:facepalm:
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:facepalm:
Here are some answers for you from someone who moved to the the Great White North from Dallas.
1. You don't need a block heater. I don't even have on on my VW TDi. Make sure your battery is decent, run synthetic oil, and you should be fine.
2. You will likely freeze your ass off with a convertible. It may suffer a bit under a heavy snow as well. For an example, see the Metrodome roof collapse. A hard top is good.
3. LOTS of people (not me, though) drive Miatas in the winter up here. Steve Wynveen has an NB that is a hoot to drive in the snow. Get a set of Blizzaks and you will be fine - you might even look forward to driving in the snow. Nothing will go through a really big snow storm (except maybe my old Suburban), but we don't get too many of these.
4. If you car rusts out after one winter, that Japanese steel is much worse than reported. Also, salt only works when it is around freezing. It is usually colder than that.
5. Bonus, you can go ice racing. There are a lot of clubs up here and a lot of frozen lakes.
Have fun in Minnesota, and whatever you do, don't become a Vikings fan.
Way to give the boy some hope slates. ::Chair::
Hardtop? You don't need no stinkin' hardtop.
http://fastercat.smugmug.com/Other/M.../O/2wdqzxf.jpg
At least a hardtop wont rust (well maybe the hardware would).
Have fun with this!
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z...ps708fb4e9.jpg
Expect this....
http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z...a/IMG_7235.jpg
I went to college in the Twin City for more than 6 years. I had a Beetle back than. It fish tailed in the interstate in the morning traffic and ended in the snow bank facing the traffic which was behind me! You better take the advises stated above. The best thing to do is take the Miata up there now and sell it as a Texas car while it is still warm up there and use the money to get a FWD beater. You can get good money and a quick sell b/o Texas car. We used to look for ads in the newspaper saying Texas car. I know there are people that buy Texas cars and truck them up to the north for quick profit. You will not able sell the Miata past August up there. It starts to get cool after August and freeze before the end of Sept. It is impossible (= suicide) to drive a Miata w/o snow tires up there. Even if you not ended up in the ditch, it will be so beat up by next spring that you will get very little money for it. When I was up there, we never wash the car until after Easter. The water just froze, expand and cause more damage the minute you come out from the car wash. Also the water get into the door locks and freeze them up. We used to carry a spray in our pocket to spray into the key hole to unfreeze the lock. I had more than once broke the key in the frozen lock. You never want to store it in a heated garage ether. The heat melt the ice which actually accelerates the road salt rusting. Don't ask me how I know. If you really set on taking it there and park it outside, you will need a block heater, snow tires, couple bags of kitty liter and a good blanket in the trunk. The kitty liter is for when you are stuck to give you traction to get going. The blanket is to keep your butt from freezing when you ended up stranded or in a ditch waiting for rescue. Winter up there is no joke! I hope you are not going north of the Twin City or up in Duluth!
May I ask what sort of job market is stronger in MN than TX? I spent 3 months (Jun > Aug) working in Minneapolis one summer, the weather was very nice however the locals all thought they were going to die if it got to 90.........
Wow. Maybe the new DFWMiata logo should be a confederate flag. SCREW DEM YANKEES AND THEIR COLD-ASS WINTERS.
Hate to say it, but dallas currently has one of the stronger job markets. We have a job opening for a $10 hr. stock room position, and I'd say 25% of our applicants have just moved to dallas because our job market is stronger......... and
Naw, dem just jokes. I done forgot my'un roots and is full Texan now. Besides, I'm really a FIB. Y'all might not be familiar with that term, but folks from WI, IA and IN affectionately refer to folks from IL as F@%king Illinois Bastards.
POS, Your Miata sure does have a purdy mouth.
I joke alot about TX, but after spening 27 years in Illinois and 10 years in Ohio, we never want to leave TX. Our only regret is we didn't get here sooner.
Foreverzero89, if MN is where you want to be, so be it. My only advice would be not to take advice from anyone on an internet forum.
On second thought, internet forums are good places for financial advice. Give me all your money and I'll invest it a Miata that will not not be driven in snow or into a curb.
For a while.
Nor will I threadjack for my own amusement.
Trust me, I'm from Illinois and I'm here to help.
Nobody has recommended oiling the undercarriage yet. The theory is that the salty water can't reach the metal if you coat it all with some sort of oil. There are numerous products and even more home-brew recipes out there. The general consensus is that it makes a huge mess. Plenty of people swear by it. I bet mechanics hate the people that swear by this method, though.
I have first hand experience that a thick layer of sludge will inhibit oxidation. The engine compartment has been the least rusty part of my entire restoration project.
I do not have experience with northern winters and salty roads.