[brucepick]

Re. coasting with an auto tranny.
Look in your owners manual re. having your car towed.
Look in the section on "Flat Towing", where all four wheels are on the road and turning.

Most manuals should tell you whether it's safe, and limitations on distance and speed.

The reason to read that section is - flat towing an auto-tranny car is essentially the same as engine-off coasting it. Wheels are turning and the engine is off, with trans in neutral.

Some car's manuals will say never do it, always have the drive wheels off the ground. Some manuals will say you can go up to 30 mph or 40 mph, and for a distance of x miles. You get the idea. Now they're assuming the car is being towed so they probably figure you do it rarely. If you're using it as a driving technique - that will be daily, or nearly so. You might want to limit your coasting to lower speeds and distances than the manual gives you. Tranny failure is expensive indeed.

Better yet, buy a stick shift car next time if you're able to drive it!