Flinter's Winter Beater Experiment

[UmroAyyar]

Interesting experiment. Lets see how you feel into the next summer.

[wing]

Krown a car you never drive in the winter?  HAHA waste of money and I have my car in my garage to PROVE it.

It's never been treated with anything the thing can be eaten off of, every bolt, screw etc all look like new.  Don't waste your money if you don't take it out in the winter the thing will look like new forever.

[Flinter]

Krown a car you never drive in the winter?  HAHA waste of money and I have my car in my garage to PROVE it.

It's never been treated with anything the thing can be eaten off of, every bolt, screw etc all look like new.  Don't waste your money if you don't take it out in the winter the thing will look like new forever.

Thanks for passing along your experience with the S2K. Based on that, I probably shouldn't bother with Krown on the 128.

[articsteve]

Krown a car you never drive in the winter?  HAHA waste of money and I have my car in my garage to PROVE it.

It's never been treated with anything the thing can be eaten off of, every bolt, screw etc all look like new.  Don't waste your money if you don't take it out in the winter the thing will look like new forever.

10 year old     HAHA ... too new.  Talk to me when you own a 20 year old German car with 235,000 MILES on the body.

Unknown to my car "experts" your typical concrete slab, unheated residential garage, during the winter, is a classic moisture trap.  General with a humidity content above 60%.  Moisture, ever present in the ground, rises thru the concrete slab continuously. Not ideal for storing vehicles.    

[wing]

250,000 miles of only summer driving?  That's going to be A LOT of summer driving.  Realistically I doubt Flinter is going to keep the 128 for 20 years...

[articsteve]

250,000 miles of only summer driving?  That's going to be A LOT of summer driving.  Realistically I doubt Flinter is going to keep the 128 for 20 years...

250,000 miles of only summer driving?

I was referring to to my South Carolina sourced 944 S2, an actual example.  But even still, I can see a summer only Canadian sourced vehicle raking up 200K MILES in southern Ontario in 20 years.  Mid April mid Nov.

Realistically I doubt Flinter is going to keep the 128 for 20 years...

It's besides the point how long he may keep this particular car.  The fact is the "rusting" process still takes place in unheated, unprotected slab on grade garages.  It's all about the humidity.  It's evident by the mold that surfaces on the interior fabrics.  Sometimes ppl don't even see it.  First thing I check when somebody brings in a "stored for the winter" vehicle that I may be personally interested in purchasing is the rust/mold under front seats.  The moisture build up is greatest inside the vehicle.

PPL spend their vehicle cash in different ways.  Each to his own.  Despite usage and age, I always Krown a car when I take ownership.  I pay $90 cash providing the trunk liners are out of the vehicle.  To me it's a no brainer.  Always, the used cars that I see and I see a ton, the Krown and Rust Check cars are in the best condition.

[wing]

A us car is still not a stored car the difference being it has had harsh elements thrown at it day after day.

My garage queen is still Minty as it is only outside when I'm using it... 10 times a year? Haha. 10 years old 50k

[articsteve]

My garage queen is still Minty as it is only outside when I'm using it... 10 times a year? Haha. 10 years old 50k

Didn't realize you bought it new.  That was like 50K  CDN plus tax.     ROLLER 

[initial_D]

Krown a car you never drive in the winter?  HAHA waste of money and I have my car in my garage to PROVE it.

It's never been treated with anything the thing can be eaten off of, every bolt, screw etc all look like new.  Don't waste your money if you don't take it out in the winter the thing will look like new forever.

10 year old     HAHA ... too new.  Talk to me when you own a 20 year old German car with 235,000 MILES on the body.

Unknown to my car "experts" your typical concrete slab, unheated residential garage, during the winter, is a classic moisture trap.  General with a humidity content above 60%.  Moisture, ever present in the ground, rises thru the concrete slab continuously. Not ideal for storing vehicles.    

1990, 265,000KM, winter usage, mostly. No protection spray-ed.

[wing]

Yeah thats impossible in ontario. Some 4 year old cars are rusted to crap

[Flinter]

Here's the latest on my winter beater experiment. I had noticed that the Corolla had some issues with rough idle and stumbling after it was sitting out in the wet for a while. Then the check engine light came on after a particularly bad instance of stumbling. I checked it out using my scan tool and sure enough it was a misfire code.

Given that winter was approaching I purchased some parts to hopefully resolve the issue. (Distributor cap, rotor button, plug wires, and plugs)

Parts cost me ~$225 and installed myself. I noticed alot of burn marks on the contacts in the distrib. cap and rotor button so I think that was probably the root cause. It's running much better now.

So here's the current tally:

$1000 (purchase price)
$1200 (basic winter tires + brake work + safety inspection + e-test)
~$300 (taxes, registration costs)
~$225 (Distributor cap, rotor button, plug wires, and plugs)

$2725 Total

We had our first snow here in Ottawa last night so fingers crossed that I don't have any issues this winter.

[Julie]

Thanks for the update. 

[Flinter]

Since old man winter gave us our first brush of snow (that stuck around for a few days), I decided to switch daily driving duties to the Corolla.

It's been an interesting transition. The Corolla is running fine but every time I drive it I can't help but think that cars have really advanced ALOT since 1996. I find myself cruising along, thinking I'm going at a good clip, but wondering why everyone is going so fast until I look at the speedo to find I'm going 10 km/hr under the posted limits .

The low seating position of cars of this vintage as well as the lower window lines really makes you feel kind of exposed as big trucks and SUV's whiz by you. 

I still hope to get the 128 out the odd time during the winter months on clear days when the roads are bare. I actually had it out today for a run around some country back roads. The Corolla gets daily driving duties and fits the bill for what I wanted.  Here she is again!!



Here's Lulu tucked away in my Garage. Hopefully not for too long.

[evil_twin]

Flinter,

Surprised you garaged the 128i for winter?  Worried about the RWD in the winter...or just the hard weather on the car?  Based on experience, I certainly wouldn't worry too much about a BMW in the snow.  Understand if you just want to keep the thing in tiptop condition.

I would have a very hard time parking the ride for 3-4 months every year, though I suppose the car will thank you.  Hope you're planning to keep it for a long time with that sort of treatment.

[Railton]

Flinter,

Surprised you garaged the 128i for winter?  Worried about the RWD in the winter...or just the hard weather on the car?  Based on experience, I certainly wouldn't worry too much about a BMW in the snow.  Understand if you just want to keep the thing in tiptop condition.

I would have a very hard time parking the ride for 3-4 months every year, though I suppose the car will thank you.  Hope you're planning to keep it for a long time with that sort of treatment.

I'm pretty sure it's leased.
Railton

[johngenx]

Back when I had the 911, my wife drove it to school for the first few weeks one September to keep her stick-shift skill up, and then she switched back to her E300.  One of the staffers mentioned that she suddenly switched from a Porsche to a Mercedes.

"Oh, yeah, that's my winter beater."

[Flinter]

Flinter,

Surprised you garaged the 128i for winter?  Worried about the RWD in the winter...or just the hard weather on the car?  Based on experience, I certainly wouldn't worry too much about a BMW in the snow.  Understand if you just want to keep the thing in tiptop condition.

I would have a very hard time parking the ride for 3-4 months every year, though I suppose the car will thank you.  Hope you're planning to keep it for a long time with that sort of treatment.

I'm pretty sure it's leased.
Railton

You are absolutely right to question the logic of this whole "winter beater" experiment since the 128i is leased. Realistically it probably doesn't make alot of sense and I'm sure I'll be questioning it myself over this winter.

Originally the plan was to drive the 128 year round but when this Corolla became available from a former coworker this summer I thought that I could probably buy a it as a dedicated winter car for a similar price to a winter wheel/tire package for the 128.

In addition, Ottawa winters can be kind of brutal on cars (very cold with loads of salt, shush,and sand) I always cringe when I look at any new car in those worst months of winter. You would be right to point out that who cares about winter wear and tear if it a leased vehicle but if the 128 proves to be reasonably reliable??, I can see myself buying it after the lease.

Growing up in NL we always had an old truck that we beat the hell out of over the winter so I've always been attracted to the winter beater concept... it will be fun to ram into that snow pile at the end of the driveway without much regards to the consequences.

[Shnak]

So, you're leasing a 128i for like $500 a month, will store it for 3-4 months this winter, drive a POS for those months, and feel good you've saved the costs of a winter tire package? That makes absolutely no sense to me! If you owned the car and wanted to preserve it as long as possible, that might make a little bit of sense, but if you lease it, why do you care? And even if you do end up buying it, if you take proper care of it, what's wrong with driving it year-round? I'd argue that 3-4 months of very limited driving is probably worse than driving year every day during the winter. But, I'm sure your dealership will be incredibly happy to see a very low mileage, winter-stored, 128i coming back to them if you decide to return it! They'll make a good chunk of money off of selling it! 

[johngenx]

If the value of the car is higher than the buyout price thanks to low km and pristine condition and you don't want to keep it, sell it and pocket the difference.

With some care and proper methods, storing a car will not reduce its life.

[tortoise]

"I'd argue that 3-4 months of very limited driving is probably worse than driving year every day during the winter. "

Go on. Argue away.




" I can see myself buying it after the lease."

Makes sense to me.  I've always thought that driving a car in winter (particualrly Ottawa/Ontario) is equivalent to signing a contract stating you've taken 10 years off of the lifespan of the vehicle.