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We’ve all seen it: neighbors idling their cars in the driveway for ten or fifteen minutes before heading out on a winter morning. Some drivers think it’s doing the engine a favor. Others are just trying to stay warm. But in the shop, I get asked the same thing every year once the temperatures drop: “Do I really need to let my car warm up in the winter?”
The answer depends on what you’re trying to accomplish, and how new your vehicle is. Most modern engines don’t need a long warm-up. In fact, idling too long can actually cause more problems than it solves.
I had a guy at the Strongsville shop last week who’d been starting his SUV fifteen minutes early every morning since November. Said his dad always told him that’s what you’re supposed to do. The SUV was newer, maybe a 2020 or so, and his fuel economy had taken a nosedive. When we looked into it, the excessive idling had started to gunk up his spark plugs and throw his air-fuel ratios out of whack. Nothing catastrophic yet, but it was building up carbon fast.
Modern engines (anything built in the last 20 years or so) are designed to warm up quickly while you’re driving. That’s the key: gentle driving, not extended idling, is what gets the oil and fluids to proper operating temperature.
What people don’t always understand is that the goal of warming up the car is to get the oil moving efficiently, not just to make the cabin warm. Oil gets thicker when it’s cold, especially overnight during one of our deep-freeze snaps. Your engine needs that oil circulating through its components as soon as possible, and idling in your driveway just delays that process. The engine stays in a cold operating mode for longer, running rich, wasting gas, and putting extra strain on emission components.
You’re better off starting the car, letting it run for maybe 30 seconds to build oil pressure, and then driving it gently until everything warms up. No redlining it onto Route 18 or hammering it down I-71. Just easy acceleration, short trips, light throttle for the first few miles.
Now, I get it. When it’s ten degrees in Medina and your windshield is iced over like a hockey rink, nobody wants to sit in a freezing car. If you’re warming up for comfort, that’s your call. But from a mechanical standpoint, it’s not necessary, and too much of it will shorten the life of your engine, not lengthen it.
Cold weather causes all kinds of other winter car care issues too. We’ve seen batteries die overnight on relatively new vehicles just because temps hit the single digits. A customer in Fairlawn rolled in on a tow truck last month, convinced her alternator had failed. It hadn’t—her battery just couldn’t crank enough cold-start amps, and the extra load from the heated seats and steering wheel drained it even faster.
Then there’s tire pressure. That’s another one tied to the cold that most people don’t check until the TPMS light comes on. A 10-degree drop in temperature can drop your tire pressure by one to two PSI. That’s enough to trigger a warning, and more importantly, it can affect traction and braking—especially on snowy back roads or slick morning commutes around Seven Hills. We check pressure and adjust every time someone comes in for service in the winter. It’s that important.
And let’s not forget about windshield washer fluid. Folks often forget to top it off with winter-grade fluid, and then come in wondering why their washers froze solid. If you’re still running the blue stuff from summer, you’re asking for a frozen reservoir. Use the stuff rated for sub-zero temps. It’s cheap insurance when you’re dealing with salt spray on I-480 or slush getting kicked up in traffic.
Back to idling—one thing to note is remote starters. I’m not against them, but they get abused. People start the car, forget about it, come out 20 minutes later and drive off. That’s not winter car care. That’s asking for carbon buildup and fuel waste. We had a Civic in Cleveland last week that kept throwing fuel trim codes. After some digging, we realized it had been remote started every single morning for twenty minutes, five days a week, since November. That’s not good for a little four-cylinder that barely gets up to temp even on the highway.
So what should you actually do in the winter?
Start the car, give it 30 seconds, then ease into your drive. That’s it. Make sure your fluids are topped off. Check your tires. Replace your wiper blades with winter-grade if they streak or chatter. Test your battery if it’s more than three years old, especially after a few cold starts that seem slower than usual.
These are real winter car care tips that work in our region. I don’t care what someone on the internet says about how long their grandpa warmed up his Oldsmobile. Modern engines don’t need the same treatment.
I’ve been doing this for over two decades, and if there’s one thing I can tell you, it’s that a little knowledge goes a long way in the winter. Most of the problems I fix this time of year could have been avoided if someone had taken five minutes to check their tires, top off their washer fluid, or stopped letting the engine idle itself to death every morning.
If you’re not sure whether your vehicle’s ready for another month of cold, or if something feels off when you drive it cold, swing by. We’ll check your tires, test your battery, scan the codes if something’s lit up on the dash, and give it to you straight.
No upsell. No nonsense. Just real answers from people who’ve seen plenty of Ohio winters—on the roads and under the hood.
Schedule an appointment online or stop by one of our shops. We’ll take a look and make sure you’re not carrying any cold weather myths into 2026.