A warm car feels wonderful on a freezing morning. Watching the gas gauge slide toward empty feels considerably less wonderful. Yet plenty of drivers spend winter mornings warming their vehicles long before they actually need to leave. That little ritual can add up to a surprisingly expensive habit. Idling burns gasoline without taking the vehicle anywhere, and those extra minutes accumulate across an entire winter. A sedan and a larger SUV can rack up noticeably different fuel bills, too.
Think about a driver who lets the engine run for 15 minutes every morning. That sounds harmless enough, especially when frost covers the windshield. But repeat the routine throughout winter, and the car consumes a meaningful amount of gasoline just sitting in the driveway.
