Trilliums Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 I see this a lot here--empty cars left with the engine running outside of a grocery store or post office. What is up with this? This seems much worse than not returning your grocery cart. :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 No. Never. Not under any circumstances. I say this as someone who lived in Las Vegas at one time. I would not do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraidycat Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 With remote start, I do it in the middle of summer and winter when the weather is at extremes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammi K Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 Remote starter on my car last Christmas. Best Christmas gift I ever received. When you are faced with a cold car at 6am, a remote starter is a dream. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 People do it here sometimes in the dead of winter when it's like fifty below zero because there's a risk their car might not start again if they don't leave it running. Otherwise, no. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeenagerMom Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 I do it occasionally at the post office. I am only about 20 feet away from it & it seems silly to shut it off. Of course, the town I live in has almost a 0% crime rate. If it were more populated, I probably wouldn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 :rant: I hate it when people do that. I like to sit outside the coffee shop while reading. Invariably, the parking space closest to the seating area is filled by someone who leaves their car running while they go in to get a coffee. I don't want to breathe your exhaust for 5 minutes! :ack2: I had it happen numerous times in a row when I was having coffee this past weekend. Also, my ds takes a couple of outside classes. Sometimes, I wait in my car while he is in class, often with the windows down. Again, it seems that someone will pull in beside me (or w/in a few spaces) & then let their car idle/run for up to an hour (or two, or three...). It ends up filling my car with their exhaust. I have to shut my windows &/or move my car to a (much further away) different space that is not downwind from them. And, no, I'm not talking about situations where engines might die because of the extreme cold or where there's extreme heat (necessitating the a/c while someone waits in the car). Just turn the car off already -- it's better for the environment & that includes people who may be sitting or standing near where your car is idling. :rant: (Grumble. Grumble. I'll go put on my flameproof suit now... :cursing: ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trilliums Posted October 21, 2014 Author Share Posted October 21, 2014 Stacia, you go girl! I get the cold winter stuff--I live in the Midwest and it is mind boggling cold. I lived most of my life in the southwest and really the winters here are intense. But right now we are having absolutely beautiful fall days. It is totally stunningly nice out. People here do this parked in the middle of the grocery store parking lot. I don't get that at all. We do also have a very low crime rate, but still, all that exhaust ugh. Now that I have become aware of it I seem to be seeing it happen all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 It's often done here because of the cold temps. During the depression, my fil had the job of walking around all night, starting all the diesel engines and then turning them off. As they saw -50, any engine not started for over an hour would not start for the rest of the winter. Most cars here have engine block heaters. You get home and plug the car in, or it won't start. I can understand that. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajfries Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 It's pretty common in my very small town to come across cars running in the grocery parking lot or at the post office. People start their cars to defrost them & let them warm up before leaving for work in front of their houses a lot, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trulycrabby Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 No, but parents often sit in the car with the engine running for two hours during soccer practice...when it's 75F and sunny! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catz Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 In the extreme cold temps, I can see it. We will start the car and put it in front of the house some of those days. But I never, ever leave my car running in front of a business or in a parking lot anywhere. No way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie G Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 We use our remote start to warm up the car before we go out on a freezing day- and living on the IL/WI border, there are lots of those every winter. But when I get somewhere, I turn it off. I'm too cheap- I don't want to use the gas. Also, in our town, it's illegal to leave a car running unless there's a licensed driver behind the wheel. Some folks in our town have remote start but have no driveway and just use street parking. And yes, they get tickets for using that. That would irritate me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 No, but parents often sit in the car with the engine running for two hours during soccer practice...when it's 75F and sunny! Yep, that's exactly the kind of thing I'm talking about too. It's nuts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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