Barbara Terry - America's Favorite Auto Expert



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Featuring Barbara
East Valley Tribune

Expert gives tips on stretching your fuel, money

July 15, 2006

Barbara Terry is a female car expert. Barbara Terry

Keep pumping gas after the nozzle automatically shuts off and you are paying for gas that is sucked back into the hose, an automotive expert said. “When it clicks off, your tank is full,” said Barbara Terry, also known as Dr. Fuel-Good. So stop wasting money by trying to force more fuel in, she said.

Terry, the auto expert at About.com and Shell Oil Co.’s summer spokeswoman Dr. FuelGood, has lots of tips to save gas and money amid soaring pump prices.

They include everything from taking the golf clubs out of the trunk to parking the car at fast-food restaurants rather than using the drive-through.

“If you’re idling in a fastfood line, you’re getting zero miles per gallon. Kill the motor,” Terry said.

Good maintenance habits from regular oil changes to proper tire inflation will keep a car humming for years, she said.

“For most people, their car is their second largest investment. For some, it is their largest investment,” Terry said. “If only they understood how important it is to check things like the condition of their radiator or hoses.”

But only 21 percent of those surveyed nationwide — and a slightly better 25 percent of Valley motorists — do regular vehicle check-ups, according to a recent Shell survey. “If they did, it would decrease breakdowns and increase gas mileage,” Terry said.

Speaking of gas, Terry said, the survey identified several pump personality profiles. About half of all motorists fall into one of these categories, and one is dangerous to the longevity of the family sedan.

The “empty tanker” — about 33 percent of drivers nationally, 28 percent in the Valley — waits till the gauge is at or near the bottom line before filling up. The “proactive pumper” — 6 percent nationally, 8 percent Valleywide — is always topping off. The “disciplined driver” — 6 percent nationally, 8 percent Valleywide — has a regular routine.

“My mother goes to the same gas station every Saturday morning, whether she needs gas or not,” Terry said.

All those types are a matter of taste, she said, but a “fumes fiend” — 9 percent nationally, 5 percent Valleywide — can send a car to an early grave. “Fumes fiends thrive on the thrill of seeing how far they can take a car past the red line,” Terry said. “But the sludge and debris that sits in the bottom of the tank works its way into the fuel intake system and can create spitting, sputtering, backfiring and loss of power.”

Terry recommends that instead of daydreaming while pumping gas like 43 percent of motorists nationwide — 35 percent of Valley drivers — do, wise car owners could use the time to do mini-checks of tire pressure and fluid levels.

Local drivers should pay particular attention to coolant levels, she said. More Valley drivers — 71 percent — than the national norm — 52 percent — escape from pump-side reveries for at least few minutes to wash their windshields, she said.

By Donna Hogan

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