Parking Outside in Winter (Madison: apartment, home, school)

[non425]

Hello,

I will be moving to Madison in the fall to attend graduate school at the University. I have found housing, but my parking space is outside (unheated, uncovered). I am moving to Madison from the south, where temperatures are fairly mild and I have never had any issues leaving my car outside during winter. Are there any precautions I should know about before leaving my car outside during the harsh Wisconsin winters? Also, is there anything special you do to prepare cars for winter in Madison - snow tires, etc? It rarely even snows where I live now, so I am completely unfamiliar with any winter preparation processes you might have!

Thanks!

[rekuci]

In modern cars with fuel injectors it's usually not a problem. My husband and I have old beater cars that are 15 and 18 years old but with fuel injectors and they start sluggish when it's below 0F, but they start. Batteries have trouble pulling the same current at cold temps that they can at warmer temps, so your battery may 'die' prematurely in winter if it's nearing the end to begin with. One annoying problem we had was condensation in the car immediately hard-freezing to the inside windows in the frequent subzero temps, which had to be scraped off the inside (not easy) at every stop. It would take 20-30 minutes to warm up the car enough for it to melt itself.

No one here uses snow tires, they just slide around like idiots for the most part. People here are used to driving in snow, aka they still can't control their vehicles but just aren't afraid of it. You can be like them too! Seriously, the only skills you need are (1) being able to drive slowly (challenging for many), and (2) being able to catapult your car around corners so it slides in the right place (practice at night when no one's around). If you're a grad student here (like I am), I take it you won't have parking at the university anyway, so you'll only be using your car for shopping and leisure. The way I handled this past winter, which was apparently several times worse than usual with over 100 inches of snow, was to just not drive when the roads didn't appear clear enough, which is generally never more than 8 hours or so after a bad storm. City buses can haul through the snow no problem, but they're usually 30+ minutes late in the midst of a snowstorm (and sometimes never come, but you just have to believe...)

[Bo]

Make sure that you have an ice scraper and snow brush in the car and keep a snow shovel available in the house/apartment to dig your car out of heavy snow. Snow drifts can make access difficult and you'll likely need a shovel sometimes to get to your car door!

[Megan1967]

Uncovered parking kind of sucks.

• Get a complete tune up in the fall.
• Make sure you have enough antifreeze
• Give yourself an extra hour in the morning. This will give you time for two things: to let your car sit there with the defrost on prior to scraping and to allow for slower travel time on snow covered roads.
• In addition to the other things suggested - scraper, snow brush (you can get them in one piece which give you more "reach") and shovel - also keep
  • either a bag of rock salt or a bag of the non-clumping kitty litter to put under your tires for traction if you get stuck
  • an extra set of mittens, extra a hat, an extra scarf, an extra pair of socks
  • a blanket.
• Don't get your car washed when it is below 32 (the locks and sometimes even the doors get frozen shut)
• Keep the gas tank full
• Go slow. I know that was already mentioned, but really, go slow. Keep to the right if you are afraid of getting run over by the crazy people.
• Watch where you park on the street as there is alternate side parking in the winter to allow the plows to get through. Stay off the street whenever possible. This starts in Sept or October, I'm not sure which.
• Allow more time for breaking (slow up sooner as you may slide into something like the car in front of you at the stop light) and don't break suddenly.
• If you start sliding, don't slam on the brakes or make a hard turn in the opposite direction. Every instinct you have will say to do these things. Instead lightly tap your foot on the brakes and try to go as gently in the direction of the slide as possible.
• If you hit someone or get hit by someone call the cops either way. Keep their number in your car.
• Wash your car when the roads are dry and it is over 32 degrees (or at least once a month if they don't seem to ever be dry) to reduce the salt damage to your car. An undercarriage wash is helpful in this as well.

[Drover]

Usually your car will start without a problem until it starts getting down to 20 below. Then even many fuel-injected cars have trouble starting. The good news is that it only gets down to 20 below maybe once or twice a year.

I have lived in the Snow Belt my entire life and I have never had a set of snow tires. As long as your car is FWD you should be OK with a good set of all-seasons. Northern cities are very well prepared for snowfall. Major streets are cleared off within a day of a major snowstorm, and arterial streets within a couple more days. You'll end up driving on actual snow maybe 4 or 5 times a year. And yes, many experienced northerners have learned the fine art of a controlled slide.

As for parking outside... keep a snow shovel and maybe some rock salt in your trunk during winter, and a scraper inside the car. Where scrapers are concerned, I highly, highly recommend the Scrape-A-Round. It's twice as fast and twice as effective as a standard flat scraper.

I wouldn't necessarily wait until it's more than 32 degrees to wash your car as has been advised. I wouldn't go more than 2 weeks without washing it, and yes, undercarriage wash is a must. Just be sure to wipe any water off the rubber door seals afterward so they don't freeze shut. I've only owned one car where freezing locks was a constant problem. All the rest were fine. It's a non-issue anyway if you have remote keyless entry.

[Sorge]

Originally Posted by Drover

As for parking outside... keep a snow shovel and maybe some rock salt in your trunk during winter, and a scraper inside the car. Where scrapers are concerned, I highly, highly recommend the Scrape-A-Round. It's twice as fast and twice as effective as a standard flat scraper.

Except this, nice advice Drover.
Never keep your shovel and the scraper IN your car! Keep them at home! You may need to dig out a trail to your car first, then find the door before you can get into the car.

Madison's winter is fun! I'm from Russia, by the way, and in Russia I don't remember getting so much nice snow.

Madison is a nice place. When your car is in trouble, ask your neighbor, he is usually happy to help you with jump-start wires and good advices regarding winter driving and keeping your car "fit".

[Drover]

Keeping a scraper and shovel at home doesn't work so well if you're away from your home when the storm hits. I can remember one time in the last 30+ years where there was so much snow that you just couldn't walk out your front door. Otherwise, you just trudge through it to get to your car, and then start shoveling out your spot. Not to mention a shovel you keep in your car is probably going to be collapsable and you wouldn't be using it as your primary shovel to clear off your sidewalks and what-not. The landlord should probably be doing that anyway.

[Megan1967]

You can keep a shovel in your car and in your garage.

[gallon]

Originally Posted by Sorge

Madison's winter is fun! I'm from Russia, by the way, and in Russia I don't remember getting so much nice snow.

Madison is a nice place. When your car is in trouble, ask your neighbor, he is usually happy to help you with jump-start wires and good advices regarding winter driving and keeping your car "fit".

You should have seen it before global warming. We used to have glaciers coming through here! Imagine shoveling two miles of ice. Then in a year it was all covered over again. And the hike to school, bad tempered woolly mammoths, sabre tooths, don't get me started.

[gallon]

Originally Posted by non425

Hello,

I will be moving to Madison in the fall to attend graduate school at the University. I have found housing, but my parking space is outside (unheated, uncovered). I am moving to Madison from the south, where temperatures are fairly mild and I have never had any issues leaving my car outside during winter. Are there any precautions I should know about before leaving my car outside during the harsh Wisconsin winters? Also, is there anything special you do to prepare cars for winter in Madison - snow tires, etc? It rarely even snows where I live now, so I am completely unfamiliar with any winter preparation processes you might have!

Thanks!

I go along with most of what has already been said here about winter driving. The most dangerous thing is driving on ice. Ice is frictionless. You will not be honked at for driving slowly. When a healthy snowfall is just starting up, traffic compresses and glazes snow on the road surface. That is the most dangerous time. Meanwhile some of the SUV's will be blasting past you. Eventually you will see them up ahead, wrapped around a telephone pole. If you have front wheel drive, that is 95% as good as four wheel drive. If you have all wheel drive, like a Subaru, that is even better. Subaru is the perfect car for the northern winter. I have driven both a Subaru and an Expedition in Wisconsin winter. The Subaru is more stable on mixed road surfaces. The Subaru can go through almost any Wisconsin winter weather, save for the 18 inch snowfalls. It does not snow enough in Wisconsin to stop a four wheel drive Expedition with proper tires. The issue with the large vehicle is driving stability and much increased stopping distance. I love both vehicles but they are very different in winter weather. I could also see that a little front wheel drive Corolla would fare very well here, as long as you have all weather tires. You might wish to stay home during the heaviest snowfalls though.

As a student you will have a free pass to the excellent city bus system. Most likely though you will be living within a mile or two and will walk to school. At -10 with the wind shrieking off the lake, you will think you are in interior Alaska. Nearly Jack London stuff. But you learn how to properly bundle up. The mind adjusts. One copes. And it becomes part of the great experience at UW.

good luck and have a great time here!