Why Milford Patch Readers Say You Should Warm Your Car Up on Cold Mornings

About a week ago, we published an article debunking the myth that you need to idle your car when the temperature drops below freezing.

While the article stated that most cars built post-1990 just need about 30 seconds to reach ready-to-drive conditions, a lot of our readers didn’t agree with us. A Patch reader in Michigan wrote a letter to the editor explaining just why you should idle your car in the morning.

Back the Car Up - Here’s Why You Should Warm It Up on Cold Mornings: Letter to the Editor

Milford Patch readers weren’t convinced either and some shared with us what they thought of the suggestion in our comments section.

“Oils, fluids, and metal don’t need time to warm up???? Only carburetors needed time to warm up? Wow. I truly hope nobody takes this article seriously.” That was just one reader’s take on the article.

Rob Whelan wrote on Facebook, “This is a dumb article. People warm their car up so its not freezing when they get inside.” Paul DiDominic agreed saying, “ I warm it up to make the cabin warm for me…”

Reader Cornell Schreiber thought it better to stick with the literature, “So I guess every single owner’s manual is wrong in telling you to allow your car to warm up and to circulate the fluids before starting to drive? I know I will be auto starting my car every morning regardless of summer or winter.”

We received more comments on our online commenting platform, Disqus.

One reader wrote, “Whoever wrote this article is gonna cause a lot of people to damage their cars severely with this article. As a mechanic I know very well that a car needs to warm up in order for the fluids to reach operating temperature. Not doing so can cause irregular pressure in the engine oil, transmission, even the power steering system. Fluids are thick when cold and cause blockages, once at operating temps they thin out and perform their job. Stop believing things you see on the Internet and open up a basic mechanics book. Don’t harm the public with inaccurate information!”

Another agreed saying, “I can’t believe the article I just read. There is a reason that the car has a normal operating temperature. Thick oil and fluids just do not run efficiently through an engine that is literally ice cold start your car, let it get to operating temperature, and then go work.”

Finally, a reader said, “Doesn’t it matter how long the trip is before you know the percentage wasted warming up for five minutes? If it’s going to be a six-hour drive that hardly matters. I don’t know if my fuel injectors don’t care, but my defroster doesn’t defrost until there’s hot water for the heater core, then a little longer to warm up the windows, and it’s plain uncomfortable to drive when the inside of the car is in the single digits.”

So tell us? What’s your take? Will you be letting your car warm up while we suffer through these cold temperatures?

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