Car care during winter in Oulu

[itatz]

Hello,

I've moved to Oulu just one week ago and took my car with me from Italy. Temperatures here are between 0° and -12° at the moment (but it can get easily to -20° for what I've heard). I have no experience whatsoever in taking care of a vehicle in such cold conditions and I have a few questions:

- The car is parked outside at the moment: starting from the basics, for how long should I wait for the engine to warm up (that is, after turning it on) before driving?
- General question: what are the risks of leaving the car in the open during the whole winter? For example, battery, electric system, plastic/rubber parts, paint, etc... What if I don't use it for several days in a row?
- I'm looking for a permanent accommodation: is it crucial to choose a flat with a warm parking spot?
- I see that the majority of cars parked outside are plugged through a cable to some electric plug, which I assume is to supply some engine block heater. Do cars here come out of the factory with engine block heaters or are they installed afterwards?

Note that my car is just one year old and in perfect conditions.

Any other comment/suggestion is "warmly" welcome

Thank you in advance for your time, cheers!

[Upphew]

Hello,

I've moved to Oulu just one week ago and took my car with me from Italy. Temperatures here are between 0° and -12° at the moment (but it can get easily to -20° for what I've heard). I have no experience whatsoever in taking care of a vehicle in such cold conditions and I have a few questions:

- The car is parked outside at the moment: starting from the basics, for how long should I wait for the engine to warm up (that is, after turning it on) before driving?

Start the car, wipe the snow and scrape the windows. That should be enough most of the time. When it gets colder you might want to wait a bit longer.

- General question: what are the risks of leaving the car in the open during the whole winter? For example, battery, electric system, plastic/rubber parts, paint, etc... What if I don't use it for several days in a row?

Battery won't take charge as well when it is cold and it is harder to start. You should drive longer distances to charge the battery. 5 minutes to work or shop and you soon have exhausted your battery.

- I'm looking for a permanent accommodation: is it crucial to choose a flat with a warm parking spot?

Warm spot, no. Electricity for block heater, yes. Warm spot means your car will thaw and thus get wet. Wet car means rust.

- I see that the majority of cars parked outside are plugged through a cable to some electric plug, which I assume is to supply some engine block heater. Do cars here come out of the factory with engine block heaters or are they installed afterwards?

Note that my car is just one year old and in perfect conditions.

Any other comment/suggestion is "warmly" welcome

Thank you in advance for your time, cheers!

Heaters and sockets are installed here. At least my car dealer called when the new car arrived and asked for the side I wanted it.

Get a decent shovel for your car. Plastic ones won't cut when the snowplough has made a snow wall with wet snow and it has frozen solid during night.

[itatz]

Thanks for the useful info!

I'll definitely buy a good shovel and inquire about installing the block heater (there are plugs in the parking). Do you know how much it will cost me approximatively?

[tavastia]

Installing the block heater + inside plug, could be between 300-600€, depends of the car. You could ask from smaller independent service companies using this: https://autojerry.fi

You can also search previous requests and offers: https://autojerry.fi/hinnat/lohkolammit ... nus-hinta/

[nismo]

What temperature is the coolant / antifreeze in your engine rated to? I've imported a lot of cars in my time and some needed a proper coolant to handle the colder temperatures.

Also taking your car down into Kallioparkki can really help thaw it out if there's some stubborn ice you need to get rid of

[riku2]

you should check with the dealer what differences there are between the models sold in italy and the ones here. not only are things like the oil and coolant different but there can be additional parts or software changes for cars sold in "cold countries". My previous BMW from Finland had the "cold climate" option which was a flap on the engine air filter and a small electric pre-heater which warms the air going into the engine for the first five minutes if the temp is under 3 degrees. The BMW I have now is imported from Germany but didn't come with that that option (despite having heated seats, heated mirrors, heated steering wheel etc). I bought the cold climate parts myself and fitted them but also had to update the car's software with a laptop to convince the car it had the "cold climate option". This option is not something you order when buying the car but it's decided based on the destination country (BMW don't even mention it unless you list out the options via a VIN decoder). With modern cars having so much software and so many control modules it's possible the programming is different for different markets.

separate to the above and the other advice given is a silicone pen you will see in accessory shops. you coat the rubber door seals with this because in the cold weather any moisture on them can freeze and make the door hard to open (you will rip the sealif it freezes and you pull the handle too hard). you run the silicone pen around the rubber door seal and it prevents sticking.