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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think you shouldn't leave your car engines running?

254 replies

TheRhubarb · 06/02/2012 09:51

First thing in the morning all I can hear from around 6am through until 9am is the sound of car engines runnings.
It provides a constant hum in the background and pollutes the air.

Can I ask why people don't cover their car windows with sheets? Or invest in de-icer?
My dh gets up at 5.15am to leave for work at 6am but he wouldn't dream of letting his car engine run, thus disturbing our neighbours. He throws the kettle over the car and sprays it with de-icer. Yes ok it's a trifle cold when he gets in the car, but it soon warms up.

So what is it with these selfish people who come out of their houses, start up their cars and then leave the engines running for half an hour whilst they have a cup of tea? How can they afford the petrol?

If you do this, please stop. It pollutes the air and I can guarantee that your neighbours are thoroughly pissed off with it.

OP posts:
noyouhavehadawee · 06/02/2012 12:42

De icer rots your paintwork so thats out. Dh got a tin and put tea lights lit in his car last week to defrost it - i couldnt beleive my eyes the fecking idiot. He thought it would save running his engine i thought it would catch fire. Anyway we leave ours running to warm through so its toasty warm and safely cleared windows for our little people.

ouryve · 06/02/2012 12:42

Agreeing that cars need to be armed up - drive off too quick and apart from the potential damage to moving parts, there's a danger of the windscreen becoming covered in condensation, obliterating the driver's view.

Going in and leaving the car is stupid, though - that's how people's cars get nicked by opportunist thieves on cold mornings.

entropygirl · 06/02/2012 12:42

I'm all for moaning tbh....very cathartic.

aldiwhore · 06/02/2012 12:43

Bah... well with a little research (5 minutes worth) I have to say that there's as much evidence for not warming your car up as there is. But mostly its eco sites that say you don't need to. Most car sites absolutely say you do need to, but for no more than 5 minutes usually, again its to do with the oil, and wear and tear on your car.

As for idling your car being illegal, yes it is on a public highway, not in a drive as its private land (from what I can acertain amongst the pletherer of very similar arguments all over the internet), and certainly not if you're in it.

So I get points for being right about basic car care.

TheRhubarb you get points for the longevity of the idling and the fact the cars are unattended on public highways (?).

However, I can't find anywhere that considers noise pollution a valid argument, and as that is your real gripe (its noisy and early in the morning) YA(still)BU Grin

Apparantly my car will thank me 100,000 miles down the line... which is maybe a false economy as I fully intend to have a new car before then, but THAT is a whole other debate, one which I still win on an environmental perspective, because its certainly better on the environment to look after one car and keep it running forever, than to keep buying new every few years. Wink

Lueji · 06/02/2012 12:45

Water doesn't have to be really warm even. A few degrees above freezing should help anyway.

Oh, and about the stealing. You could invite a gang and your problem is solved.
Apparently, facebook is excellent for that. ;-)
Or leave a note to neighbours, as they may be concerned.

Ahhhtetley · 06/02/2012 12:48

:) nice thread? so here's my 2p worth. I have to have my car warm before driving off because the 'INSIDE' of my windscreen is misted up, I can wipe it with a cloth but still can't see clearly through it, so wether I sit in the car to warm up or leave it to warm up isn't really an argument. Either way I have to leave it running.

have you actually bothered to talk to your neighbour? Maybe a quite, polite word is what will do the trick 'or' there might be a valid reason he/she does it. I tend to leave these things well alone because I'm aware that we all live on a road and there maybe times people annoy me, and vice versa and unless it's a really big issue I don't usually bother getting het up about it.

as for putting warm water on the windscreen, I consider that a really bad idea, purely because you'll end up with a frozen patch of water on the road/driveway and someone could end up on their arse!

Original poster
TheRhubarb · 06/02/2012 12:52

Freudian dear, have you not read my posts? I AM going to do something about it, I'm also having a little moan and perhaps, just perhaps saving other people from the same annoyance by making drivers think a little before leaving their engines running. Is that ok with you?

noyouhavehadawee - how lovely for your little people! Best not to risk them getting a chill by being in a cold car for 5 mins eh?

aldiwhore - Green Flag is not an eco-site and they also say that leaving the engine running for more than 5 mins can lead to wear on the engine and is unnecessary.
As for noise pollution, well that early in the morning for that long IS annoying and I only wish that I could afford a detached house with a drive too. It irks me more because we do our best to be considerate to our neighbours and I only wish they did the same. Not everyone has to be up at 6am and I wish they'd realise that. Also not everyone wants to listen to the drone of their car engines or open their windows to the smell of their petrol fumes.

If everyone considered other people just a little more this world would be better but then we'd have nowt to moan about and AIBU would become redundant! Grin

OP posts:
ArielNonBio · 06/02/2012 12:54

if you really really worried about polluting the air you would not drive a car in the first place or have one of those electric ones

"One of those electric ones" is actually far more polluting in its production and all the shit they put in the battery is beyond belief. And how do you imagine they are charged up? Magic? Electric cars are greenwash.

Better IMO to buy a second hand car and use it sensibly and responsibly if you need a car.

Original poster
TheRhubarb · 06/02/2012 12:54

Ahhhtetley - we've already been through all those points.

5 mins is the max you need to demist your windows.
Warm water running from your car into the gutter by the kerb is not going to turn the road and pavement into an ice-rink. We don't empty buckets over the car, dh and I use a kettle's worth full of warm water trickled over the windscreen with the wipers going and then over the two side windows and back. I'm not planning to wash the car every morning and leave massive puddles of ice for everyone to skid on.

OP posts:
FreudianSlipper · 06/02/2012 13:10

yes it is fine with me for you to have a moan carry on :o

and obvioulsy i have not read the whole thread when there is studying to be done others to read

good luck

scuzy · 06/02/2012 13:16

please dont call me babe its very patronising

ivykaty44 · 06/02/2012 13:17

I think we should go and ask pistonheads Wink as they would just love to come over and put their twopennies in, and get to swear...

Original poster
TheRhubarb · 06/02/2012 13:18

Thank you freudian Grin

scuzy, I was being all friendly like, chill out. After all this is aibu! But if you found it patronising then I shall refrain from such flippancy in the future.

OP posts:
scuzy · 06/02/2012 13:20

apologies if it were meant in a friendly way.

MackerelOfFact · 06/02/2012 13:23

My driving test is booked for 5th March and I am looking forward to the independence and freedom being a driver might bring.

What I am not looking forward to, however, is the frontal lobotomy that they will evidently perform before handing over my license to ensure I become a self-centred wankstain the moment I approach a motor vehicle.

OP, YANBU. The engine idlers are being extremely stupid, selfish and lazy. So your car is cold when you get in it. Oh diddums! The outside is pretty fucking nippy when I have to walk to the station but do I stand there with a generator trying to raise the ambient temperature and aggravating the neighbours? Erm. No.

theodorakis · 06/02/2012 13:26

In the middle east in summer it is 50c plus. We always leave the car running when shopping. Today it is 13c. Car is off but most people still leave it running. I am not doing the "I don't live in UK' card, just supporting the argument that there are times in extreme heat and cold when it is the best option.

Original poster
TheRhubarb · 06/02/2012 13:28

No worries scuzy.

Mackerel - I like you! Some of these people drive all the way to......the village. A mile away. Which is where I walk every single morning with ds leaving the car where it is. And our walk to school is a whole different thread - actually I have started 2 threads on how dangerous car drivers make our route to school by being aggressive and downright bloody dangerous. So although I can drive and I do drive, I prefer to walk and keep my reason and sanity intact.

OP posts:
valiumredhead · 06/02/2012 13:28

Ha ha ha scuzy you'll be a driver soon and change your mind pretty sharpish! There were tons of things I wasn't going to do as a driver that I do on a daily basis now! Grin

valiumredhead · 06/02/2012 13:29

Sorry not scuzy, I meant mackerel*

Original poster
TheRhubarb · 06/02/2012 13:29

You all leave the engines running whilst you go shopping?
That must cause an awful amount of pollution. Does it not gag you when you go back to your cars?
Is there really no other way to cool the car down?

OP posts:
Ahhhtetley · 06/02/2012 13:30

If everyone considered other people just a little more this world would be better but then we'd have nowt to moan about and AIBU would become redundant!

maybe you should be considering your neighbour a little more? That statement works both ways.

Pendeen · 06/02/2012 13:35

Five minutes is reasonable, half an hour is excessive.

The gearbox on my Alfa is much smoother when the oil has has a chance to warm up so I would never drive straight after a cold start (and I mean icy not just a cool day).

Original poster
TheRhubarb · 06/02/2012 13:36

Ahhhtetley - pray tell me how I may consider my neighbour a little more? I take in everyone's parcels (the postman knows I work from home), we have weeded and flattened the parking area at the side of our house for everyone, we don't have loud parties or barking dogs, we don't leave our car engines running, we don't block anyone in ever, we say hello to everyone, we provide emergency babysitting for a neighbour down the road sometimes, we clear the ice off the pavement. This sounds smug but we are the neighbours I would love to have.

I started this thread a while back about our school journey and car drivers. I hope I never turn into that kind of driver.

OP posts:
Malificence · 06/02/2012 13:36

If you have a diesel and only have a shortish trip to work, running the engine for a while is the only way you'll get the interior even slightly warm for the journey, diesels take forever to warm up and running them cold every time does the engine no good at all, the DPF will clog up and you'll lose power, using more fuel in the process.
Flinging red hot water at a car windscreen is really stupid and a great way to crack the screen, room temp or tepid if at all.

Original poster
TheRhubarb · 06/02/2012 13:39

We do have a diesel malificence, dh doesn't have a problem with the engine when going to work on icy mornings and can put up with a cold interior for 10mins and no, tepid water will not crack the screen that is a myth.

OP posts:
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