I took a look at an apartment today, it will be literally one city block from my job, and a grocery store than. If I take it my car will be sitting in the building's parking garage most of the time, getting used only to visit family and friends on potentially seldom days off.

With another bad Michigan weather expected, I am interested in other people's experiences with their XF in the winter, and maybe any advice to know it will still reliably start when I do need it to.

 

Winter tires mandatory. Put it in winter mode (will soften throttle response and will start off in second gear). Remember it's RWD so don't expect miracles on inclines or with standing starts. Remember it's not an SUV so don't expect to be able to plow through really deep snow. If it's going to sit for extended periods in the garage, get a trickle charger or you may find it won't reliably start. Is your garage heated? If not, you may want to consider a block heater if the car doesn't already have one. Although they are no longer commonplace they make a car much more pleasant to start when temperatures are well below freezing, not to mention it will be much easier on the car.

 

Is the garage open to the air?

 

I got snow tires used on rims not knowing they were run flats. Blizzaks so I thought they would be amazing in the snow. Didn't really do my research.

I hated he winters, got stuck A LOT. Like even on a slight incline I was stuck! It kinda sucked to have such a beautiful car that I dreaded so much driving in the winter.

Just got brand new Blizzaks (very good reviews) and they are not RFT's. So I am h

 

I got snow tires used on rims not knowing they were run flats. Blizzaks so I thought they would be amazing in the snow. Didn't really do my research.

I hated he winters, got stuck A LOT. Like even on a slight incline I was stuck! It kinda sucked to have such a beautiful car that I dreaded so much driving in the winter.

Just got brand new Blizzaks (very good reviews) and they are not RFT's. So I am hoping they will be better!

I keep hearing other people are happy with their xf's in the winter. I couldn't understand why I hated it so much.
I'll let you know how it goes after the first snow fall!

 

I'm in the northeast US and use my XF SC as a daily driver in the winter. I put on winter tyres and it has been excellent. Starts reliably every time (garage not heated) and drives very well in the snow. Don't forget that all cars brake with four wheels - so although it's only RWD to pull away, get up hills etc, when you need to stop in the XF with winter tyres it is much, much better than a heavy SUV on all seasons which is what most others are driving.

 

Sorry it's taken me a few days, and thank you for the replies.

I'm really not that concerned about the actual driving aspect. I'm an upper-peninsula veteran, and if I'm getting that apartment it's going to mean i do very little actual driving.

The "garage" is no different than your typical public parking garage, except that it is (thankfully) protected by a private security team and is for the tenants of the building only. It is cold, it doesn't really have any place to plug heaters and such in. But I don't want to have to go through some weird process every time I need to leave town on errands. Right now I'm thinking I'll just need to make a point to run it for at least 5-10 minutes a day.

 

I have blizzaks on a 2010 SC and it has been really quite good in the Toronto and north winter conditions. Never and issue.

 

Sounds like you're asking about battery drain / ability to restart in the cold. My experience has been starting first time - even at 0F temperatures without any issue. And even if not used for a week or more. So I can't believe you need to run it every day - that sounds like too much. I would say put a fresh battery in it if it's more than 3 years old, and then when you do run it (at least every 2 weeks in my opinion) make sure it's run for long enough that it gets a strong charge from the alternator. I.e. a bit of faster driving, preferably not in the dark with headlights, heated windows, heated seats etc. else you won't recharge the battery