Should I Turn Off the Auto Start-Stop In My Car?

If you’ve driven a newer car recently, you might have noticed a new feature: an auto start-stop option. When this setting is on, your vehicle’s engine will turn off when you come to a stop, like at a traffic light or if you’re stuck in a traffic jam. It will turn on again once you accelerate.

Automobile manufacturers have been touting the auto start-stop feature in newer cars as a fuel-saving feature. Many of them bill this feature as better for both you and the environment. Because of this, in many of these cars, the default setting for this feature is “on”. You have to manually switch the setting off if you don’t wish to utilize it.

It certainly makes it easy to save fuel and reduce your emissions while driving. You don’t have to remember to opt into this setting; it just comes on when you turn your car on. But there’s a flip side. Without this feature, you only utilize the starter in your car once per trip. When this setting is on, however, your vehicle will use it every time you accelerate from a stop.

You may find yourself wondering if this exponential increase in the usage of your starter has any downsides. We spoke to Kye Grisham, the vice president of Procurement and Automotive Technology for Christian Brothers Automotive Corporation, and Thomas Diamond, an automotive technology specialist at Father Judge High School, to find out if this feature lives up to its advertising.

Does This Feature Decrease the Lifespan of Your Starter?

According to Grisham, it does not. “These starters are built differently from traditional starters and can handle the increased quantity of starts,” the vice president says. The exponential increase in use was incorporated into the design for this feature. He explains that most of the starters in cars with an auto on-off feature “are designed to turn slower as well so they do not wear out.” So you can rest assured that leaving it on isn’t a recipe for an expensive starter replacement earlier than if you’d turned it off.

Diamond agrees. He explains that newer starters are quite “beefed up” compared to ones in cars without this feature. He says that every facet of these automotive parts has been prepared for the exponential increase in usage. These newer ones are the “heavy-duty” version of a traditional starter.

Is it Better to Toggle This Setting Off?

Grisham says that, “considering these starters are designed to handle this,” turning the setting on or off comes down to personal preference. If you don’t like the repetition of starting your car over and over on trips around your city, you can usually push a single button to turn off the setting. But if you want “to save fuel and emissions,” Grisham recommends leaving it on. It’s an easy way to save a little money by making your fuel stretch further. It’s especially helpful during city driving, where you may find yourself stuck in traffic or at lights quite frequently.

About the Experts

Kye Grisham is the Vice President of Procurement and Automotive Technology for Christian Brothers Automotive Corporation.

Thomas Diamond is an automotive technology specialist with Father Jude High School.

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