Probably not damage, but it may be unnecessary to need 3 minutes. If you are just doing it to warm up the heater/inside, it warms up faster if you drive it than if it idles.
Yeah, I’m not driving in a ZERO degree passenger compartment for the 10 miles it takes for it to warm up.
“If you are just doing it to warm up the heater/inside, it warms up faster if you drive it than if it idles.”
Problem there is that the windows and front and back glass will remain iced up until the warm air hits them and the electric defrosting bands in the back window open up sight not replaced by moisture. So if it’s very cold and the car is iced, running the engine until the ice is melted is a safety issue and not a car damaging one. And then the driver can kick the accelerator and cut back the rpms on the engine.
wy69
In real cold weather I start the car with a remote and let that baby warm for ten, maybe even 20 minutes.