Avoid These Five Driving Mistakes That Can Decrease Gas Mileage

When you're in the market for a new Toyota or other vehicle, finding a model with a high gas mileage offers a huge advantage. Efficient vehicles are less expensive to drive and leave you feeling more responsible when it comes to doing your part to protect the environment and reduce pollution.

However, many drivers are reducing their vehicle's gas mileage every day without realizing it. The following are five mistakes that you might be making that could undermine all the effort you've put into finding a vehicle with a high gas mileage:

Neglecting maintenance

Many routine maintenance tasks like oil changes and tire replacements have a huge impact on vehicle efficiency. If you neglect maintenance, your engine will have to work harder to get your vehicle going. This will inevitably lead to higher-than-necessary fuel consumption.

Leaving unnecessary luggage and other items in your vehicle

Any extra weight in your vehicle will detract from gas mileage. If you're leaving heavy items in your car and driving around with them, you're unnecessarily reducing the efficiency of your vehicle.

Remember that the gas mileage given for your vehicle assumes that you are not carrying any excessive loads. Empty out your car after every trip to make sure you're always getting the best possible fuel economy for your vehicle model. 

Idling your vehicle unnecessarily

If you're driving in the winter time, it's a good idea to give your vehicle a few minutes to heat up before you get going. However, be careful not to overdo it.

While your vehicle idles, it consumes gas. In fact, a vehicle consumes the same amount of gas when it idles for two minutes that it consumes when it drives one mile.

Turn your engine off rather than leaving your car idling for an excessively long period of time to avoid wasting gas. 

Sitting in traffic

If you want to maximize gas efficiency in your vehicle, you might want to put a little more thought into the routes you're taking.

By planning things out so that you avoid sitting in traffic, you'll get better gas mileage. Your engine continues to run and consume gas while you sit in traffic. If you avoid sitting in traffic, you'll avoid consuming gas unnecessarily and you'll maximize your gas mileage. 

Driving too fast

Every vehicle has a particular optimal speed at which it consumes fuel most efficiently. As a general rule, this optimal speed is between 55 and 60 miles per hour. This means that you're probably getting a lower gas mileage if you're frequently traveling at faster speeds.

Pay attention to your speedometer and slow down if you want to get the most mileage out of your vehicle's gas consumption. 

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