Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to leave my engine running for ten mins at 6.45 each morning (M-F)?

801 replies

ThreeJumpersIsNotEnough · 16/12/2018 17:21

Neighbours have just come to the door with a Christmas card and a polite request to be more quiet in the mornings.

I usually leave at 7am to drop dd at breakfast club and get myself to work at 8am (I work Mon-Fri only - no weekends).

Now it's getting colder, the car is unbearably cold in the mornings so last week I started nipping out 10-15 mins earlier while dd was brushing her teeth so the car would be warm for us getting in and the frost/ice would be mostly melted from the window.

Neighbours have revealed that they are normally woken by me leaving most mornings at 7am but they can put up with it as I leave immediately so they are able to go back to sleep. However, they are not willing to put up with what I've been doing recently as they have found it impossible to go back to sleep having been awake for so long waiting for me to leave with the engine running ... Hmm

They have suggested I park further away from the house.

This is my first winter with these neighbours. They only moved in beginning of the year and we're polite to each other but not any more than 'hello' acquaintances. We live very rurally - just our two houses - in woodland area. Any noise carries and it is mostly silent (why I moved here - now I'm the one being a noise pest, it would appear). No street lights. 5 minute drive down our landlord's private (god awful road) onto the public road where there are other houses.

If I parked further away, that is further for me and DD to walk to the car each morning - in the pitch black - with our bags. Likewise, it is further for us to walk to the house each evening when we get back.

Not sure what the solution is. I told them I wasn't keen to park farther away (due to the above concerns) but they've asked me to give it a try at least for tomorrow. I've agreed to try it.

AIBU to ask for your ideas on what a peaceful resolution to this would be?

OP posts:
Excited101 · 17/12/2018 17:21

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but unless I’ve got a particularly crap one, the 12v headed throws are really rubbish. They take ages to heat up at all and then it’s hardly noticeable.

ilovechocolate07 · 17/12/2018 17:23

In certain temps my car windows are so full of condensation that it bwould be illegal for me to drive! That's including wiping the windows down so I have to run the engine for a bit.

R3b3kah · 17/12/2018 17:27

Not everyone has a car that heats up within 3 minutes Hmm
My car takes at least 10 minutes to heat the windscreen so I can see out of it to drive, and that’s not the ice it’s the condensation.
Or are we supposed to drive like that so we don’t disturb a neighbours sleep?
Because I would rather someone loses a little sleep, than get into an accident because I can’t see out my windscreen

MsGoldilocks · 17/12/2018 17:27

Wow you are most certainly being unreasonable!!!!! 15 minutes of the engine running would drive me BONKERS at that time in the morning for all the many reasons listed above. Am amazed you even asked

Grilledaubergines · 17/12/2018 17:28

Of course you’re unreasonable. Why should your neighbours be woken by the sound of your car? Why are you happy to pump ten mins worth of car fumes into the environment?

Just dress warmer.

If you were my neighbour I’d think you were a selfish, entitled arsehole.

Milly345 · 17/12/2018 17:29

Sit in it for two minutes and let it warm up that way.

winniestone37 · 17/12/2018 17:29

Yabu and they could report you to the police and council. It's a horrible thoughtless thing to do to your neighbours.

MRSsqueak · 17/12/2018 17:30

yabu. and if you are in the uk and you arnt behind the wheel while the engine is running i think its also illegal

Redglitter · 17/12/2018 17:31

🙄 Ffs. The OP admitted on about page 2 that she was unreasonable and would stop it

Tessabelle1 · 17/12/2018 17:32

You are most definitely being VVU! My neighbour does this with his very old and loud diesel car at 6am and I want to stab him in the eye,thankfully he's lovely otherwise or I would have done it my now!

widgie · 17/12/2018 17:33

Well at least you asked the question my question to you would be how would you like it if that was done to you every morning when you didn’t have to get up and was smelling the fumes in your house ?

PumpkinKitty82 · 17/12/2018 17:35

I have to admit I hate it when people leave their cars running outside but I have issues with over sensitive hearing so noises like this can really get to me .
We also have someone on our road that has a shite exhaust and that noise is even worse and has woken me through my ear plugs!

Tessabelle1 · 17/12/2018 17:36

R3b3kah buy a microfiber cloth and wipe the screen and stop being selfish and polluting the atmosphere not just disturbing your neighbours

cherish123 · 17/12/2018 17:37

I think YANBU. People often leave the engine running to get the windscreen clear. This is perfectly normal and not that noisy.

Bozlem80 · 17/12/2018 17:39

Keep blankets in your car to keep warm, it would really annoy me!

Oscarsdaddy · 17/12/2018 17:40

I wouldn’t give a jot about upsetting your neighbors but it’s not great to leave engine running for such a long time, five minutes should be enough to clear any frost or ice

kateryan · 17/12/2018 17:41

I take it that your neighbours don't need to rise that early. I have a new neighbour who leaves at 4.30am on a sunday, it's his business and I get that. Double glazing works, plus once I got used to his lorry noise I seem to sleep through. To be fair I also sometimes need to get up early and leave 5am for some of my clients, so a bit of fairness is needed all round. Added to that my evenings are often late 2am and my hubby leaves to collect me and then we arrive home 1/2 hour later, so we could be causing some disturbance. Personally I would use a few hot water bottles to help with windscreen defrosting You can put them out as you are rising. Then start your engine 3 - 4 minutes before leaving, car wont be really warm, but you are on the way. We have car rugs to put over our legs till we get warm (useful if you ever breakdown also. We also live in a rural area, very quite and also very dark. Have a chat with your neighbours, explain your situation and the possible compromises you can make without it really impacting on your ability to get to work and drop your daughter off. If they are not receptive, then I would just get on with the best solution for you. There is only so much you can do and some people will never be happy. Wish you luck and a merry xmas.

JimCricket · 17/12/2018 17:42

Am I the only one wondering how an engine running could waken anyone or am I just a really heavy sleeper? 🤔

skybluee · 17/12/2018 17:42

Put rain x on the inside of the windows using paper towels (apply it properly). Your windows will not fog. All you have to do is clear the outside. I'd go out, and scrape it off.

Ferret27 · 17/12/2018 17:42

I have a neighbour who goes out of his house every evening to make calls on his mobile ... he sits running the engine for anything from 15 minutes to almost an hour ... even with his door shut you can hear him talking and that’s over the maddening sound of the engine ... I’m ready to implode it’s been 18 months of it ... how do I get him to stop being so inconsiderate...

mlrmummy1 · 17/12/2018 17:43

These days cars don’t take long to warm up! It’s not like the olden days when cars took forever to get warm....
It’s selfish given the area you live to have an engine running. Towns and built up areas are different as traffic comes and goes at all hours but in remote areas you need to be conscious of neighbours.

Ated · 17/12/2018 17:44

Put methylated spirit in the windscreen bottle. Wipe it over the inside of the screen. Have airvents directed at the screen on full blast? Get one of those small garage tents with internal framing.
Heavy Duty 3 x 6m Car Port Canopy Portable Garage Boat Gazebo Carport Galvanised
Heavy Duty 3 x 6m Car Port Canopy Portable Garage Boat Gazebo Carport Galvanised

NotdeadyetBOING · 17/12/2018 17:44

No question - YABU. If people leave their engines idling outside our house I always go and ask them (politely) to stop. Noise plus horrendous, pointless environmental damage.

tonglong · 17/12/2018 17:46

What a bunch of wet blankets

It is not illegal to run your car in a private road unattended.

If it was a highway you can just sit in it for 15 mins.

All the do Gooders on here claiming it's illegal, I'm sure never break the law by going over speed limit, use phone etc.

Running the car to get warm is the safest and correct thing to do. Warming the windscreen so it is clear to see is the correct thing to do.

Scraping the screen and risking it misting up and obscuring visibility while driving is not safe and is illegal if it risks visibility while driving.

The neighbours are been unreasonable asking you not to run your car to get to work. They can not be that tired.

I can not believe what a bunch of wet blankets people are. If a car running outside wakes you up..... then get up.

Expecting the world to be silent so it doesn't wake you up ...... what a joke

Turquoise123 · 17/12/2018 17:47

TBH I was really shocked by this - I think you have VERY tolerant neighbours . I leave just before 7 - lots of us do.

If your daughter is really cold take a hot water bottle ?