Is It Okay to Put Car in Park at Red Lights?

Different people will have different answers. Some even say that the law prohibits putting the car in park at a light, but I have yet to see where it says that in any state.

But, it won't affect the brakes one way or the other. Brakes wear out when the car is in motion and you are applying the brakes.

What can wear out is the transmission. Many owner's manuals recommend not leaving the car in gear at a stop for long periods of time. But you don't have to use park. You can also use neutral and just keep holding the brakes. Like I said, holding the brakes at a stop does not put any wear or tear on them.

The biggest downside is the time it takes to put the car back in gear. If you get impatient, you could accidentally rev the engine before it's in gear, which is worse for the transmission than just leaving it in gear for a few minutes.

Brakes don't wear while sitting at a stop. I put my car in Park if I'm waiting at a train crossing for a long train.

You can, but why? Save wear and tear on you brakes, what about the wear and tear on the drive train when the car is jerked from putting it back into gear? You save nothing by doing this one way or the other.

When the vehicle is sitting still, there is close to zero wear on the brakes. Driving programs, for a variety of reasons, recommend that you do NOT put your vehicle in park at red lights. However if you decide to do that, I don't think it will harm the universe.

There IS NO "wear and tear" on your brakes when the car is sitting still! Brake pads only wear from friction when the vehicle is moving.

No reason to do so, unless you're going to be stopped for an extended time -- to allow you to rest your brake foot.

Besides, on most cars, when you move your shift lever to/from Park, you must go through the Reverse position. This causes your backup lights to come on momentarily, which can confuse and possibly frighten the driver of the car behind you at the traffic light. They may feel that you about to back into them by mistake. This is the main reason I never do it -- because I wouldn't want the car in front of me doing it.

You can do it, but it is a bother. Brakes wear out by rubbing(which means the wheel is rotating). I sometimes just slip it into N, as you can hear the engine pick up speed so it warms up quicker, but I still keep my foot on the brake...and then just slip it into D as the other lights are turning Yellow so everything is normal and ready to go. But to do that shifting, someone has to hold onto my BEER.

Brakes don't wear when the parts don't move.

No, there is no wear on brakes when stopped. Bigger risk of shifting error when it's time to move again.

Don't do that. You need to be able to start moving when the light changes without having to shift out of park. The brakes are not wearing while the car stands still, so shifting to park saves you nothing.

neutral with the hand brake on is better for a sort time

2-3 minutes is ok, especially in hot weather. Not a good habit if only 30 seconds or so, the going from D-R-P then back is a bit jerky. I even turn off engines at long lites.

Sure, if you want. I would be amazed if you got any more life out of your brakes though.

Holding the car on the brakes in "D" doesn't harm them. Brakes only wear when they are rubbing on the rotor/drum. When you are in "D" with the brakes on at idle, the transmission slips (as it's designed to do) because it is a fluid drive. Nothing is wearing out. Selecting "P" does put a little extra wear on your transmission because it has to move in and out of actuation, but over the life of the car, you won't notice either way.

Here the Government recommends Netrual. To save a little gas. If a long stop.

IT only makes sense of you are STUCK behind a VERY LONG train! TOuse the STARTER over and OVER again will wear it out! ANd you save NOTHING in fuel anywya! >>The BEST thing is to be SURE your THROTTLE BODY and IDLE AIR CONTROL VALVE arwe SHOWROOM CLEAN< as the final AIR/FUEL mixture is made HERE in STOP and GO traffic! ALSO theuse of SYNTHETIC OILS is teh RIGHT THING TO DO< as it WILL save yoru CONVERTER and EXHAUST over time! The use of DENSO TWIN TIP IRIDIUM LASER plugs will ALSO promote LONGEVITY< and increase power and mielage by up- to TWENTY PERCENT!.