Is it advisable to engage in neutral transmission and hitting the brakes while slowing down?

Question

my cousin have this habit of engaging the transmission to neutral and hitting moderately the brakes especially when he's about to cross the intersection or to make a complete stop.

Sometimes he's doing this even the vehicle is still running at 40km/h and he's just slowly hitting the brakes to perform a complete stop.

Now, is this advisable and can this cause serious damage to the vehicle?

pls. advise

thanks

Answer 1

It's better to allow the engine to help slow the car down.  It saves a bit on brake wear and tear, and does no harm to the engine, as long as you don't let the revs slow down less than idle speed.

I even manage to gear down if I have enough time and space, before coming to a stop.  While approaching a red traffic light, this has the additional advantage of leaving me in an appropriate gear to continue if the light turns green.

By the way, this only applies to a manual transmission.  It is NEVER advisable to take the car out of gear while the car is in motion.  It is one thing, taking the car out of gear, once stopped, but quite another to be coasting in neutral.

Answer 2

There is nothing wrong with this, I have a standard (stick shift) and I do this all the time while coming to a stop. I even sit at lights with the car in neutral, this does no damage at all to the vehicle, engine or tranny.

Answer 3

well it doesn't hurt anything but your brakes will wear down faster. but on the other hand, if you dont know how to downshift correctly, you can wear down your clutch faster.

i just always coast in neutral down hills and to stop lights. sometimes i use the gears to slow down. but you didn't mention if your cousin's car is manual or not. if its auto, then he is an idiot. it wont hurt the car but its just pointless if its auto.