Simple Ways to Prevent Fuel Waste during Your Daily Commute

Jerry’s Auto Repair • 20 June 2023

With gas prices still high, it’s worth taking simple measures to keep more money in your wallet during your daily driving routine. At Jerry’s Auto Repair, our local mechanics are highly experienced with completing maintenance tasks that help to optimize fuel-efficiency. But there are also some precautions you can take to help make sure you aren’t wasting fuel.


Quick Tips for Better Gas Mileage

One simple way to prevent fuel waste is to make sure you aren’t driving with unneeded cargo in your vehicle. For every additional 100 pounds that your car is carrying, gas mileage can dip by 1%. Another easy precaution is to drive with correct tire pressure. It’s best to check the psi specification for your tires and then inflate them accordingly. When you drive with underinflated tires, the engine has to use more power to push the soft rubber forward, which can cause gas mileage to decrease. Also, to make sure that fuel doesn’t evaporate before it makes its way to your engine, you should check that your gas cap is tightly secured. Another simple way to prevent fuel waste is to turn off your engine if you’ll be idling for longer than ten seconds. For every hour of idling, vehicles burn around a gallon of gas.


When you bring your car to our shop, we can conduct maintenance tasks that’ll help your vehicle attain the most MPGs possible. There are certain basic maintenance tasks, like oil changes and spark plug replacement, that will help with optimizing gas mileage. Also, air filters should be replaced between 12,000 and 15,000 miles so that the right amount of air can reach the combustion chamber, which will prevent your engine from burning additional fuel to make up for a lack of air. And fuel filters should be replaced at about 25,000 miles so that contaminants don’t harm fuel-efficiency and engine performance.


Auto Maintenance in Grandview, MO

When you need auto maintenance in Grandview and the surrounding area, contact Jerry’s Auto Repair at (816) 722-2344. At our nearby auto shop, we can expertly address your vehicle’s repair and maintenance needs. Feel free to give us a call today to make an appointment!