actually, I guess this should be a GOOD thing. I LUCKILY live in a part of Utah that has a nice, indoor, 72 degree, climate controlled storage unit just a few interstate exits away from my condo in Provo. they basically watch the car for me and put on a battery charger for me. its GREAT!!

but....it was....well....kinda TOUGH yesterday knowing I wont see my jag for 6 months....

I was NOT going to leave her our in our COLD winters for long with only a simple car-port thingy over her head. since im in Utah, we get the old: FREEZE, THAW, freeze, thaw, freeze, thaw...type days, and we all know those aren't good for seals, gaskets, and hoses.

so, in the unit she goes.....gonna be a LOOOOOOONG winter

 

Poodle: that's early, even for our nasty Wisconsin winters. We still have some good driving days ahead. I usually go Dec 1 (which is, admittedly cold!) until April 1. That's long enough. What's your winter car?

Cheers,
Scott

 

At least you know you are taking good care of it and therefore it should stay running in good shape much longer.

 

I'm always really intruiged by these type of posts, always have been.

I'm still unsure if its something I would want to do, or do if I was in that situation, maybe I am in that situation??

I'm in Glasgow, Scotland.....average autumn / winters are lots of cold, rain interspersed with the odd sunny dry day, then frost / ice and snow with temps usually around -7 maybe to -10 and lasts until about March.

The worst winters can be weeks, even months of constant snow and ice and temps can fall to anywhere between -10 with the worst being -20.
We have had weeks of packed snow that buids n builds with icy roads too
Now and then the ploughs / gritters can't cope

Is this the sort of situation you guys are in or much much worse?

I drive a nice Audi A6 Loved n looked after, washed cleaned n detailed, pretty much always looks her best.

I'm just trying to gauge where I am as against you guys....

 

I am sure the weather in Scotland is every bit as bad or worse than many locals in the usa. By and large storage or "winter recess" as i like to call it, is a very personal matter and of course a function of weather patterns in a given geographical area.If I lived in San Diago (as I use to) there would be no winter recess.
I do a Jan 2-April 15 (tax time/due)recess aligned with my insurance coverage..by than at least in the north east....much if not all of the very bad weather is gone.I drive my toyota tacoma/4wheel drive almost exclusively during this time. With the large off road tires there is virtually nothing I can not drive over or around!

than again weather patterns are not always reliable or consistent. Those of you located in the Northeast will recall the winter of two years ago. Where i live n North Jersey we had a total accumulation of barely 2 inches through the whole winter. It was mild and I had no problem riding my bike even in the month of February.

 

I think winter in Scotland would be warmer than winter in some of the midwest of the USA. Chicago can go well below 0 degrees Fahrenheit. Minneapolis can get to -20 or -30 degrees Fahrenheit.

I drove my car in Boston for 5 years and parked it in an unheated underground garage and drove it in the winters. My car aged rapidly. The rubber didn't like the cold. My thermostat housing blew when it went down to -5 degrees Fahrenheit. The rubber seals around the doors started getting loose, and my valve cover gaskets failed despite having replaced them 4 years prior.

 

I think it probably is a personal preference thing. I decided to park my '91 in the winter because that's what the PO had done, and before that it was a southern car. It doesn't have a lick of rust anywhere on it and I'm not about to start now. It is also of an age where, although the value doesn't reflect it, it has a measure of collect-ability. So, I don't drive it in the winter for the same reasons I don't drive my Model A in the winter.

My X308 on the other hand, or the '94 XJ40 before that, is my everyday car and I fully intend to drive it straight on through. But this is a car I also fully expect to wear out and someday scrap - though not for a long time if I take care of it.

Weather here... Well, not as bad as the northern part of the state, or northern Minnesota for that matter, but we have about 3 good months of -15 to 20 degrees F and about 3-5 feet of snow continuously on the ground. And for a good month on either side of that is the most treacherous rain/slush/sleet slop. And our roads are literally caked with the most corrosive road salt. A Midwestern car, especially if it isn't washed enough in the winter, is toast after 10 or 12 years. Alas.

Now I feel like moving to North Carolina!!

Cheers,
Scott

 

Thanks guys, I really do always find this subject quite fascinating and suspect its part to do with the severity of weather and part history / tradition even?

To try and make things a little clearer from my end and to help you to gauge my end from your perspective.......

I drive an Audi A6 diesel, car now coming up for approaching 7 years old, bought from new now with 108k miles on her.
The car is my daily driver and driven all year round no matter what, she gets looked after with regular servicing and oil changes, and thats about it.

The weather - Autumn starts either late Sept or early October into November with fallings temps, wind, rain, more wind & more rain.
Generally winter starts in earnest sometime early - mid November or maybe December and can last until as late as early May, but more usually mid March - early April.

During this time we can get much lower temps of generally around -5 to around -10 which is fairly normal. When the snow decides to hit it can hit fierce with many roads being closed and 4 -5 feet drifts or higher, and tempos can fall to around -10 to -20c with ice being a problem.

The roads are gritted quite frequently during this time, so there is salt everywhere for months & months sometimes.

The car is parked on the driveway in front of the house and subject to whatever the weather decided to throw our way.

Maybe our weather isn't as bad, probably not by the sounds of it?
We don't seem to suffer the same way you guys do in regards to our cars as far as I can see though.

I guess to be fair if I had the choice, I'd like to park my car in a heated garage with carpeted walls, perhaps even drive a dedicated "winter beater" 4x4 vehicle with winter tyres etc etc, but we don't....

Not trying to be controversial, just adding my 2c of our winters and how we get by, maybe its just cultural differences?

 

Jim:
That sounds about the same quality and quantity of 'suffering' as we endure. Perhaps we're just weaker over here! Although seriously, Americans, as you know, have too many cars in general - and I am guilty as charged! So, I've got a couple to put away and keep nice; but I've also got a couple to drive through the snow and ice. (Btw, that's not to brag, because all together my cars aren't worth what the average 'normal' person would pay for a used Honda!) I try not to complain about the cold weather, because if I minded it I probably shouldn't be living where I do. For us the trade off is the most glorious late Spring, summer, and autumn. Last winter my (now sold) '94 XJ40 was an absolute soldier. I have good snow tires, and I was shocked by how well it handled - the only problem being it's proximity to the ground. Sometimes there are not insignificant snowbanks to surmount, and I'm afraid thats a non-starter in the Jag. Our family van ('03 Dodge) is perfect in the winter, although it really is beginning to rust out even despite a level of care one would expect from a car lover.

I don't think you're being controversial. Perhaps it's just a bit of friendly commiseration.

Now I have to go turn the heater on. Cheers!
Scott