Every day, countless drivers unintentionally put their engines at risk. They fire up the ignition, drop into gear, and pull away—convinced they’re being efficient. But experts now caution that this seemingly innocent habit can quietly tear an engine apart from within, turning a few “saved” seconds into repair bills in the thousands. One technician even revealed an engine so badly harmed by this routine that its bearings had been worn down to metal dust.

His message couldn’t be clearer: after sitting overnight, your engine is essentially unlubricated. When you start the vehicle, the oil pump needs roughly 30 to 40 seconds to push oil through all the moving parts. If you drive off or accelerate right away, metal pieces scrape against each other with hardly any protection, creating tiny abrasions that eventually grow into major mechanical failures.

In his garage, he showcased a dramatic example: a motor owned by someone who always started the car and immediately hit the road. The bearings on the crankshaft and connecting rod were so degraded they had to be machined down to 0.25—an intricate, expensive fix that never would’ve been needed with better habits. Specialists agree that letting your engine idle for half a minute and avoiding hard revving while it’s cold is one of the simplest, cheapest ways to prolong your engine’s lifespan and prevent devastating repair costs.