When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I've always been in the habit of it, but not due to "strain on startup"....but because I don't want to start my vehicle and be blasted with loud music, HVAC blasting me, lights coming on, wipers going, etc, etc...
I do this too for the same reasons. Not worried about "startup strain", just don't want load music and blasting HVAC on the next start. I used to make sure AC was completely off, but not for some 20 years now.
I have a different routine based on my situation. Half the year where I live it’s below freezing so I have the hvac cranked full blast on heat, heated seats and steering wheel on.
Edit: this is so when I remote start it the heat is already on.
However I do have the radio off because I don’t want to blow the speakers when they are frozen on start up and also turn off anything else not needed.
Back in the 1970s my friend Bill, who had just got his Private Pilots license, would shut everything off and in a certain sequence, sometimes reciting a little check list as he went along.
As for me I just turned down the radio and bolted for the door. Once Bill was running his checklist and I asked him:
Me: So what's that all about?
Bill: I'm a pilot, it's what we do.
Me. This is a Pontiac, not a Piper.
Bill: Still, I'm a pilot, and it's what we do.
Me: You are also OCD and egotistic.
Bill:
Bill:
Bill:
Bill: You're right. But it saves the battery.
To this day all I do is shut off the radio. The computers will save the batteries. But if you paid $65,000 for a bunch of buttons you might as well enjoy pushing them.
And the last time I rode with Bill, a few weeks ago, he still shuts everything off, one step at a time.