It is routine in Germany to do this at a train crossing, even if only for a few seconds - along with the long rolling stop, motor idling. German cars are still mainly manual transmission equipped - Germans seem to hate automatics, and if you take a driving test using one, your license is restricted to automatics only.

Further, warming your car up, for example to defog the windows in the morning, is essentially illegal (Ordnungswidrigkeit - a minor offense against the public order), and will definitely earn various reproaches from your neighbors. However, such regulations are essentially local, and obviously not rigidly enforced - except for your neighbors' opinion, of course.

Further, warming your car up, for example to defog the windows in the morning, is essentially illegal (Ordnungswidrigkeit - a minor offense against the public order), and will definitely earn various reproaches from your neighbors.

While here, the cool people have remote control starters, so you can look out your home or office window and start your car without actually having to go outside. I know people who start up their cars remotely half an hour before they plan to use them. So they'll be nice and warm, and they won't have to scrape the windows.

their add says they can start the car up to one mile away .............. what, walk a mile to the car ? get a ride ? take the bus ? taxi ?

Office in the penthouse of a skyscraper. Huge parking lot below...far below.