It's not wrong, it's just unnecessary.

 

well according to Kurtz it's pretty "wrong" for the car itself

 

i dont realistically see how somebody can sit in their car for 10+ min letting the car warm up though. I imagine somebody just sitting there looking straight ahead and not moving like a crash test dummy lol

 

Lol, I don't think everyone just sits there. They probably have remote starters, or they run out to the car, start it, and run back inside.

 

Yup, it is.

Again if you're the type who trades a car in at 50k miles you're not going to care... but if you want to keep it long term, start the car, put on your seat belt, and drive it.

 

I typically let my IS warm up for a couple minutes. I noticed it warms up rather slowly compared to RX330 I had and makes a terrible sound when accelerating (it's a 350) until it's fully warmed up and water gauge is in the middle. It does not make the smooth accelerating engine sound but harsh and rough engine noise when engine is still cold.

By the way, I commute 7-8 minutes to work each way so I don't even put enough time or miles to have it fully warmed up.

 

I hope you're changing the oil VERY frequently... like 3k/3months at the longest.... between the unneeded idling and the short trips that's pretty much the worst possible conditions under which to operate an engine.... (might be why it's making there's-something-wrong noises when not "warmed up"

 

Thanks for the suggestion. Since I bought it used 2 weeks ago, I was actually thinking of doing an oil change (previous owner had 65k mile service done at the dealership and stated an oil change was done at 68k at a different place and not it has 73k miles).

I've been using Mobile 1 Full Synthetic in all of my vehicles by bringing my own oil and filter to an independent mechanic. Should I just take it to a Lexus dealership for oil change?

 

Probably best to get your car on a road trip every so often. And get your oil changed at the independent shop you prefer instead of the dealership.

Once oil reaches operating temp, dependent on how cold it is outside, the car needs to be driven for 30 minutes + to evaporate all of the moisture out of the oil. And that will help to extend the oil's life. Acids eventually form in motor oil, but if the moisture is burned off the acids go away too, until more moisture is present.

Plus going for a couple hour trip will help to burn some of the carbon out of the motor. I've noticed on all of the cars I've owned they run a lot better after some long trips. Especially my IS350. I took a six hour round trip last summer in my car, and the engine was silky smooth when I got back. 29 MPG as well!

 

In the morning, I get in, put my bag in the passenger foot well, hit the start button, put my seatbelt on while it starts, and as soon as my seatbelt is on, I put it in drive to pull out of the driveway (I've always backed in my driveway, something I picked up from my dad). I live in temperate Orange County in Southern California, and my IS has to park outside. The transmission is usually finally willing to shift into 6th gear just before I hit the freeway (~2.5 mi of medium speed side streets), and the temperature gauge usually reaches its normal position a little bit after that.

I never warmed up my previous car, either, and that was a 1993 Corolla that I finally sold a few weeks ago. It had 237,000 miles on it, and had been run on Mobil 1 Extended Performance + Mobil 1 filter every 15k mi since I bought it with 120k. I plan on switching my IS to M1 on extended drain intervals after the extended warranty is up in February 2014.

 

Does anyone notice that their cars idle around 1k in drive when the car isn't warmed up yet? It usually takes me 10 mins driving or so for the rpms to finally drop below 1k

 

Honestly with your type of driving I'd use the cheapest oil I could find and get it changed every 3 months by a cheap local mechanic (or DIY).

As mentioned you're never burning off the crap in the oil,so you'll want to change it often which defeats much of the point of using a good synthetic.

 

Do you know exactly where in the manual this is? I do not doubt you at all I just want to see everything about it. Also, do you know why it is as bad as you say it is? My GF always wants to let her 350z warm up so she doesn't have to get into a cold car, and I can't really talk her out of it without any research. Can't find anything on the internet stating it's terrible for your car, most of the people just say "its bad for the environment". Also I want to get a general idea of what damage I have done to my car since I let it warm up for about 5-10 minutes several nights a week for the past winter. I always see cops idling their cars and I figured it wasn't a bad thing. Thanks Kurtz, always appreciate your input.

 

Winter...I fire mine with my remote start, heater is set, seat warmer on! 10-15min "Toasty"
Spring/Fall...get in and go!
Summer...I fire with the remote start, AC is set, ventilated seat on! 10 min "Cozy Cool"

 

When did you get your car, how many miles are on it so far, and any issues?

I've been remote starting my car this winter and I noticed my car will hit operating temp on my way to work if I do this, otherwise it's hit or miss. So I'm not sure if getting to operating temp on my drive ti work with 'warm up time' is better than not warming up and getting to work with a not-at-operating-temp engine. My commute is about 15 minutes.

Hey Kurtz, if I get more frequent oil changes in the winter would this help negate the effects of warming my car up?