My neighbor called me out for idling my car and I actually listened

I used to let my car run for like 10-15 minutes every morning to warm up before my delivery shift (I live in Minnesota, it gets cold). My neighbor across the street, this older guy named Jerry, finally walked over one day last month and said "You know that's burning way more gas than you think, right?" He showed me some article that said modern cars only need like 30 seconds before you drive them. So I started just scraping ice off and driving slow for the first few blocks instead. My gas bill dropped by about $25 last month, which is basically a free meal. Has anyone else had a random neighbor or friend call them out on a small habit like this?

2 comments

2 Comments

barbara_butler24d ago

Jerry sounds like my dad used to, but now I see he was right.

west.claire24d ago

My 2012 Corolla got the same lecture from my neighbor Deb last winter. She caught me warming it up for a solid 8 minutes while I finished my coffee inside and I just shrugged it off. Turns out she was right and I was basically just burning $3.50 a week to keep my butt warm for no good reason. Now I scrape the ice off, start the car, and I'm pulling out in under a minute like some kind of impatient getaway driver. The kicker is I always bragged about being a "savvy saver" too, but apparently I needed a random lady in a housecoat to teach me basic math.