Avoid Long Idles

When you idle your car, you are burning gas and going nowhere. It is a waste of fuel. I recently heard from a Venezuelan that cars and trucks idle there all the time. Apparently taxis wait in line at their stations idling. The engine is never switched off all day! Venezuela is an OPEC oil producing country and the price of gas there is equivalent to cents per gallon.

If you are waiting for somebody for "just a sec" and more than 20 seconds go by, shut off your car. Instead of idling in a drive through line, park and walk in. It costs more gas to idle than to restart the engine. It is true that a cold engine uses more gas than a warm one, but your engine will not cool down in less than 15 minutes. It is almost always better to shut the engine down. When in doubt, turn it off! Your wallet will thank you.

Just remember, idling costs you money to get nowhere!