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[USA] Moving to a colder climate soon (Denver or Minneapolis-ish), how do I prepare my car? (self.nostupidquestions)

submitted 3 months ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by acetanilide to c/[email protected]

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Update 2024-10-27: Made it to my new home! Thanks to everyone for your input. Winter is closing in and I think we are well prepared!

Hello,

I have never lived in a snowy place. Where I am now we usually get enough ice to make it slick and it shuts the region down. We live in the center of the country so depending where exactly we end up we probably won't have an entire mountain to drive over...probably.

I am moving to be either in Denver area or Minneapolis area. What do I do with our cars?

I have a small 4WD SUV (I don't know how to drive in areas that actually require 4WD). Our other car is a slightly larger SUV. Both have pretty low clearance.

We currently have all season tires. Do we need to get special tires or chains? How do I learn to drive with the chains? Also, does everyone just have 2 sets of tires laying around?

What about vehicle fluids? IIRC viscosity is different in different climates, is that just oil I'd need to worry about?

And are you supposed to heat your car or whatever? I know they do that in super cold places but not sure about Minneapolis.

The areas we are looking at are in and around the major cities, although if we end up in Minnesota there's a chance we will be in a more rural area or in a place where we need to drive a long distance because housing is expensive.

If anyone knows how much longer we have to get there before the roads become treacherous this winter that would be helpful. I think we have til end of September to be safe, is that usually true?

Any other tips are much welcomed and appreciated. I don't really have anyone I can ask and the internet is pretty full of AI BS now.

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[–] dingus 3 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

I think it's highly depend not on how cold the climate is. Do you know the specific location? I see you've listed a few.

Anecdotally, I grew up in a suburban area southern Michigan where the winters could get brutally cold and there is a lot of lake effect snow. But I never needed to use an engine block heater or special tires. Read wheel drive vehicles were ill advised for winter months though from what people had told me living there. I had a small FWD crossover SUV for the bulk of my time living there and it was fine. If you have to drive in snow and icy conditions, go very very slow and bear in mind that you cannot stop, accelerate, or turn quickly at all.

The most essential think I needed was an ice scraper and remembering to warm up the car first.

Obviously ymmv depending on how cold your location is and whether or not you're living out in a rural area. Also where I lived was likely a tad less cold than Denver. But cars were generally still able to start at -5F for reference.

[–] acetanilide 1 points 3 months ago

Thank you! I think our other car is FWD so we may be in luck.

Unfortunately nothing is set in stone yet. We really want Denver area but our finances aren't great so it could be somewhere else entirely.

I'm actually excited to buy a different ice scraper. The one I have is good but it's one of those double sided made for snow removal as well and that part... isn't great. It's a rectangular piece of styrofoam which would be fine except there's no way to lock it in place so it collapses when you use it.