Do you warm up your car in below ZERO weather to make it comfortable when you get into it in the morning? (rich, gas)

[Glenfield]

It's not necessary to warm up a car before driving it nowadays, and can be harmful for older carbureted vehicles. If it's really cold, like minus 10 or below, I let it run for a minute before I drive off, and I drive at moderate speeds.

Do cars need to warm up, on cold winter mornings? | Car Talk

I park in my (unheated) garage, have heated seats, and wear a coat in the winter, so comfort is also not an issue with me. That said, if you want to run your car so the heater works before you drive off, I see it as your gas and your business.

[Sarimn00]

Yes, I do all the time. It's not so much got to do with being toasty warm, because although I have a heater in my car that will heat your right out of there, it doesn't really get going until the car starts moving. I live out in Western Minnesota, and no one cares if you start your car and let it run for a while. And if the temps are going to be really bad, I will start it around midnight, too. No garage, much less a heated one at this rental house.

[rogead]

Originally Posted by MN-Born-n-Raised

I'm still waiting for planes to dropout of the air because someone has their cell phone on. I'd bet 5-10 phones are left on during each flight by accident. It's child's play to design wiring that rejects cell phone signals from entering (coupling) into the wire/harnesses. I propose every modern plane is completely safe to fly with a cell phone turned on as proven by the fact that phones are not dropping out of the air.

Also, THOUSANDS of cars are left running while they fill up too. That said, I turn off my phone before a flight and turn off my car when I gas-up because I was programmed to do so. The threat of a spark was more of a concern with distributor caps designs of the past and vapors. But cars are coming and going out of the stations non-stop. As you say, running your car while gassing up isn't an issue.

Under Minnesota statutes, an individual dispensing gasoline must be "...in close attendance to the dispenser nozzle during the fueling process". However, there are no criminal or civil penalties for a violation. The store can, however, refuse to allow the fueling to continue.

239.751
Subd. 6a.Person must be present when fueling; sign. (a) A person must be in close attendance to the dispenser nozzle while fuel is being dispensed into a motor vehicle. No civil or criminal penalties apply to violations of this subdivision.
(b) A person who sells petroleum product at retail to the public for use in motor vehicles as defined in section 296A.01, subdivision 21:
(1) shall post signs in the locations described in subdivision 5 that state: "A person fueling a motor vehicle must be in close attendance to the dispenser nozzle during the fueling process."; and
(2) may discontinue fuel services to a person who violates paragraph (a).

[MNTroy]

I usually let my vehicle run for 5 minutes based on 2 factors:

• Love to sit in a warm car in the morning. If I arrive to work all cold I will spend time warming up instead of being work productive. Also it lets my windows have a chance to defrost.

• My job is only 8 miles from my house in no or little traffic. I have been told that I should let the car warm up because it's hard on any car to start it and shut it down before the engine has the chance to warm up.

[HomePort]

It is illegal and ticketable offence with a pretty hefty fine to leave an UNLOCKED, unoccupied car running. Not just that if the car is stolen police wont register it as a theft nor will insurance cover it as a loss.

Remote starters typically keep the car locked so those are not much of a problem.

As for a mechanical point of view - depends on some factors like how old the car is, how long it has been sitting in how much cold, and what your driving pattern is going to be after you start the engine. If you have an older car that requires 5w30 or thicker oil and has been sitting outside in below zero temps for 8+ hours and you hit the freeway in a few moments after starting then thats plain torture on the engine. If that is the case I'd idle for about a minute or two before taking off. Otherwise depending on how severe the above mentioned factors are the idling requirement can be eased. So short answer - not more than a couple of minutes in any case. Some people wait for the "engine temperature" indicator to come up to normal. That is just plain dumb. From the 2000 degree F temps in the cylinder to the heater coil over which the fan air blows to make it hot there are several layers of heat conduction happening. The engine is far hotter than the air blowing through the vents.

[Ghengis]

Originally Posted by HomePort

It is illegal and ticketable offence with a pretty hefty fine to leave an UNLOCKED, unoccupied car running. Not just that if the car is stolen police wont register it as a theft nor will insurance cover it as a loss....

so that means it would be OK to help myself to one of these as it is apparently not against the law and qualifies under the "I Call Dibs" Statute?

[supreme21]

Lately, I let my car run 15, 20 minutes every morning, and prior to leaving work. I have a remote starter, so it's easy to do and I guess I like to eat the cost of the extra fuel to get into a warm car. Granted, it seems the average temp here has been well below zero for the past two months. Above zero, I usually remote-start it a few minutes before tearing off.

And I DO let my car run at the gas pump, summer, spring, fall and winter.

[michigan83]

It is illegal and ticketable offence with a pretty hefty fine to leave an UNLOCKED, unoccupied car running.

Hmmm... sounds like a little bit of a Nanny State up there in Minnesota....

[metisman2009]

I use a remote start, put my jacket on, by then the truck is ready go. Cold weather isn't much of a detriment to starting your car as long as it is reasonably maintained and have a decent battery.

[vision33r]

Don't know why people leave their car idle just to warm it up. It's a waste of gas because during idle the car burns more rich fuel which also leads to more pollutants instead of having the car burn better mixed fuel when it's running and going.