LAKEWOOD, Ohio — With gas prices soaring and bank accounts draining, car expert Jerry Knapp said there still are ways to pay less at the pump.
Knapp is the manager of Knapp’s Madison Auto and Towing in Lakewood.
He helps his customers go the extra mile in to gas mileage. To save money at the pump, he recommends keeping up with the maintenance of your car.
“The more you stay up to date on your vehicle, (and) the better you treat your vehicle, the better it will treat you, whether it’s driving on the road, or you know, in the gas tank,” said Knapp. “If you treat your vehicle well, it will treat you well in return.”
Keeping tires properly pumped up, wheels in alignment and air filters changed can help you get more life out of your vehicle.
“We tell customers to come in twice a year, kind of like a dentist’s office, you know, every six months, that way you make sure your vehicle is up to date, need alignment about once a year, or once every two years,” said Knapp.
When the cars are out of the shop and back in the streets, Knapp said our driving habits have a significant effect on fuel efficiency.
He recommends putting your car in eco mode and keeping the automatic start and stop button on.
“When you’re sitting at a stoplight for a prolonged period of time, it’s going to shut your engine off, which is going to help save you money,” said Knapp. “And then your vehicle will start back up when it sees that it needs that gas again.”
He said going easy on the accelerator, driving the speed limit and using cruise control can also help save money.
“Use that [cruise control] to your advantage that’s going to help keep you from the hard decelerations and accelerations and let the vehicle do the work for you. Hard accelerations, hard stops, that’s going to bring your gas mileage down considerably,” said Knapp. “I know people are trying to get to work after they had their morning coffee and stopping at Starbucks and stuff. But you know, you really want to drive the speed limit. That’s where you’re going to see your greatest amount of gas mileage savings.”
Another tip he recommends is riding light and not keeping a lot of unnecessary items in the trunk of your car.
“That’s just more weight and stuff on your engine which puts more weight and tires on the road, which causes more friction, which causes more money at the pumps,” said Knapp. “Half the people who bring their cars in here look like they may or may not be living in it, that’s up to them. But usually, for each 100 pounds, that’s inside the vehicle, extra is going to bring your gas mileage down about 1%. So over, you know the lifetime of the vehicle, you might leave your husband at home, you might save money on gas. But for the most part, we tell customers to declutter their trunks and that’s gonna save on gas mileage throughout the year.”
And when you get to your destination, he said the quicker you turn your car off, the better.
“Don’t idle, don’t play on your phone,” said Knapp. “If you’re sitting there, you know, and listening to your radio. You know, I tell you to listen to the radio on your phone, or else you’re gonna eat up a bunch of gas mileage.”
They’re little things that he said can make a big difference especially when every dollar adds up.
For more information on Knapp’s Madison Auto and Towing, visit here.
