If you can afford a heated driveway, you might as well build a garage.
Or, you could just move to Florida.
Oh wait, we are already full up of you guys talking about how great it is up there. Never once heard a Northerner talk about how fun it is to dig out a car.
On the good side, my manufacturer finally got around to including a block heater as an option – earlier models did not have that (as in there was not even a place to screw one in).
On the bad side, I’d like better venting throughout the vehicle, for I do not like the way my side windows and a fair bit of my front window frost over while I drive.
I just put in an 800CCA battery to deal with trailhead cold starts – too bad that sort of battery was not available as an option.
They still need to work on the locks and the doors freezing up (including ice buildup between the leading edge of the front doors and the vehicle body, that prevents opening the front doors).
Yes, heated driveways are an option, but to keep the snow off your windshield, you’d need to park your car upside-down on the heated driveway. This obviously has certain logistical challenges.
I wish those had been available as an option on my vehicle.
Funny how manufacturers are all about up-selling, with options for just about everything, except for really usefull winter stuff.
And for any significant amounts of snowfall, it may cause a drainage problem, sometimes leaving icy areas at the foot of the drive.
Agreed. Although I’ve observed instances where drainage grates were installed at strategic locations in conjunction with the heating elements.
I drove behind a similar cretin, their windscreen wash had obviously failed, so they stuck a bottle of water out over the windscreen (while they were driving of course!) and sloshed it out over the screen.
It was suggested to me that ordinary deicing spray, used the night before, has such an effect. A newspaper over the screen does the job just as well, as long as you’re out before any sort of a thaw turns it to mush.
I’d love that too. And a heated steering wheel.
One problem though would be the replacement cost of the windshield. I suspect it would more than double.
I remember that. We shoveled the driveway the night before and you could not even tell it was ever touched by morning.
Speaking of ice storms we are having one right now here in Ohio and it sucks big time.
Ugh. These people drive me crazy. They’re the type that don’t know sugar beets from tranny turds.
I bought one of those covers and put it on last night, which is good since we got about six inches of snow. I haven’t moved it yet, but I’m guessing it’s going to save me quite a bit of time getting my windshield clear enough I can see out of it.
I clean my whole car off. I have a long-handled brush/scraper thingy that works just fine. Scraping ice is awful and fortunately we get more snow than anything else, but I do it if I have to.
I am not one of Those People.
I love NY. Yeah, winters are hard here. But they are manageable, and summers are hot, but fun, and falls are stunning here. And the only month where it really gets to be hell is February. It may technically be the shortest month of the year. :dubious:
I have a lovely long-handled brush, and a Corolla, and it is easy for me to clean off the car. I understand not clearing off the top of, say, a minivan, but still, I saw someone the other day who hadn’t even touched the snow on their rear window. The entire window still had about three inches of snow on it. Nice.
It sucks. An ice storm means less snow on the ground, but it also means downed power lines, slippery roads, bad drivers, etc. Snow means lots of work picking it up. You just can’t win.
“You don’t have to shovel heat.” - My Father-in-Law.
Good ideas - when Jim was stopped by a cop this week, he couldn’t roll down his window because it was frozen shut. That could be a serious problem. I would also like better vents throughout the car - you can’t really scrape the inside of your glass because of the curve (and I don’t think you should have to, with a fine source of warm air available).
Other things I would like for the Canadian Car:
- Better glass clearing as already mentioned - scraping ice is so four decades ago.
- Better insulation in the cabin. You turn your heater off and it cools off in minutes.
- Heated seats, mirrors, and steering wheel (I know most of these are already available - I think they should be standard on the Canadian Car).
- Comes with two sets of tires standard (summer and winter).
- Drainage in the front footwells.
- Pedals spaced far enough apart to accommodate snow boots.
- A better solution for plugging cars in/warming engine. Just this week we lost an extension cord to human nature (I think you all know what happened), and it cost $60 to replace!
- OOH, timers on the block heaters built right into the cars so you can set them on your dashboard!
- A fold-down purse shelf in the front passenger seat so you don’t have to put your purse down in the muck (yeah, I know you can throw in it the backseat - this one is really blueskying).
I used to have a vehicle with those – made cleaning a lot easier – particularly with all the slush from winter boots. Unfortunately, the feature was a result of making the vehicle better at water crossings (it also had breathing tubes for the differentials, and a snorkel for the air intake), rather than for better winter slush removal, for the heater was minimal.
My present vehicle does not have drains in the floorboards, but does not have enough insulation either, so there is a buildup of ice over one inch high on the left side of the front footwell that I’ll have to deal with the next time I clean it.
featherlou, I think the prairie provinces need to get together and pass a law requiring every vehicle has a snowbrush at all times, kinda like Quebec and snow tires. The fact that some people don’t simply baffles me - it’s like suicide!
I’m spoiled this year, I have underground parking in my apartment building. It’s niiiiiiiice.
I have one of those. Before we bought this house with its blessed attached garage**, we parked outside all winter and covered our windshields nightly from November through March. My cover is made of fabric impregnated with a teflon-like material so nothing sticks to it and it doesn’t stick to the windshield. It has flaps which tuck into the car on both sides, then you close the front doors to hold it snug.
I can testify that even during a three-day ice storm during which everything that relies on power-company electricity to function ceases to function, my windshield remained clear. (Made it easier to drive to the Red Cross emergency shelter.) We also have a giant squeegee-looking thing on a broom handle to quickly remove lots of snow from hoods and roofs. The car dealers up here (Maine) have them. Driving in snowy or icy conditions is difficult enough–I can’t imagine doing it if I couldn’t see clearly. Call me a wuss.
I still keep the windshield cover in the back of my SUV and put it on when I park at work if snow is forecast.
**When we were looking for houses, the number one item on the must-have list was a garage.
The cover worked great for me during the last storm, which is good, since they say we will get another big dump of snow tomorrow night – up to a foot or so. But I have to remember to clear off the roof of the car before moving the cover. The glass was nice and clear, though!
I’m so grateful I don’t have to work Monday. I’ll be digging out, but I don’t have to actually go anywhere.
My father-in-law covers his windshield with an old wool blanket during the winter. Works for him. Of course, he doesn’t live in a neighborhood where the neighbors would be scandalized by the sight of an old wool blanket left across a car windshield all night…
For those of you in Tastykake country… a local DJ when I was a teen described a minivan with snow left on the roof as “a Krimpet with wheels”.