From Matthew Wright,
Your Guide to Auto Repair.
FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!

You can save a serious amount of gas by skipping the drive-thru window and parking your car instead. Every minute that you sit in a drive-thru line with your engine running is dumping unnecessary emissions into the atmosphere while you waste expensive gasoline.

Years ago the lore held that you use more gas restarting your engine than you would sitting with the engine idling. This is no longer the case (if it ever was). In fact, the Canadian government concluded that an engine idling for more than 10 seconds is using more gas than a restart. They even suggest turning off your engine at long stop lights!

Regardless of your desire to be green, there's no arguing that your pouring money into a hole every time you sit in line for the drive-thru window. Parking is the way to go.