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 ??

-5C when I got up this morning! If it carries on like this, I may put an old blanket over windscreen. Zero outlay

Read about (haor) frost here:

http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/feature/wf231002.htm

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

Heat - yes. Aircon - no.

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 ??

They work fine but are a pain in the ****, can't put them in the boot, too damp and if you leave it outside they freeze up before you put them back on at night.

You shouldnt leave the car idling for 7 mins anyway, not only will it not heat up in the slightest but it specifically says in the manual not to.

-6 in Stockholm this morning. I have an electric fan made for cars inside the car and a eletric engine heater. A timer starts 1,5 hour before it

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

-5 degrees according to the Octy this morning :eek: :eek: :eek:

-4 in Mancunia and cold as a penguins chuff chute...

If you can access a 13 amp socket place a 1 kW fan heater on rear parcel shelf and connect via an extension lead to socket. If possible use a plug in earth leakage protector. Shut tailgate on lead as it won't get squashed because of rubber seal. Switch on about 30 mins before using car. If you want to be really clever use a plug in timer switch. The result is that everything defrosts and you have a nice warm car to get into. Just remember to disconnect everything before driving off!

Also I'm not sure about the legal position if the milkman trips over the cable!

I am looknig at a Dimplex 3KW Storage heater c/w timer for mine, cuse it is tooo damn cold to be waiting for the thing to warm up

Some good replys guys, some written by people who obviously think I am a complete retard!

Still doesnt take away the fact its crap on cold mornings, compared to others I have owned

Where do you get Milk bottles from.

Doh..... From the MILKMAN....doh

sadly one of the few disadvantages with owning a diesel is that a diesel engine never really gets that hot (anyone who's got one ever heard the cooling fan running in the hottest weather stuck in a jam?) so yes it does take a lot longer to warm up and won't ever get as warm as petrol.

You shouldnt leave the car idling for 7 mins anyway, not only will it not heat up in the slightest but it specifically says in the manual not to.

Should be noted that this is an environmental issue, surprised it didnt say if your journey is really short try walking

Should be noted that this is an environmental issue, surprised it didnt say if your journey is really short try walking

Are you sure, I didnt think it was good for the car?

Regardless it's completely pointless anyway.

On the hot water gimmick - it's worthless. Looks like many ppl involved with this forum don't have an idea what winter actually means Here in Finland (same applies for most of Scandinavia) we get temps from -20C to -35C every damn winter.. pouring water on the screen would end up melting the snow & ice and re-freezing on the glass again. If you use wipers straight after pouring the water, the end result will be just a tad thinner icing. Mind you, this happens even with proper washer fluid mixture that should take -20C easily. Has something to do with physics and what not... but the point is, no matter how strong mixture of antifreeze you have in your washer fluid - it'll still freeze after being wiped.

I'm sure quite many of the "northerners" around this forum can confirm this. But then again, I'm getting my Eberspächer 5kw diesel pre-heater fitted tomorrow, so what do I care

- Juha

Great.Weather people promised us wind chill of -9 and snow today:orb_cold: .

Scarf + big coat this morning all ready to go.It is raining and the car tells me it is plus 7.5 degrees:dopey: .The sun is peeping out now as well:sun: .

Who pays these weather people.They are as accurate as Tarot card readers :orb_futur