What Did You Do With Your Kizashi Today?

[SamirD]

I neglected to wash the car or to fix the damaged flex pipe cover this past weekend.

I see your level of neglect and raise you a bunch of stuff to do including still changing that drivers side headlight bulb from 2 years ago.

[SamirD]

I see people put the windshield wipers out like that and tie bags around the rear views here in MKE too, but I never understood what the purpose of this is. Care to enlighten me?

The purpose of propping up the windshield wipers is so that they don't freeze onto the windshield under the snow and to also make snow/ice scrapping easier. In conditions that cause ice, the ice can easily make your windshield wipers stuck frozen to the windshield. Even when broken free, they can have ice stuck on them, making them not very effective. The ice on the wipers and the windshield can also damage and even tear the rubber of the wipers so it's wise to keep them free of ice as much as possible.
Having them propped up prevents them from getting stuck or even collecting much ice at all. I personally do this too.

I don't bother with the side view mirrors, but the point is similar in that it's to prevent snow and ice build up in the mirrors. They are small and are much harder to clear out the snow quickly so prevention is wise. Given many cars don't have heated side mirrors or a dedicated windshield wiper defroster, these methods make it much faster for one to get the car ready to drive after snow.

Some cars like Subarus have both heated side mirrors and a windshield wiper defroster as options to help with these snow-related issues.

Thank you KuroNekko. All makes much more sense now.

At one point we had a long drive in the Kizashi in the snow and needed the front defrosters on to keep the windshield from fogging/icing from the inside. We discovered the icing problem with the wipers and ice would actually form in the wiper resting area so the wipers would hit the ice. I had to stop every 15 minutes and break off the ice from there. Obviously our Kizashis don't have that extra defrosting element at the bottom of the windshield.

[KuroNekko]

I neglected to wash the car or to fix the damaged flex pipe cover this past weekend.

I see your level of neglect and raise you a bunch of stuff to do including still changing that drivers side headlight bulb from 2 years ago.

Well, here's some motivation for the cumbersome task of removing the front bumper to get it done, courtesy of Shia LaBeouf.

[SamirD]

That video inspired me to stop stressing...

He's pretty scary in that clip!

[DesRado]

Yep, no heated side mirrors on my car. Trying to de-ice them is crappy. My old car has scratched mirrors due to me trying to get the ice off, not doing that with the Kiz.

[SamirD]

Yep, no heated side mirrors on my car. Trying to de-ice them is crappy. My old car has scratched mirrors due to me trying to get the ice off, not doing that with the Kiz.

I thought they were built-in to the rear defrost? Or is it only on certain trims?

[DesRado]

SLS only I'm guessing unless it's an option. My GTS does not have them.

[SamirD]

Must be then. I know ours has it, although I initially couldn't figure out how to use them until I saw them defogging when the rear was turned on.

[Sluggo]

I see people put the windshield wipers out like that and tie bags around the rear views here in MKE too, but I never understood what the purpose of this is. Care to enlighten me?

The purpose of propping up the windshield wipers is so that they don't freeze onto the windshield under the snow and to also make snow/ice scrapping easier. In conditions that cause ice, the ice can easily make your windshield wipers stuck frozen to the windshield. Even when broken free, they can have ice stuck on them, making them not very effective. The ice on the wipers and the windshield can also damage and even tear the rubber of the wipers so it's wise to keep them free of ice as much as possible.
Having them propped up prevents them from getting stuck or even collecting much ice at all. I personally do this too.

I don't bother with the side view mirrors, but the point is similar in that it's to prevent snow and ice build up in the mirrors. They are small and are much harder to clear out the snow quickly so prevention is wise. Given many cars don't have heated side mirrors or a dedicated windshield wiper defroster, these methods make it much faster for one to get the car ready to drive after snow.

Some cars like Subarus have both heated side mirrors and a windshield wiper defroster as options to help with these snow-related issues.

I see a lot of people doing the raised wiper thing in the winter but I've always wondered if sitting in this raised position stretches the spring and weakens it. Oh, it looks like the picture of the car with the heat grid is a Subaru Crosstrek, the orange color gives it away. It is hard to beat a Subi for a winter car. My Subi owners manual actually recommends putting the wipers in this raised position.

[golftango]

SLS only I'm guessing unless it's an option. My GTS does not have them.

I need to check the mirror wiring. I bet the heated lead is there, need to check with wire tester. If so, then all we need is the heated replacement glass and a bit of wiring.