yup, you can neutral coast in an auto, i do it all the time.
be really careful about shifting in/out of neutral.
if you are going to EOC rember you can only restart your car in neutral or park.
make sure the neutral position is working properly somewhere that won't be a problem if you have to come to a complete stop.
shifting past neutral into reverse is bad, and very easy to do in my car. that said it is not as bad as in a manual shift. at 45mph it only skretched the tires for a split second. then stalled my engine. the tourqe converter alowed enough slip to coast till i could get it back into neutral and restart.
i destroyed my first volkswagon's manual trans. downshifting past first and going into reverse by accident first week with the car.
Not all A-trannies are created equally. Advice I go by is if the manual says it can't be flat towed then neutral-engine off coasting is probably not a good idea. Otherwise, neutral-engine on coasting should be fine.
Results may vary, but if you don't know the towability then leave the engine on to be safe.
BDC, thank you for your educated opinion as well.
as for me, i am getting a little bored with sputnik, i have had this fine mini van for almost a year, and i really dont need such a big car. i think i will keep living on the edge.