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

[ThreeJumpersIsNotEnough]

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 ...

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?

I’d be worried about someone stealing my car

YABVU. It's inconsiderate and bad for the environment. Cover the windscreen and put warmer clothes on.

YANBU for leaving it unattended but your car has to be safe to drive before setting off which isn’t always instantaneous. The inside condensation is very slow to clear from my car and I turn directly into sun glare when I leave my house so my windscreen has to be spotless. Wiping it smears it and makes glare worse so I often sit in it for up to 10 mine before setting off. No neighbours close enough to annoy so hadn’t really thought about it and I don’t leave it unattended as I know it is illegal. The scraping of the car is definitely the noisy bit though and unavoidable.

Sorry YABU to leave it unattended.

I have a heated front windscreen. It's fabulous. I will never again drive a car that doesn't have one.

So, let me get this straight. You moved deliberately to a home that is ridiculously quiet but you think it's ok to make noise every morning that annoys your neighbours who most likely did the same?

Had a neighbour who always drove bloody noisy vehicles, did the same every morning!!! Was such a relief when they split and he moved out - only now he is back to do the school run!!! Aaaaargh!!!!

I think your neighbours went about complaining really nicely! I'd pop a Xmas card in return to them, with an apology and definitely stop doing it. As others have said, it is quite selfish.

I was told by a mechanic not to run the heater but the air con to demist the windows as it’s more effective. He was right.

Cover your windscreen at night with one of those insulated eye mask type covers. Or, as a pp suggested, cardboard.

Invest in a plug in heated car seat cover - about £20, if the budget will stretch.

Hot water bottles in the meantime.

YABU to leave the engine running. Buy warm jumpers, leather driving gloves, a rug for DDs legs.

Not only is it annoying for the noise, it's bad for the environment and you are totally uninsured if anything should happen to your car whilst it's running but no one nearby.

Don't be such a snowflake. It's a bit of cold. You won't die.

I usually end up running my car with us all sat in it to demist the windscreen. Can't drive off until it clears! Karcher only does so much as it reports until all is settled!

Why not make you and DD warm drinks in travel mugs that'll keep you warm too. I have a frost shield it's great, and maybe a blanket on the radiator inside that your DD can bundle around her in the car until it warms up. It really isn't that cold yet though..

Don't scrape the ice, it can be really noisy. Leave covers on the front and back screens, or ideally put one over the whole car. It'll also help to make the interior a little warmer.

It’s cold for everyone in the morning. Suck it up. And yes, very unreasonable and selfish. But I am assuming you’re going to continue doing it anyway.

My Dad used to put a fan heater in my Mum's car for about 10 minutes before she had to leave

This is the solution. I used to do this. It's quicker and more effective than running the engine.

I don't think 7am on a weekend is really early.
This surely only happens a few months of the year not every day.
It's much colder in the countryside.

I think your neighbours are being precious quite frankly but no one wants to be deliberately annoying so I guess you might have to do what you can.

Don't any of them work? 0700 seems a bit late to still be sleeping on a weekday

Massively unreasonable to do this.
Two of my neighbours do this and it irritates me so much.

One leaves at about 11.30pm every night which wakes me up because he starts his old diesel van and sits and faffs, then someone else who starts the engine to there very loud sports car to warm up the turbo at about 5am.

And the addition of the milkmans van running at 5.30 is the icing on the cake. Our street is SO quiet that these engines seem deafening

I can always tell when it's frosty outside, even before I've got out of bed, because I can feel the vibrations of next-door's car for the 10 mins or so it takes them to scrape the windows with the engine running.

I on the other hand, am in the car and away in under a minute, as I pour tepid water on the screen. Job done. (Note: TEPID, not boiling from the kettle! I'm not stupid.)

I run my engine for about 3 min, there's heated front and back windows. I'm doing it to deice, not to warm up. I also scrape at the same time, but scraping is quite noisy and takes ages on its own. Have to do it most mornings in winter. Police always advising against driving 'ice tanks' where only a bit is scraped off and you can't really see- I bet they start up the police cars for a couple of minutes before driving off...

My neighbours also do the same, never thought anything of it and I wouldn't presume to tell them they couldn't, it's for a couple of minutes, not 10-15 and I think it's reasonable.

Covers are a good idea, might try that but I don't think 2 min of a car engine going at 7.30am is outrageous myself.

Reading the thread before commenting really is beyond some people.
There are only two houses where she lives, and she's already accepted that she has to stop doing it.
I'm surprised that it's so noisy. My neighbour leaves the engine running too but I only know because I go out with the dog. I can't hear it in the house.

But I am assuming you’re going to continue doing it anyway.

Did you bother reading the whole thread?

Where in north Scotland? Missing the point Just my family are In Aberdeen and they've said it's been Baltic this week

I think limit it to 5 minutes would be a compromise

Yabu.

0700 seems a bit late to still be sleeping on a weekday

Not everyone lives in London commuter belt and has to waste hours every day getting to work

0700 seems a bit late to still be sleeping on a weekday

7am? Late?