@DarkScribe: I guess I’m wrong. I know that when I’m in an automatic (which is infrequent) and I let my foot off the brake and don’t put it in the gas, the car moves forward… doesn’t that mean that the drivetrain is engaged? And when I do feel that conditions are safe to put the car in neutral as I bring the car to a stop, I can feel and hear the difference. I noticed some improvement in my fuel consumption when I did this, but perhaps there were other coincidental variables as well.
As for the safety, when I first mentioned it, I said that ”more experienced drivers might consider” trying it, and I mentioned that safety features on the car are disabled when in neutral. I guess those weren’t strong enough as disclaimers; and if my experience and observations are incorrect, it’s a moot point anyway.
Perhaps I’d fail an advanced driver course for doing that, but many people I’ve encountered during hundreds and hundreds of thousands of miles of driving shouldn’t have passed the Basic course.
As for the damage to the transmission when coasting in neutral, I can neither confirm nor refute your claim. The transmission specialist I was once married to is deceased more than ten years, so I can’t check with him, either. But I am curious… if the car is in Neutral and rolling forward, how the transmission could be damaged.
I am fully aware that you have been driving longer than I, and may have logged more miles, too. It is also very likely that you have more automotive mechanical experience than I, and so I defer to your response and withdraw my suggestion. I can not go back and edit, and so I can only hope that others will read the entire thread. Thank you.