 33% couldn’t identify Louisiana; 47% couldn’t find India; 75% think English was the most widely spoken language in the world. People are idiots, and this isn’t a uniquely American phenomenon, it’s worldwide. The majority of human beings on Earth are stone dumb. Being dumb, most people do dumb things, like unknowingly destroy their car.” English “was” the most widely spoken language? It’s my firmly held belief that people are like any other animal: exactly as smart as they need to be. No more, no less. Anyway, I challenge TTAC’s Best and Brightest (hoisted by my own elitist petard!) to point out the fallacies within Mr. Rispo’s riposte. Or is that rip post?
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In regards to number 4, changing your oil. Some cars require it at 5000, some at 3000 and many new cars can go as long as 7500, 10,000 miles. The responsible thing to say would be, “Read your car manual to know when to change the oil and conduct proper maintance.”
That being said, if you drive like a maniac then get your oil changed sooner rather than later in the interval.
RGS920
Ditto. But somehow I suspect that adding “every 2-3 years, send a couple of consecutive oil change samples to a lab for a scientific assessment” is well beyond the scope of most people’s maintenance routines. But why should it be? for $20 or so, I can learn about the inner workings of my engine. What a great world we live in.
Shutting off all the accessories before starting. They are shut off when you turn the key to start anyway. Once the engine is started their load on the engine is minuscule. Shutting off all accessories is just OCD behavior. It has no bearing on engine wear.
Ridiculous article. Transmission life is not shortened by months because you drop it in drive while rolling backwards. Not changing the fluid and screen regularly is what kills transmissions, that plus overheating and poor design.
Fuel pumps are not cooled by being immersed in gasoline. They are cooled by gas running through them and that is by design. Who thought this old wife’s tale up?
Turning off the radio to save wear on the engine when starting? Why not wash it before starting, probably does the same thing.
#10 is completely wrong…if you are gay.
How about #6? Turning off all accessories to start the car?? Every car I’ve ever driven, when you start it, the fan stops, the radio turns off, etc. to reduce load on the electrical system. There’s no need to do this extra series of steps.
“…your engine doesn’t have to work as hard when starting.”
Or, your starter doesn’t have to work as hard.
I ascribe to Rule 1 for two reasons:
1) I drive a car with a manual transmission
2) I just think it’s a good habit all around
The rest of the rules are great if you are in your late twenties, and your car is older than you. Otherwise they are tales of old mechanic’s wives.
For what it’s worth, I am a no kidding (GASP!) elistist. If I offend simpletons because I expect the best from myself, others, and my country as a whole, so be it.
I actually like Clarkson a lot, but…
as for debunking the weak list.
1. If you use the parking brake correctly then you are not “locking up the drive wheels” because you get the brake to engage before the pawl. On my truck, the parking brake is on the drive wheels so there’s no change there. If using it would add years to the tranny you’d hear all about pawls failing left and right, I sure don’t. The only think it adds years to is the life of some rear brakes. My 88 z24 would go through rear pads in a matter of months without regular pb usage since they would auto adjust and drag if you didn’t.
2. The gear teeth in a planetary (automatics) are put in constantly reversing loading by design whenever they are running. The only danger would be shafts and only if you fly backward and slam it into drive. In a manual, the synchros take up the wear.
3. Applies only on long steep inclines, not everday driving for most people.
4. Changing oil more frequently cannot “double the life of your car”. It might increase engine life, but won’t do anything for the rest of the car. 5000 miles is an arbitrary number. RTFM is a better recommendation.
5. I tend to agree with this, but people who can’t change their oil aren’t likely to be cleaning their engine.
6. Others have covered this one just fine.
7. I’ll agree with this one too. I’ll even go so far as to say “turn the radio off once in a while.”
8. I’ll agree here. The kids seats especially.
9. I call BS on all of it. Don’t run it out of gas, but there’s nothing majorly dangerous. Also, I highly doubt Mercedes has a different sending unit or calibration for cars sold here vs there.
10. BS again. and it has nothing to do with a 16yr old me rearending an S-class with my 82 Starlet, cause that was sooooo worth it for a second look at her.
I’d have to say #10 happens to me at least 5 times a day and I roll the dice each time. So far I’ve been lucky
Rule #7 about paying attention to the sounds your car makes is my favorite. I love hearing people driving around with their serpentine belt, power steering belt, idler pulley, or brakes shreiking. Not to mention the people who drive with bad spark plug wires leading to the missfire sounds on acceleration.
As far as changing oil goes I do it every 3000 miles, and change the automatic transmission fluid every year or 10,000 miles. Both fluids look like hell even at that short of an interval. Changing the tranny fluid gives slightly better performance, until the viscosity starts breaking down again.
I’m sorry, explain to me again how having the radio on destroys the engine when you turn it on?
Yet another “writer” who can’t seem to understand the basic difference between someone who is ignorant, and someone who is unintelligent/dumb/idiotic.
I am not so sure that transmissions are ruined by not changing the fluid and screen regularly: I have a Taurus with 145,000 miles and I have never serviced the transmission, and it is still running fine (according to the manual, the fluid should be changed every 30,000 miles).
#3 is a crock. Brakes work by turning mechanical energy into heat. For a given amount of braking effort the brake components (mostly the rotors/drums) must be raised a given amount of degrees above ambient temperature. Intermittent braking will cause the peak temperatures to be HIGHER because the braking effort must be higher. The average temperature will be identical whether the braking is steady or intermittent. So if both techniques result in the same average temperature but intermittent braking has a higher peak temperature which method do you think is easier on the brakes?
Selecting a lower gear.
I noted several apostrophe mistakes and then there was this little gem:
“You know who you are, you’re car is filthy…”
Many people often erroneously use “your” when they should use “you’re” but I don’t think I’ve ever seen it the other way around.
As for all of the automotive stuff, it seems like a list of common sense and wives’ tales.
The rest of you guys covered the list pretty good, a lot of BS.
I can’t wait for #10 to happen to me in about an hour when I drop my wife off at class. It’s like a T&A festival as I get closer to the Union. I may be married with my wife sitting right there but I’m not dead and blind.
I’m hoping for some daisy dukes and short skirts on this hot sunny day.
I really wonder if “Vito Rispo” is a licensed driver. Anyway, most of those are obviously stupid, but I can help with #8 “letting the interior go.” Disaster cleanup companies have an “ozone machine” to remove mildew smells from flood-damaged items. Plug it in and it simply converts all the oxygen in a room into ozone. Leave it in a car overnight and your stinky bacteria will be dead, along with anything else which breathes oxygen (rats, mice, frogs, annoying neighbors, etc).
@T4R: Watch this space, I’m in the middle of writing a simulation to show you that the average is temperature is not the same. I’ll post my results when it’s done. Although, from practical experience (living in Colorado) I know #3 to be true, pulsing brakes results in much less (i.e. no) brake burning smell when you get to the bottom of the hill. When I have out-of-town visitors using their cars, I always notice brake burning smells at the bottom of the hills.
#2 it’ll lead to sloppy suspension handling
What? How will not coming to a complete stop before shifting into gear ruin my suspension? And for that matter the phrase “sloppy suspension handling” makes no sense at all.
A guy once told me – change your oil when you can no longer read the lines or text on the dipstick.
Seems to work out fine for me. Normally happens around 5K with synthetic oils. Short trips trash the oil faster as does heavy hauling.
In regards to number three, concerning downhill braking:
What he suggests is actually the worst way to brake down a hill. The article recommends alternating on and off the brake to allow for cooling — this simply is not true. Letting off the brakes for five or ten seconds before digging into them again doesn’t give them any sort of sufficient time to cool off. In fact, all you’ve done is allow your vehicle to speed back up, regaining the momentum that your brakes just worked so hard to diminish, and causing you to have to break just as hard next time you push on the pedal. This will generate even more heat that also will not dissipate over ten seconds next time you let off the brakes. And so on…
The proper way would be to downshift a gear or two and let engine-braking mostly hold your car back, while applying a very light, constant, even pressure for the duration of the down-grade. And chances are if you engine-brake you won’t even need to use your regular brakes at all.
Mistake #10, “Driving Past Attractive Women,” has sound advice: “When you’re driving, be careful to avoid swimming pools, beaches, college campuses, anyplace where beautiful girls assemble in any significant numbers.” You’d think the gummint would post warning signs: “Danger! Pulchritude Ahead”
I remember people who insisted that a cold-weather start was aided by turning on the lights and heater fan before cranking, to “wake up the battery”. I wished I owned a tow truck.
Hmmmm doesn’t include my #1, painting your drum brakes. Nothing says dumbass like painted drum brakes.
@T4R: As promised, here’s the results of my simulation. You were right!
http://mikessmarthome.blogspot.com/2008/10/off-topic-post-for-ttac.html
So rusty drum brakes look better?
Wait – are you talking about the inside of the drum or the outside?
Nah, what looks bad are little, tiny brakes showing through 18″ wheel spokes. Especially if the calipers are painted red (hey – look at me! I have tiny brakes!!!) VBG!
50merc :
You’d think the gummint would post warning signs: “Danger! Pulchritude Ahead”
I think I’m most likely to have a car accident trying to read the word “pulchritude” off a road sign.
Ok, I know that this comment is late and that no one will probably read it, but I wanted to make sure that the most correct information is posted. I redid my simulation the correct way. I was way off before, I should turn in my Physicist Badge!
Here’s the new simulation done with proper conservation of energy:
http://mikessmarthome.blogspot.com/2008/10/update-to-off-topic-ttac-post.html
Happy to email anyone the simulation if they want to play with the numbers.