It's a hot topic in these days of ever-lessening fossil fuels, the cusp of the electric automobile craze, high gasoline prices (over $4.00 ?!), and global warming, but as far as the Certified Service crew at Handy Chevrolet is concerned fuel efficiency is a no-brainer.  As the mentioned reasons warrant, keeping your new or used Chevrolet vehicle in a prime state of fuel efficiency saves you money, saves our environment, and allows us more time to perfect electric vehicles like the Chevrolet Volt before the fuel well runs dry.

So until the Chevrolet Volts and Tahoe Hybrids of the world become easy to find new Chevrolet vehicles take a look at these tips from General Motors' Certified Service website,* and, below, take a gander at the different ways Handy Chevrolet's Certified Service and auto repair center can help you attain the most bang for your buck at the pump.

• Keep to the speed limit and use cruise control when possible; drivers use 20 percent more fuel from 55 miles per hour to 70 miles per hour... and you won't be risking a speeding ticket to ad insult to your wallet's injury.
• Avoid giving your vehicle a lot of gas to accelerate as well as braking too hard at just about all times - it's counterproductive.  Accelerate slowly and get up to speed and take your foot off the gas as a stop approaches to lose some momentum.  This will also save your brakes.
• Avoid idling whenever possible as you will lose up to a gallon of gas per hour just sitting still.  In fact it's one of those obvious rules that gets overlooked more often than not - when you're idling you're using gas and going zero miles; this means zero miles ger gallon.
• Use the air conditioner on the highway and open your windows during city driving.  The air conditioner uses extra fuel so it is not smart to use it while driving at low enough speeds where having your windows open will not make your vehicle suffer much wind resistance.  Conversely, on the interstate or at high speeds the open windows of a car will reduce the aerodynamics or increase the vehicle's drag coefficiency making it less efficient at cutting through the force of the air.
• Take unnecessary clutter out of your trunk.  A simple rule of thumb is more weight equates to more fuel consumed.  Keep important items like a spare tire and jack, winter gear (hats, sand, salt, etc.), road flares, and the like, but remove your 50-pound hockey bag that's been sitting all winter.
• Fill your gas tank when it's the coolest temperature outside and avoid holiday fill-ups.  Cooler temperatures means less a more condensed gasoline and less vapor giving you more for your dollar (gasoline distributors, short of enormous pipelines where the gas originates, do not account for the difference).  As far as holidays go, prices generally rise on or around holiday travel periods.
• Never top off your tank.  Not only can it be dangerous, the extra gasoline you attempt to put in the tank just spills out or evaporates.  This is one reason for the automatic shut-off most gasoline pumps have today.
• When you get gas at a station, put the automatic filling clip on the 2nd or possibly 3rd setting.  This will take longer but you'll get less gas vapor - that you're paying for - sucked up and sent into the gas pump's exhaust system.
• Don't fill your gas tank when you see a fuel truck refilling a station.  This stirs up any debris in the underground tank and can land straight in your car's fuel filter or worse the tank itself.
• Fill your tank no later than at a half tank.  While this may seem odd, the more space or volume inside the tank allows for more evaporation of the fuel, and gasoline evaporates very quickly.  As an added "bonus" of sorts it will make your wallet feel the crunch less (although this is more of a psychological trick than reality!).
• Make sure to use whatever octane fuel (regular, plus, super, etc.) your Chevrolet vehicle's Owner's Manual recommends.  Use top tier detergent gasoline when possible.
• Coast down hills when it's safe to do so and accelerate before hitting the incline of a hill, not during your ascent.
• Try not to have a roof rack attached to your Chevrolet for no reason as they cause a great deal of wind resistance and lessen the aerodynamics of your vehicle.  You can use up to an extra quarter gallon of gasoline to compensate the wind resistance of a drag-inducing rack, and that's just an empty, unused racks score!

Again, as an authorized GM Certified Service center in St. Albans, VT our technicians know your new or used Chevrolet better than anyone else.  Our Certified Service team has been meticulously trained to know exactly what makes your car tick (even if said tick isn't a good thing) and our technicians only use 100 percent genuine GM auto parts and accessories.  So while you're in for your next Certified Service appointment, make sure to ask about these fuel saving services offered at Handy Chevrolet.

If you do not have a service appointment, schedule your appointment now using our online appointment form.

The following is a brief list of services our Certified Service technician staff can and will provide during a Fuel Efficiency Service to boost or maximize fuel efficiency of virtually any vehicle:

1. Engine oil change
2. Checking or changing the oil filter
3. Check and adjust tire pressure
4. Clean the air intake system
5. Emission system inspection  Check the brakes for correct adjustment
6. Front suspension alignment
7. Steering alignment
8. Clean the fuel injectors
9. Replacing spark plugs
10. Unclogging the exhaust system
11. Look at the exhaust gas recirculation system
12. Clean coils and connections
13. Examine transmission and torque converter for correct fluid levels
14. Replacing damaged hoses
15. Perform diagnostics to identify malfunctioning systems