Rental Car Auto Shut-off...WTH???

[FightingIrish]

Dropped my truck off for service and was given a 2018 Ford Escape to get around for the day.

This thing has (as a feature mind you) a system that physically shuts the engine off when in drive, but stopped for any length of time. Once the engine stops and you release the brake it starts again. I'm not kidding when I say the engine started and stopped 5 times in the Timmy's drive-thru!

For clarity, this isn't a hybrid...straight gas engine.

Now I'm all for saving money on gas and doing my part to protect the planet...(that's why I own two nice big V8s)...but this seems crazy.

How much additional strain does that place on the battery as everything runs on electric while stopped? How much extra compenent wear with all those additional starts?

Maybe someone more mechanical than I am will chime in and tell me it's no biggie.

In fairness, the feature is easily disabled with a dash switch, but I'm trying to imagine ever wanting it on.

 

[Black 03 Z06]

My sisters Mercedes does that as well.

 

[Nik]

Dropped my truck off for service and was given a 2018 Ford Escape to get around for the day.

This thing has (as a feature mind you) a system that physically shuts the engine off when in drive, but stopped for any length of time. Once the engine stops and you release the brake it starts again. I'm not kidding when I say the engine started and stopped 5 times in the Timmy's drive-thru!

For clarity, this isn't a hybrid...straight gas engine.

Now I'm all for saving money on gas and doing my part to protect the planet...(that's why I own two nice big V8s)...but this seems crazy.

How much additional strain does that place on the battery as everything runs on electric while stopped? How much extra compenent wear with all those additional starts?

Maybe someone more mechanical than I am will chime in and tell me it's no biggie.

In fairness, the feature is easily disabled with a dash switch, but I'm trying to imagine ever wanting it on.

Stop/start is pretty common now with pretty much all brands. In fact you'll be hard pressed to find a premium car without it. There's no real strain as the starter motors are extra beefy and designed for this and batteries should be able to cope. Having said that there are really no benefits either (fuel economy included) as these features are specifically designed for ermmm specific fuel economy tests. Real world = no real benefit and a bit annoying at times. Sadly most systems cannot be permanently defeated without getting into the tune of the car in question.

 

[ddgermann]

My wife’s Cadillac has this and you can’t even tell the car is shut down or restarting at a light. You have to look at the tach to see what position the needle is sitting at. No dimmed lights or fans slowing down is noticeable. Engine noise..?? It’s a soccer mom Cadillac so it doesn’t have that either. It only lets you stop the car and let it restart by taking your foot off the brake once then immediate brake will leave it idling. (Drive throughs). Also you car most likely has the same as the Cadillac that will not engage the feature if your battery is low or there is a huge draw on the electrical system at the time. And yes you should be able to shut it off anyway if it bugs you.
I had similar feelings on this and was worried about the starter washing out in 6 months. The dealer laughed and said if it happens they will cover everything including the tow. Meaning it won’t happen as it’s designed to take this... at least till the warranty is up. Haha.
Michelle likes the feature as she is now saving the planet one red light at a time.

D

 

[FightingIrish]

Sounds like the GM system is a little more advanced than the Ford, and I've come to understand the GM version also requires a longer stop before the engine is cut. The Ford quite literally shuts down at every stop sign, every stop in stop-and-go traffic.
Because it was only a rental, I played with it a bit and found out you can fool it by feathering the brake. Do that on the first stop and then it won't shut down until there's sustained driving and another stop.
Good to know they've beefed up the components that might otherwise be affected by starting a vehicle thousands of times more in its lifetime than was ever intended.