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[USA] Moving to a colder climate soon (Denver or Minneapolis-ish), how do I prepare my car?
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this post was submitted on 23 Aug 2024
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I lived in the Minneapolis area for many years, so I can provide a little insight. First off, you will be fine through September. Early November is when snow that lasts for more than a day or two starts to become a real possibility.
-Tires: Your best bet, even with 4WD/AWD is to have a second set of snow tires mounted on cheap steel wheels. (4WD/AWD doesn't do a damn thing for steering or stopping distance!!!) Swap those over around early November and back to your "regular" tires around late April. If you live in a suburban area, roads will get plowed and sanded quickly, so you are probably fine with GOOD all season tires. But if you're considering an exurban/rural area I would certainly recommend snow tires. Studded tires and chains are not allowed on highways in MN as far as I remember, but the laws in rural areas could be different.
-Oil: Check your owners manual. At worst you may be recommended to swap from 10W-30 to 5W-30 or something, but it doesn't get cold enough for long enough to be a strict need.
-Block heaters: With modern vehicles, it's more of a luxury than a requirement unless you are living in the northern part of the state. If you have an attached garage, it should be a non-issue.
-Other: Always keep a bit of warm weather gear in your car. This goes triply if you live in a rural area. Imagine what you'd want if you were stranded for 4 hours at -20F. Gloves, a hat, some handwarmers, a small blanket at minimum. A small shovel and a bag of sand or kitty litter can help you out if you are mildly stuck in snow. Get the good windshield washer fluid, the stuff that's rated to -40F. You'll go through a ton driving on the freeway after salt has been laid down, and it is MISERABLE if it starts to freeze up on your windshield.
I'd add starter cables to the list if they don't have it already. Cold weather can significantly weaken a car battery - and if it's already a bit old that might be enough.
Cables and a jumper pack. A jumper pack means you don't need someone else to help you.
Don't get the ones that have an air compressor included, they are almost always terrible for anything other than inflating a ball. You don't want to leave the jumper pack in the car during severe cold or heat, it will reduce performance and may cause a premature failure. Having to sit in a -20 car while you have the jumper pack in your jacket so it can warm up enough to work sucks fairly hard.
NOCO makes great jumper packs.
I will also add that getting some hard plastic "traction mats" with a jack pad can really help you or someone else out if you or they get stuck and can't get out of the snow or have a flat tire on the highway in a snow storm.
Hey thanks for the rec! My car would probably do fine with the cheapest one, but was considering getting one rated for a larger engine in case I need to help someone out. Do you know if that would work?
Bigger is always better. You literally cannot go overboard with capacity because the jumper pack is smart enough to deliver the juice needed and not open the firehouse on a toddler.
It gives you more jumps for your own car between charges and it can help the stupid truck owner that can't even bear the mantle of responsibility of truck ownership by being prepared, and willing, to help others.
Sweet! Thank you
Yeah it's extra satisfying when I help out an unnecessarily large truck's owner lol (it's usually a man who thinks women don't know anything - like the guy who thought I should be informed to turn my car off before swapping a belt out...my hero! π€ )
You dont need to turn the car off, you just got to be real quick and not have a car with a clutched fan. Lol
That's a great call, regardless of climate!
There are batteries designed to handle cold climates. If you buy a car from a warmer climate and intend to use it in a cold climate, you really should check which kind of battery it came with. Itβs probably a summer battery.
That's a great point I hadn't considered! I always wondered why my bog standard Elantra came with an expensive deep cycle AGM battery, Hyundai winterized them for Quebec.
AGM is exactly the kind of battery that is supposed to handle cold winters. Winter in Quebec is no joke.
Definitely have these already! Although I might get a longer set so it's less of a PITA.