I have a new niggle which I would like to know if anybody else suffers from.

Last night was probably the first this year , since I have owned my Fabia vrs, that the temp dropped and caused a bit of ice on the windscreen. I awake and think I will start my car up, give it a bit of a warm up, set the heater to hottest setting put the blower up and put the rear window demisster on. After about 6/7 mins go out and it hasnt even made a dent screen still well frosted.

Drive down the road put it to aircon and peer through a small gap at the bottom (not safe driving I know!). But it still doesnt seem to clear for a good couple of miles until really clear?

Does a diesel take soo much longer to warm or is it just a fabia bad point.

All the other cars I have owned have never taken this long to demist

Get a milk bottle of warm, not hot water and trickle it over the screen and hey presto no more ice. It works every time. Been doing it for 30 years. Yes I know what you're thinking! NO the screen is fine.

NEVER use very hot water

Does it have to be a milk bottle or will any conatianer suitable for warm water do?

You can always buy a device called an ice scraper, its made of plastic and

generally doesn't come with any instructions.............

Get a milk bottle of warm' date=' not hot water and trickle it over the screen and hey presto no more ice. It works every time. Been doing it for 30 years. Yes I know what you're thinking! NO the screen is fine.

NEVER use very hot water[/quote']

Where do you get Milk bottles from.

Where do you get Milk bottles from.

the milk man, that idiot that drives round in the middle of the freezing bloody night delivering milk and a few other handy products

I swear by De-Icer, give a quick spray and off you go. None of that scraping associated with the ice scraper. The mondeo mists badly inside, I just give the inside a wipe with a chamois pad before driving off.

2 things to be aware of,

1) the aircon is useless below 4c as it is disabled to prevent it being damaged by the cold air. So if its cold enough for ice then the a/c will have no affect.

2) its illegal to leave your car idling without anyone being in/around the car.

3) the car will warm much more quickly when being driven as the engine is under load.

4) if the car is stolen whilst you let it warm up dont expect the insurance to pay up.

super de-icer works instantly but gives you a very cold hand.

Diesel cars do take longer to warm up than petrol, but i have always found a garage handy,

A diesel engine is thermally very efficient and will only get warm under load so leaving it idling is just a waste of diesel. Air con won't work below 5 deg C. So it looks like you'll have to use a scraper and a chamois to clear that windscreen!

Chris (with a Quickclear windscreen )

the milk man, that idiot that drives round in the middle of the freezing bloody night delivering milk and a few other handy products

Havn't seen one for at least 10years. Thing of the past up here.

A worth note, quite alot of de icers arent to friendly to wiper blades and rubber trims/seals.

Remember to i) switch the wipers on immediately after you've melted the frost with water and ii) look smug at your neighbours with their sprays and scrapers.

Always keep a scraper handy though ladies just in case you have to clear inches of snow from the bodywork

the milk man

??? have to buy from the store, no milk men in Finland.

Diesel warms wery slowly, buy webasto/eber. No scraping after that.

??? have to buy from the store' date=' no milk men in Finland.

Diesel warms wery slowly, buy webasto/eber. No scraping after that.[/quote']

OK then. Use a pouch made of reindeer and fill it with warm water

the milk man, that idiot that drives round in the middle of the freezing bloody night delivering milk and a few other handy products

Just a thought, How does the milk man clear his windscreen?

If you park off road (otherwise the local ***** will nick it) then open up a carboard box into a 'sheet' and put it on the windscreens It'll stop the ice forming and costs bu**er all.

When I lived in Holland the milk-man delivered milk, cheeses and a crate of BEER. Now that was useful.

Wack a dustbin bag on the screen the night before.... or in morning luke warm water and wave to your neighbours who are scraping whilst you leave in 1 min!!

Cold here this morning.Hope we have a proper winter with 20 foot snowdrifts.

When I lived in Holland the milk-man delivered milk, cheeses and a crate of BEER. Now that was useful.

Sounds super, I could drink the beer whilst waiting for the car to thaw.

OK then. Use a pouch made of reindeer and fill it with warm water

As long as I have my Eber there's really no need to go kill neigbours reindeers

Was toying with getting one of those large covers that go over the car on a night time. Take off in a morning and hey presto all's well and good (apparantly). Now not sure if its worth the hassle / effort or the money. Anybody else use this method ??

I scrape the ice off with an ice scraper with mirrors & rear screen on heat.

Does the A/C heat function not work below 5 degrees then?

Was toying with getting one of those large covers that go over the car on a night time. Take off in a morning and hey presto all's well and good (apparantly). Now not sure if its worth the hassle / effort or the money. Anybody else use this method ??

My mate at work has been using one on his mk1 RS2000, seems to work a treat, no scraping or de-icer required and it was -6C up here last night.

Last winter I bought one of those mini heaters (a bit like a hair drier)that plug into the lighter socket.

Although the "hot" air they produce is better described as "warm", they help to warm up the windscreen enough to help defrosting (and perhaps more importantly) stop it refreezing before the engine has warmed up.

The heater may not look very cool, but when the temperature display says minus 2 (as it did this morning), do you really care?