[Blacktdi]

Ok, so it's cold and frosty in the mornings and those of us who don't have the luxury of a garage, my wife has claimed that for her car. I leave home at 6.00 am and the last 2 days my 2008 has been well and truely frozen over. No de-icer to hand so my method is to start up switch blowers and both heated screens on and wait and wait and wait! It seems to take an awfull long time to defrost the car to a point that it's safe to drive. My previous cat a fiesta seemed to clear a hell of a lot more quickly. What method do you all use ?????

 

[Frank Bullitt]

I have a garage but the DS4 sits on the drive - we put a windscreen cover over it which was about £6 from Lidl, this means it takes a few moments to scrape the side windows and job-done.

 

[John2202]

I use this on my windows, makes scrapping so much easier

http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/engine-and-exterior/glass-cleaners-sealants/gtechniq-g1-clearvision-smart-glass/prod_881.html

 

[Pilot]

I have always found this the most effective and quickest way to defrost the car. Firstly start the car and put the rear and front defrosters on. Then ,using a garden watering can fill it full of warm water from the hot tap. Very warm water is acceptable , boiling is not. Pour liberally and quickly over the car starting with the windscreen, all around, finishing with the screen again. Because the heat is widespread there is little chance of cracking the screen or other glass. I would not attempt this if the glass was damaged in any way ie chips or cracks. I can be on my way in a matter of minutes and see clearly. Obviously use the wipers to clear the water off. The main danger is the water which goes onto the ground which refreezes and can be slippery.

 

[Pilot]

PS. Don't use a kettle and /or boiling water. The whole point of this is that the heat is spread evenly and at a reasonable temperature

 

[aro-rat]

Silicone based liquids help by filling the imperfections in glass and making it smother. I have used a brand from Halfords in the past, it came in a yellow bottle.

upside...
1) water flies off when driving
2) easier to scrape frost etc in mornings
3) each application lasts around 3-4 weeks.

downside...
1) keep away from black rubber, ideally treat the black rubber first with something suitable.
2) after application and polishing you can still get smearing on first rain, be careful...

Also try to keep windows open when approaching last stop for the evening to balance the inside temp without side this helps reduce misting issues.


best option... get your butler to warm the car whilst you finish poached eggs and salmon

 

[allan40alt]

I've always found this product to be very good:

<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/PermaClear-StayClean-Glass-500-ml/dp/B001F3Y89K/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1417001084&sr=8-2&keywords=permaclear+stay+clean" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">PermaClear
StayClean</a>


PS: They also do a washer additive with antfreeze


<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/PermaClear-Auto-Windscreen-Anti-Freeze-500ML/dp/B000ZNK7KK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417001398&sr=8-1&keywords=permaclear" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">PermaClear
with antifreeze</a>





Edited by: allan40alt

 

[Huge]

The only other thing to do if you have no de-icer to hand is to scrape the windscreen with a plastic scraper to speed-up the de-frosting process. Personally, though if its not really cold (say below minus 4C ) having my windscreen washer bottle topped-up with the correct dilution of winter grade screen-cleaner enables me to give it spray of that to defrost the window. This is no good at really low temps though then its back to the scraper

 

[ricaird]

Did anyone else find their doors freeze shut on really cold mornings? Three of my doors were literally frozen shut - couldn't open them no matter how much force I applied. The driver door is worst for this happening. Wasn't sure whether to mention it to the dealer or not - I've never had this on a car before (I've had 12 new cars) and we've had way worse winters than this one has been.

 

[george2104]

It happens if you washed the car and on rubber remained water. Also if the outside temp is down more than -5C...The easiest way to protect the rubber and not to block is to spray silicone based spray on rubbers.
Also a crème with silicone will do the trick.
I use a crème with silicone for rubber and plastic, and another one for leather, both from Turtle, and protects from ice and UV.

Also, for quick defrost of windows, I buy Quick Defrost spray for windows from Lidl... at -20C as we have here, you don't scratch it with plastic...don't even try...your hand will freeze ...with that spray bottle, just spray it and wait 1- 2 minutes...that does the trick and keeps the glass without scratches...(and at the price of 1.6 pounds...is a bargain)...

Best regards.

 

[MikeH]

Best option is to buy Lidl's screen wash....it say's it goes down to -60'C !! Don't tend to get that low in Wales, but it has never frozen! Also about a quarter of the price of Halfords best, which says it goes to -10'C...but was frozen in my shed when it went down to about -4 !!! Also Morrisons screen protector ... the best 2 quid I've ever spent!!Mike

 

[wupert]

I had the problem of driver's door freezing. This was the most exposed side ,any way,I opened the door by unlocking with the key instead of relying on the centrall locking.

 

[george2104]

Wupert, here we have in next days again -23 C degrees...If you spray the locker and also the rubbers with silicone spray, there is no problem... Without the silicone cream on rubbers, at -23C you open the door breaking the rubbers...or with a hammer ...
Also because I keep it outside I use a cover from Lidl...costs 13 Euro... but protect the car very good from ice and snow...and will not need to stay 10 minutes to defrost the windows...Just spray with a little Defroster from Lidl and voila....