Dear All,

This is my first Canadian winter with my Accord. I was wondering if I should get a jump starter ? If yes then which brand is a good buy ?

Also how long do you guys idle your car - the car is parked outside.

 

Personally, I drive away gently, as soon as I get enough ventilation to prevent my breath from fogging the windshield.

If it's very cold but dry, that might only be a minute or so.
If I have to brush snow or scrape ice off the windows, I do that after starting.
I refuse to leave the car running unattended, but that's just me.

 

From my Mazda's Owner's Manual:

Saving Fuel and Protection of the Environment
How you operate your Mazda determines how far it will travel on a tank of fuel. Use these suggestions to help save fuel and reduce CO2.

• Avoid long warm-ups. Once the engine runs smoothly, begin driving.

Said another way, start your engine, click on your seat belt, put the transmission in gear, and drive (conservatively) away.

 

I let it idle until the temperature gauge needle starts to move. I live in a very safe neighborhood and have no concerns about someone stealing my car, so I may go back inside. Also helps with defroster working from the start.

 

That's way too long and very hard on your engine. The best thing to do is to start it and drive away after only thirty seconds or so. Any longer and fuel dilution will result which in turn results in washed down cylinder walls and a high fuel percentage in the oil.

 

Like I'm going to worry about this after 260,000 miles, engine never opened up.

 

+1
only older carburetor cars sometimes need a longer warmup...unless super cold, ie N Dakoda on a cold January day

 

I totally agree I've got an after market starter in my '09 and I start it every winter morning (New England.) Quite confident my car will **** the bed from age or mileage before warming it up takes a toll. Oh and for stealing it I literally haven't locked my car in my own driveway 25 times in the last 8 years of ownership.

 

I'm kind of more like Jim, in that I start the car first, then clean the snow and crap off it. Otherwise I'll start it up, and work on getting my seat belt on, then back out of my outdoor parking space. At 233K miles, I don't really worry about engine damage from letting it warm up. I'd rather be able to see out the windows, and maybe have some heat starting to function.

If you have a new or fairly new battery with a high number of cold cranking amps, you shouldn't need a jump box.

 

Any-who I guess nobody has really answered your original question...First I probably agree that if you have a newer battery your most likely fine without a jump box however a newer battery today means it'll be an older one two years down the road. I do keep a "Jump pack" in my car it's from Griots Garage and wasn't that cheap compared to what they sell for today. Now-a-days their getting cheaper and also smaller, some I believe will fit in your glove box! I can't offer a specific brand just google them and start reading some reviews. For the 60 or 70 dollars your likely to spend for a decent rated one if it gives you piece of mind knowing you have one in the trunk well then go for it! I do not exactly recall I think I spent like maybe 129.00 but just seeing advertisements and commercials seems you can get something cheaper than that. Personally I like having the piece of mind knowing I've got one with me. I consider them like an emergency generator which sits around 99% of the time but that one incident when you lose power and it's 10 degrees out makes them worth whatever you spent on it. Just my .02