Heated garage is even better

Click

night under a roof, it’ll look good for about twice as long.

Tom: From what we see in real life, that’s about right. Cars we work on that are garaged look a lot better than nongaraged cars their age.

Ray: I have no idea what your boyfriend is talking about regarding engine cooling. Maybe he thinks the engine won’t cool down as fast if it’s closed in a garage? Or that the heat of the engine will warm up the garage and shorten its life?

Tom: The length of time it takes the engine to cool down makes no difference to anything. So, as far as we know, there’s absolutely no downside to keeping your car in an unheated garage.

Ray: A heated garage is even better, even though it does create one downside for the car. If you live in the part of the country where it snows and they use salt on the roads, by storing it in a warm garage every night, you may slightly speed up the rusting process.

Tom: On the other hand, if it’s snowy and icy and miserable, who cares? That’s when you really want to have a heated garage! You want that stuff to melt off overnight so you don’t have to kick it out of your wheel wells.

Ray: Plus, there are some very real mechan- ical advantages to parking your car in a heated garage overnight. Most notably, because the oil remains warmer and less viscous, it does a much better job of lubricating your engine from the moment you start the car. You prevent a lot of long-term damage to the engine that way.

Tom: And because the coolant also is kept warmer, the heat comes faster and your butt doesn’t freeze to the seats.

Ray: Plus, you don’t have to clean snow or ice off the car, so your visibility will be excellent.

Tom: So, by all means, use your garage, Evelyn. And if you’ve got a heated garage, use that, too, with the caveat that it’s a good idea to get your car washed and get rid of the salt after a week in which the roads have been salted.