1. Warm your car up. It is always a good idea to give your car a chance to warm up before you put it into high speeds, or taxing driving conditions. However, with that in mind, the best way to warm a car up is to drive it, not let it sit idle. Sitting idle means getting horrible fuel economy, so, instead drive for a minute or two to warm your car up, just keep those first few minutes as even and controlled of driving as possible so as not to overtax the engine.

2. Avoid any kind of aggressive driving. It is hard on your car, and your gas mileage to be constantly accelerated, braked hard, etc. So, do your best to go the speed limits, and not zip around where you have to speed up really fast or slow down really fast. Your car needs a chance to adjust in speed, so throwing it into freeway where you have to go from five miles an hour to sixty in a matter of seconds is hard on the engine and systems.

3. To help preserve gas mileage and put less stress on your car, avoid high speeds. While a car is designed to get you from point A to B faster, speeds above 60 mph lead to gas mileage dropping, and extra stress put on the car pumps, belts, and systems.

4. Let your car decelerate naturally. If you know you are going to need to slow down, rather than braking hard, plan ahead a little, and let your car slow naturally by taking your foot off the brake. This will prolong the life of your brakes, and put less stress on your engine, not to mention, it will lead to better fuel economy.

5. Try and combine your trips. A lot of stopping, starting, and idling can be hard on an engine, so whenever possible, combine your errands and trips so that your engine can start from a warm engine, and you can use your car when it is all warmed up. Think of the car as doing exercise. You have to warm up first, stretch, etc. to avoid injury. The same is somewhat true of a car. If you use it while it is warm, there is less chance of a problem occurring, etc.

The way you drive will influence the life of your car, so remember that it is a tool, and requires care and maintenance. If you do not give it the care and maintenance it needs, it will not last as long as you want.