Friday, May 1, 2009

New to St. Louis, MO--should I move my car inside for the winter? -

I ve just moved to St. Louis and am wondering what to do with my car for the winter (if anything). It s currently parked outside in a parking lot, but I have the option of renting a carport for $30/mo. The carport has no door, so basically it would just a roof over the car (no extra heat). I ve heard stories of ice storms and hail (though I guess hail is more spring) and am wondering if a roof would be worth the extra cost. On the other hand, I spoke to someone who lived here last year and he didn t seem too concerned. I m mostly concerned about damage and/or my car getting severely encased in ice--I can deal with the usual scraping of snow and frost.

We dont have enough ice or snow storms to warrant renting a space with a roof as long as you dont mind getting out a bit early to scrape the frost off your windows. If you are worried about ice, you can always keep a can of window de-icer in your house for those mornings that you will need it. I d just invest in a good ice scraper and not worry about renting another spot.

If you live in the inner city, then no. But if you live in the suburbs of St. Louis I suggest you do. St. Louis gets a pretty good amount of snow and ice each year. It doesn t really cause too many problems for the inner city cause it usually melts, but in the suburbs it can be bad, especially the ice.I left my car out once and it was almost I guess totaled cause an ice storm took out a tree and it fell on my car. lol.

If it was a garage, I would go for it, but otherwise I would not worry too much about ice. If it does start to sneet (snow and sleet), a lot of people put something over the windshield like cardboard to keep from scraping.

Car port is a rip off if you ask me. Just extra profit in the land lord s pocket.

I had St Louis weather up a while ago, because of a friend Possible Snow Sunday and Ice Tuesday.Still, 30.00 for a carport is ridiculous. A garage yes, as your car stays warmer the heater works faster. Butt I wouldnt pay that for a carport. A carport isnt even going to stop the ice on the windshield.. I think it would depend on how expensive your car is. If its Corvette, Mercedes etc..yes do it.Oh and if there is a bad ice storm coming, you will know.http://www.accuweather.com There will be a big pink area, on your map. If its enough to encase your cars, tree limbs will fall, so make sure youre not under trees, then you should be ok. Go to like Auto Zone and express what you fear. They ll show you what de icer wont damage your car s paint.

A carport really isn t much protection at all, and if that were my choice and if my car were a regular car (not high-end Mercedes, Rolls, etc.) I would save the money and let the car sit outside. If I had a really expensive high-end vehicle I would be looking for a garage for year-round -- summer sun is brutal! If there is a big ice storm, don t worry about getting your car out and going whether it s covered with a carport or not, since it won t even be safe to walk to the car. With a big snow, you won t have to do a lot for a car under a carport, but also won t have the igloo effect from snow cover -- really helpful if the temperature drops to dangerous levels after a snow.I suggest that you save the $30.

$30 for a carport that probably won t do much is ridiculious, as said before. But you could probably find a cheaper one, and then put tarp around it, like on the open side, just tie them to the posts, and on the front, after you get in it, put the tarp on the front down and tie it. That should probably keep most things out (Because, after all, St. Louis can get really bad weather, as in most places), and it won t be hard to take off. Make sure you get pretty thick tarp, otherwise it would be mostly useless. But just in case, keep an ice scraper somewhere, because in St. Louis, anything is possible. =]Hope I helped!GO CARDINALS!