askthemercedesmechanic.com

WHILST INNOCENTLY driving my car along a busy highway at peak hour the other day, looking for something to distract me from the growing impatience threatening my peace, I noticed a utility truck in the lane to the right. It was festooned with stickers proclaiming ‘this’ and advocating ‘that’. There was something about it that drew my attention… Objective achieved! I was distracted. The truck was filthy with light brown mud all over it, and there was one sticker in particular that gave the owner up. It read, ‘Thank a farmer for your next meal.’ I thought, “Yes… I will.”Bumper stickers can potentially tell us so much about the person who owns or drives a vehicle can’t they? What stickers do you have on your vehicle? It’s the same as personalized license plates. They often communicate ‘a perception’ of the driver’s personality and their approach to life. I see many cars with ‘name’ plates on them nowadays; the driver obviously seeks for all and sundry to know their name. Cars, like houses, boats, and vans can be a way of showing your character off, to exhibit your ’style.’ The stickers, badges, plates, and other devices we put on our cars communicate all sorts of things to all sorts of people, and not always what we’d expect.Here are some further considerations:  If you have a Christian “fish” on your car or any other spiritual sign, people will link your driving behavior to your faith… food for thought?   Do you have revealing information on your car that perhaps could compromise your security, for instance, names or phone numbers?   If you have values-promoting stickers or badges on your vehicle such as for safety or environment advocacy, people will expect you, your vehicle and your behavior to align to that ’stated’ value.   If you have profane stickers and badges you could expect about 90 percent of road users to have a negative attitude about you, and they don’t even know you!   If you support a cause like organ donation, leukemia research, or Alzheimer’s disease research, it pays to advertise. If you’re going to have a sticker it might as well give people information on the cause, or how to donate, or how to get involved.

Here is a guaranteed way to get instant savings on your car or truck fuel bill. Nothing to purchase, nothing to install, and very little effort!The most effective way to reduce your gas consumption is to ease off the gas pedal! Yeah, well duh. Everyone knows that. But not everyone does it. Few people are even aware of their jack rabbit starts, darting in and out of lanes, and racing to the next stop light. You can see every time you drive that people are hoofing it, and generally driving like there’s no tomorrow. Which is what there’ll be if we don’t all start using less oil.Let’s face it. There is practically no alternative to gasoline and diesel engines now or in the near future. Even hybrids burn oil and we can’t go far or fast in an electric golf cart, or afford a Tesla electric sports car.But you don’t have to give up anything except road rage if you just relax, learn to drive with a soft foot, and anticipate the traffic flow you are in. You can improve your gas mileage by 30 - 50% with a small change in driving habits. Imagine cutting your gas bill by a third!First off, think of having an eggshell that you mustn’t break under your right foot. As you get the vehicle moving, press gently and no more than an inch movement of the accelerator. You can easily keep up with traffic and merge at this rate. When you reach your cruising speed, ease off a little more. You can maintain a constant speed with a light touch.If appropriate use your cruise control. Studies show it can save 5 - 15% over manually adjusting your speed, and reduces speed creep.In city driving, look ahead for traffic signals, and anticipate slowdowns by watching for brake lights. If you ease off early and coast gently you might not have to stop at all and you can reduce the next acceleration needed from an unnecessary stop.Hard acceleration and braking isn’t just when tires squeal. Many people drive as if they’re in a race all the time without even realizing it. So changing your habits may not come easily but the dividends will pay off.Do you even know what your current gas mileage is? It sure isn’t what the sales window sticker says. That’s a theoretical number based on emissions at the tailpipe and not real world driving conditions. At your next gas stop fill up until the pump clicks off. Write down your odometer reading. Next time you fill up and pay that huge amount, write down the gallons and the miles again. Now calculate your miles per gallon for that thankful. Keep doing that each fill up and soon you’ll learn how easy it is to improve your mileage.With a little driving adjustment and awareness you can go from 20 mpg to nearly 30 mpg! I challenge you!