Are you wasting money by warming up your car?

Many drivers believe that driving a cold car is bad for the engine and idle for far longer than necessary, wasting time and money and contributing to greenhouse gas emissions.

Experts say you only need to run your engine for 2 or 3 minutes in very cold weather for it to be road ready.

Martin Restoule, Coordinator of Transportation Trades, at Algonquin College, says that on a cold day, just two or three minutes will do the trick.

“Your engine and transmission are expensive components. You do want to circulate the oil through the engine,” says Restoule. “Oil is very thick when it’s cold and you want it to thin-out to lubricate the components in the engine.”

While not helpful to your car, idling does contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, making it bad for the environment.

Watch the news report here: http://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/is-driving-a-cold-car-bad-for-the-engine-1.2176052#ixzz3Q2l47Nfv