My husband and I have a real bone to pick with you after an answer you gave on the radio a couple of weeks ago. A woman called in saying a guy-friend of hers insisted that when slowing to a stop, she should shift down through each gear, from fifth to first, as she stops. She said that she never does that. Instead, she puts the car in neutral right away and lets it roll to a stop. You said they were both wrong! You said the guy friend was wrong because the clutch would wear out faster, and it costs more to fix than the brakes. You said she was wrong, too, but you didn’t say why. This is driving us nuts! Why is it wrong to put the car in neutral and coast when you see a stop up ahead? We’re losing sleep over this. Thanks! — Lee
Ray: Oh, so you're the one who's been calling my house in the middle of the night for the past six weeks!
You are right that we’ve never recommended shifting down through all of the gears when coming to a stop. That’s excessive (though it is fun). While it does save some wear on the brakes, it uses up a lot of your clutch disc over time. And as Ricky Ricardo would say: Clutches are ’spensive, Lucy!
On the other hand, if you just pop the transmission into neutral, you give up all the natural engine braking. And you lose the ability to accelerate suddenly in an emergency if you need to.
Granted, these are minor arguments, Lee. No one’s going to haul you to the International Court of Justice at The Hague for coasting to a stop in neutral.
But this is how I do it: If I’m driving along at 40 mph in fourth gear and see a red light up ahead, I just let up on the gas and use the brake as needed, leaving the car in gear. That way, I get some help with slowing the car from the natural engine braking (which takes advantage of compression, and does no harm to the engine). And if someone swerved at me or was suddenly heading at me from the other direction and I needed to get out of the way quickly, I’d be able to accelerate without having to first fumble for the shifter. Then, when I get down to 10 or 15 mph, I push in the clutch and put the car in neutral and brake to a stop.
Now, you may ask: Is that scenario — where you suddenly need to accelerate again — a likely one? No. Has it ever happened to me? No. So you’re not committing a crime against car-manity by coasting in neutral. But if I were teaching a new driver, that’s the way I would do it — to maximize control over the car. Hope you can get back to sleep now, Lee.
Truck-shopping tips for soon-to-be retiree
Dear Car Talk:
I’m retiring soon and will lose the 38-year luxury of having a company vehicle. I am looking for a good, used, 3/4-ton, 4-by-4, extended-cab, long-bed pickup. Question is: How far back can I safely go to have a decent electronic ignition and fuel-injected vehicle in the major makers Chevy, Ford or Dodge? — Mark
Well, fuel injection and electronic ignition have been around since the 1980s, Mark. So unless you’re looking for something you saw on “Sanford and Son,” you’ll get electronic ignition and fuel injection.
So the real question is, How far can you go back and get a good, reliable used car or truck, in general?
If you’re looking for a truck that you’re going to keep for a while, I would suggest that you stay within the past decade. It’s not that there aren’t exceptions; there are some great, low-mileage older cars out there. But once you get beyond 10 years old, most vehicles are not far from stepping onto the stairway to heapdom.
If your budget allows, I would actually suggest that you stay within the past five years. That way, you also can be up-to-date on the latest (or almost latest) safety features, like stability control, better impact protection and occupant-sensing air bags. You’ll probably get better fuel economy, too, as six-speed (and more) automatic transmissions have become increasingly common lately.
And, last but hardly least, if you get something within the past five years or so, you’ll be able to plug your iPhone into the stereo system. And isn’t that what really matters now?
Two caveats: One is that I’d suggest you avoid the ’04-’07 Ford F-150s with the Triton engines. They had the unfortunate habit of fusing their spark plugs to their engine blocks, making a spark-plug change a $2,500 job sometimes. It may not happen to you, but it’s happened to a bunch of people, and since you have so many years and makes to choose from, I’d steer away from those.
And the second caveat is: Whatever truck you consider, have it checked out thoroughly by a mechanic of your choice before you buy it. Any particular Chevy, Ford or Dodge truck from the past five or 10 years could be a wonderful truck, just as any particular truck could be a disaster about to happen. You won’t be able to tell which is which. But a good mechanic will. So spend $100 and have any potential purchase gone over professionally and carefully before you plunk down your money.
After all, you don’t want to be squandering your retirement savings on car repairs, do you, Mark? No. You want to be squandering it on much better stuff.
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