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Comment by Maursault | Hacker News Reader

What is the point of remote start with a modern vehicle in the 21st Century? Report of this blowback reminds me of "Everything Is Amazing, and No One is Happy." [1] Perhaps in the 1970's during Winter in the Northern regions, remote start might have once had a valid reason to exist, but not any more. "Auto experts today say that you should warm up the car no more than 30 seconds before you start driving in winter."[2] So who are these idiots insisting on wasting their own money and gas for absolutely no personal benefit while spewing atmospheric carbon and air pollution?

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUBtKNzoKZ4

[2] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/12/29/the-b...

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Have you ever been somewhere cold? Starting the car and getting the defrosters and heat going is helpful when your windows are covered in ice/snow. Depending on the conditions I think it can even be extremely difficult to open a car door without hot water or a remote start. Plus, it is nice to have a warm car rather then sit in the cold until it warms up.

Even without a remote start most people will go out and start their car and let it warm up and the windows defrost so they can safely drive. Sure you can also scrape them to get ice/snow off but you typically also need the heat running for a bit to get them defogged or whatever.

That's exactly right. A couple weeks ago I decided I'd scrape all the ice off the windows before starting my car.. and then off I went and immediately had to pull up at a bus stop 150m from where I started because the windshield totally fogged up and I couldn't see a thing. Winterland funland.

> Auto experts today say that you should warm up the car no more than 30 seconds before you start driving in winter."[2]

These “experts” must never have actually been in a harsh winter. Apart from electric cars, modern cars are absolutely not pleasant when it’s 0F out after just 30 seconds of running.

> Auto experts today say that you should warm up the car no more than 30 seconds before you start driving in winter

Auto experts who have never lived anywhere north of Tucson, maybe.

Those "idiots" are people who don't like sitting in a car with sub-40F air in it while the heater works.

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