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Paul Nelson, KSL NewsradioYour father likely gave you some of the best advice you've ever had, but maybe you shouldn't always listen to him. One popular magazine says your dad may be the last person you want to ask for car tips.
You trust his judgment in virtually all you major life decisions. Apparently he understands everything but cars. According to Popular Mechanics, his pearls of automotive wisdom may have been way off. For example, his tip to let the engine idle so it can warm up is wrong. Murray Midas Assistant Manager Rich Hall says that just hurts the engine.
Rich Hall: "You start it up, and then idle for a couple seconds and take it down the road, there's more oil pumping in the engine to the point where it lubricates better and causes less wear."
Also, dad's advice to clean out the engine from time to time by buying premium grade gas once in a while can be considered "iffy."
Rich Hall: "You need to stay with one and stick with it because the computer will constantly try and adjust for it, which will cause negative things if you're constantly changing it."
Now, we should give dad a break. Some of the advice he gives used to be true when he got it from grandpa, like the notion that it takes more gas to restart a car than it does to idle.
Rich Hall: "Now that everything's fuel injected, it takes less gas than it used to in an older car."
Hall says there have been so many changes in technology; most conventional wisdom is going out the window. Then again, he says some fathers made mistakes just in the cars they bought.
Nelson: "The Pinto was a mistake?"
Rich Hall: "Yes it is. It was."
Nelson: "How about the 1988 Dodge Omni? Was that a mistake, too?"
Rich Hall: "Yes. I've worked on a fair amount of those."
Nelson: "How about the '76 Chevy Malibu?"
Rich Hall: "Pretty close, behind those."
Nelson: "My dad bought all three of these cars."
Although we may love him, we're probably better off bypassing dad altogether and get our car advice from a mechanic.
