To think people can defrost their cars without running their engine all morning?

[shinysnowman]

I start work in a couple of hours. I have been awake since 5am, due to a steady flow of neighbours who have sat in their car with their engine running, one actually revving their engine constantly, waiting for their car to defrost. The first at 5am, each for a good 15 minutes each. It's been the same every day this week.

Don't people scrape their cars anymore? Is it wrong for me to be annoyed and think that they are being inconsiderate?

(Apologies to those with DC who are dragged up with them at this time!)

Love it StealthPolarBear ;)

Especially with my old car I turned the engine on because it had heated windows so turning the engine on means that the heated windows are on melting the ice. With the bonus of a lovely toasty car yabu

Kpo58 Getting the ice off isn't the proble, if you have a car you would realize that the problem is setting off down the road when it instantly fogs up the screen, you cant see a dicky bird out, and there is insufficient warmth in the demister to clear it, unless your car has an electric heater type demister.

Honest to god the faffing. Fucking squeegees for the inside?? Turn on the demister!

Have never ever seen cars with full on covers, except in pictures.
Come round my area any frosty night and my car will be wearing one of these.

Honest to god the faffing. Fucking squeegees for the inside?? Turn on the demister!

We ARE turning on demisters. That's the problem apparently!

(Just that some of us have older cars that don't have AC or amazingly efficient heaters so it takes a minute or two to clear)

@Quebeth oh fuck off. My car tends to freeze solid on the inside. The demister is woeful. There is literally water running down the inside of the windscreen sometimes. I could sit there all day and it wouldn't be dry.

You're welcome to come and have a go!

Well ok Questionable clearly your situation isn’t typical but plenty of people have said they have squeegees or hot water bottles or whatever.

I’m just saying it’s all faffy nonsense. Falling over yourself to not run the demister for 5 mins in case your neighbour has to work a nerve. Fuck right off with that.

I have a shift that means I have to leave at all hours if the night and day. Yesterday I left 2.15am. Friday ill be leaving at 3am. In fact I'm on earlies for the next 7 days. My latest leave time is 5am.

I have to spend 5 minutes running my engine not to de-ice but to de-mist. I have tried wiping but lose vision before I even get to the end of my street as it mists up again. Then on my homeward journey I had shit vision through the wipe smears magnified by the low sun.
Us car owner don't do it to fuck people off or because we are too lazy to scrape.
I do my best to speed up the process. My car gets put to bed with an old mattress protector over the windscreen. I use deicer some days if it's solid ice over frosted ice but always scrape.

My old car was like this. It took 10 mins + too leave on a cold morning . Now I have a new own and this morning I was able to pull off without scraping off ice within 90 secs . It was brilliant .

The hot water bottle trick sounds good.though never heard of it before . Too late for me but op if you are on reasonable good terms.with your neighbors maybe share the tip with them . They may be grateful to.avoid the hassle of the prolonged morning de icing/.demisting and you might get some more sleep

My car is only four years old but it actually freezes on the inside! I try to shut the vents, have moisture traps in there but it still happens. It’s run the engine for around three minutes while I scrape the outside or risk a crash. I live on private land so the best trick is scrape outside, scrape inside then drive off a metre down the drive then that’s the fastest way to clear it.

If it’s not 100% clear it has frozen again on the main road I live in. Not good! I would rather pollute for a few minutes than crash

I never leave my car unattended while the engine is running.

In very cold weather I have the engine running with the fans on the windscreen to demist it while I scrape the ice of the outside. The problem is not getting the ice off the outside, it is the windscreen fogging up on the inside.

I do have to sit for another two or three minutes to allow it to safely demist on the inside. I sit in it though. I don't wipe it as I just cannot reach properly over the dashboard and find that it leaves streaks.

I almost never use de-icer. Only if the ice is really thick. I certainly never pour water over it as I don't want to create an ice rink on my drive and break my neck.

If anyone wants to call that bollocks then feel free.

Scrape the ice off the outside, not of!! I do know that, but my autocorrect doesn't!

My fabulous DD left her back window open the first weekend we had our car ( old one had electric back windows but had to get an older one) and so every single morning we have had a frost, our car has frozen inside too.
Also, there must be some moisture in the drivers door, as that seems to freeze every time too - despite loads of WD-40.

Put some cheap alcohol & water in a spray bottle, rubbing alcohol or even cheap Vodka 50/50 with water, works as well as the aerosol deicer.

YABU it's the inside of my windscreen that's the problem and only way to clear it sufficiently to drive safely is to run the engine.

I had to tun mine, the posters saying just scrape have obviously never had an older car. Lucky them!

Close your window? My car is old and she needs to warm up before we leave - and I’d rather hear the engine for a few minutes than relentless scraping, given a choice!

The windscreen is so cold these mornings that even after wiping, condensation forms on the inside within seconds of getting in. I can't wipe the windscreen while I'm driving and there is only one spot on my route where I can stop safely without holding up traffic.

The only way to stop it happening is to run the engine and warm the car up before setting off. We don't leave till 8 though!

Thanks @HogMog ,I'll give it a go .

Engine on.
Windscreen fans on.

2 minutes to scrape outside of windscreen.

5 seconds to run a demister pad across the inside of the windscreen .

Done

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My car is awful for misting up and will freeze on the inside sometimes. It doesn't clear at all with the fan until I move. My method has been to drive up and down the track (private) until it clears.

This morning tried the hot water bottle. Put it in there about 45 mins before. No mist and defrosted the windscreen and side windows. Way less hassle.

Karcher window vac is the best for actually removing the moisture rather than redistributing it into a smeary mess...

My car gets more moisture as it is the one we go out for family walks in - so 4 warm wet people get in after a walk/run and dry off/breathe in the car...

I understand that alot of you are dependent on cars to get you to work and at all hours of the night and early morning but what i dont get is the lack of contrition and any empathy for your neighbours. Fuck em!

but what i dont get is the lack of contrition and any empathy for your neighbours. Fuck em!

I’m truly sorry if my having to defrost my car disturbs anyone. But I don’t have a choice about what time I have to get up in the morning or what the weather is doing.