Hi guys,

Just wondering your take on this...

Usually when I run into a store/gas station/bank for less than 5-10 minutes I'l leave my car on and running.

I always take the key with me and lock the door, so essentially the car isn't vulnerable.

Obviously this is a waste of gas, but other than that am I benefiting from keeping the car on and not starting it 5x for quick stops, or better to just turn it off and start it up when I get back in the car?

Thanks!

 

If you do this in NYC, you'll need to shop for another car very soon.

 

It's a great way to get it stolen... Locked doors or not.

 

it is definitely a bad habit! I would never do that. First of all starting the car on and off does not waist that much gas at all.
Just turn it off, dont wear it out. And save some gas while you're at it lol.

 

I never turn mine off, I've left it for an hour once! Idk I like just getting in and going

 

Always, always turn off your engine and lock your car , this is not a habit thing it's a common sense

 

It's absurd. Shut off your car and start it back up when you return. Leaving it running accomplishes nothing good. Restarting each time does not harm it in any way at all.

 

I'm referring to the actual car...what's better. I'm also not really concerned about which uses/wastes more gas, just what's better for the car (wear and tear)...

Also, I don't really see how there's any difference of the car running vs. off as to be stolen if they key is not in the car and it's locked? Even if there is a difference, it's not really a big deal in my location I guess?

 

40k+ car = me turning it off and locking it up. Even if I am running into the gas station or whatever. So BAD HABIT.

 

I sat once waiting for my girlfriend, for about 1 hour and 30 minutes, watched a movie with A/C ....
thats why we have fans ... and a radiator ...

 

There's no reason to leave it on.

 

From a wear and tear standpoint, leaving it run is less harmful than repeated starts. The vast majority of engine wear occurs at startup. Some studies quote 80-90% of wear occurs on cold starts when the oil's had a chance to settle.

Realistically, you won't own the car long enough to worry about the piston rings wearing down so much you burn oil. (Wearing out the starter motor is another discussion, but you really shouldn't have any problems, and those are cheap compared to engine internals).

Anyway, I do the same thing; if I have small errands where I'm only away for a couple minutes or less, I'll leave it run. If you kill the headlights, nav screen, and gauge lights, no one would even notice that it's running unless there's no ambient city noise (rare around here).

 

What's easier to do? Break open the window and drive away? Or break the window and try to get the engine to start.

 

The fact that this is even being debated is ludicrous.