People sitting in their cars in their driveway, engine running.

[LuvOrlando]

There are reasons to linger.

I have taken Dr appointments in the car when the entire house has been full of people working and I had no privacy anywhere else.

These days it is too cold for the the puppy so it is house training in the garage & the cars are outside. So freezing if I don't warm the car up long enough it cuts off, I have had the oil gauge say it's low so I figure it's too cold to move through the car properly.

 

[JulieBeeRN]

People do weird things all the time. As long as it doesn't affect me, I really don't care.

 

[bdrex28]

My wife and I have noticed this with more and more frequency when we go for our walks. I suspect people are talking on their cell phones. I don't understand why they leave the car running the entire time And unlike the early days of cell phones hard wired in cars, you can keep talking and take your phone in the house. One of my neighbors pulled into his driveway today as I was getting the mail. He was still sitting there, half an hour later, engine still running. Another neighbor sat in his car, engine running, did not appear to be on the phone for the entire two hours I was working in the yard. That really has to kill your gas mileage.

My middle daughter (22) does this all the time and it drives me nuts!!!

 

[tvguy]

If they're listening to the radio. Or using the AC or the heat.

You want to know why people would be sitting in cars for extended time. There's been multiple answers. If these answers aren't good enough, ask your neighbors.

Radio would shut off automatically to save power. My Ford does it after an hour according to the owners manual, Toyota does it after 10 minutes. If they are moving, I'm not going to bother them. If they are not, I might check on them as we had someone a few blocks away years ago pull into their driveway, put the car in park, pass out due to a medical condition and die. The car apparently sat there for hours running and the neighbors say it but did nothing. Coroner said it was possible he could have survived if someone had discovered him sooner.

 

[tvguy]

After all these posts, I ask the question - as long as the car isn't sending emissions fumes your direction for 30 minutes, why would you even care what others are doing? Their business.....!

Because it could save someone's life as noted in post # 44. Neighbors look out for neighbors.

 

[Allison]

Because it could save someone's life as noted in post # 44. Neighbors look out for neighbors.

That wasn't your original premise at all.

 

[tvguy]

Can't say I ever noticed (or cared) what one of my neighbors might be doing if sitting in their car with the engine running. Maybe they need to warm it up before going somewhere. None of my business. If you leave your car outside on a cold night, the windows my fog/freeze and you would have trouble seeing if you drive off without letting the car warm up. Some older cars don't have that remote start feature or maybe theirs isn't working.

As I have posted, these tend to be people returning home, so warming or cooling the car interior isn't an issue.

 

[tvguy]

That wasn't your original premise at all.

Sorry I didn't include every reason for my post in the original post, Lord help us.

 

[Allison]

Sorry I didn't include every reason for my post in the original post, Lord help us.

Don't try to change your original intent of posting this. You were very clear that you didn't understand why people did it and suspect they are on their phones. It has nothing to do about being concerned for someone and if you should check on them.

 

[_19disnA]

And if you see a neighbor's car running in the driveway, how would you know if they just got home or are preparing to leave unless you saw them drive in?

 

[mjkacmom]

My kids do this all of the time, I just assume phone call and/or great song.

 

[tvguy]

Don't try to change your original intent of posting this. You were very clear that you didn't understand why people did it and suspect they are on their phones. It has nothing to do about being concerned for someone and if you should check on them.

The original intent was exactly as I posted. One of reasons I notice is as I have posted in replies. No change there at all.

 

[leebee]

I'd say so. Depending on outside temperature, a modern car is warmed up within minutes. My 2018 Ford temperature gauge shows it fully warm after driving the length of my street, which is a quarter of a mile long.

There's a difference between the engine being warmed up and the interior of the vehicle being warmed up. There are days when the heat indicator doesn't go over "C" during my entire ride to work; neither the engine nor the interior warm up. These are also the days when I have to scrape the ice off the outside AND the inside of the windows.

DD and I sit in the car all the time, especially if we are coming home after dark. We'll sit in the car with it running so the heat or a/c run (depending on the season) and just talk. There is something comforting about this for both of us, sitting together in the dark, talking. Sure, we could go inside, but it's different if we go in to talk. We lose the privacy and the intimacy, I guess, of just sitting together in the car, in the dark, talking.

 

[tvguy]

There's a difference between the engine being warmed up and the interior of the vehicle being warmed up. There are days when the heat indicator doesn't go over "C" during my entire ride to work. These are also the days when I have to scrape the ice off the outside AND the inside of the windows.

No problem. But these people are all returning home and sitting in their cars, not leaving for the day as I am not up and out early enough to see people first thing in the morning.

 

[Diznygrl]

I never really understood it either, but to each his own. Not my car getting damaged by having it idling out in extreme weather for an hour (Actually, I really have no idea how much this damages the engine but it drives me nuts either way...I don't even like sitting in the drive-thru if the line is too long).

There used to be a car in my neighborhood that I would hear doing this every winter...I didn't ever see the car, just heard it in my house because the engine had a really deep, rumbling sound. They would turn it on and just let it run for random intervals of time...sometimes ten minutes, sometimes almost an hour, then it would just shut off. Sometimes it would start up again a little while later, then turn off again. The car would never actually drive off. I often wondered what the heck it was all about but after reading this thread I guess maybe the person was just coming out of the house to sit in the car and listen to the radio or make a phone call?? Okey dokey then.

 

[mylilnikita]

Maybe they do it because they are putting off the fresh he double L awaits them in the house lol.

 

[bcla]

I never really understood it either, but to each his own. Not my car getting damaged by having it idling out in extreme weather for an hour (Actually, I really have no idea how much this damages the engine but it drives me nuts either way...I don't even like sitting in the drive-thru if the line is too long).

There used to be a car in my neighborhood that I would hear doing this every winter...I didn't ever see the car, just heard it in my house because the engine had a really deep, rumbling sound. They would turn it on and just let it run for random intervals of time...sometimes ten minutes, sometimes almost an hour, then it would just shut off. Sometimes it would start up again a little while later, then turn off again. The car would never actually drive off. I often wondered what the heck it was all about but after reading this thread I guess maybe the person was just coming out of the house to sit in the car and listen to the radio or make a phone call?? Okey dokey then.

There's been remote start systems for a long time, so that could have been a possibility. I remember one TV ad where it was a family arriving back on a flight to a snowy airport and they home in on the family's car on the roof of the airport garage that's remotely started, where they get back to it nice and warm. A lot of cars do that now - especially EVs. And it's a lot more advanced now that they can tie into mobile apps rather than maybe a remote key that might use satellite communication.

 

[bcla]

I don't care what others do, but I do see it a lot and it is TERRIBLE for your car to let it idle that long.

A lot of modern ICE cars will shut off the engine automatically if it's not moving. It's primarily to help with EPA fuel economy. I think I've rented a few cars that did that. Some think it might reduce the longevity of engines, or at least of the starters.

 

[sam_gordon]

Radio would shut off automatically to save power. My Ford does it after an hour according to the owners manual, Toyota does it after 10 minutes.

A couple of months ago, DS was reffing some soccer games. He had a 90-120 minute break between the games, so he went to his car to listen to music (it was a little chilly out, but not enough to need to run the car). He ended up draining his battery and called DW who went to give him a jump.

I'll be sure to tell him that couldn't have happened because the radio would shut off automatically.

Basically, to answer the question in your OP... people are either making a conscious decision to stay in the car (a number of possible reasons have been given, whether you accept them or not), or there's a whole lot of "passing out" happening.

Since you won't accept any of the reasons provided in the thread (despite some people telling you they do it AND why they do it), you're just going to have to ask your neighbors. Personally, I'll be interested in what they say (guessing they're on a call or listening to something where they want peace and/or privacy).

 

[tvguy]

A couple of months ago, DS was reffing some soccer games. He had a 90-120 minute break between the games, so he went to his car to listen to music (it was a little chilly out, but not enough to need to run the car). He ended up draining his battery and called DW who went to give him a jump.

I'll be sure to tell him that couldn't have happened because the radio would shut off automatically.

Basically, to answer the question in your OP... people are either making a conscious decision to stay in the car (a number of possible reasons have been given, whether you accept them or not), or there's a whole lot of "passing out" happening.

Since you won't accept any of the reasons provided in the thread (despite some people telling you they do it AND why they do it), you're just going to have to ask your neighbors. Personally, I'll be interested in what they say (guessing they're on a call or listening to something where they want peace and/or privacy).

Depends on the car and it's age. This is a discussion board, discussing replies is not me not accepting them. Yeah, Sam, I know you are yanking my chain.