Having a car at UND

[Bauer]

Alright, so i am trying to decide whether or not to bring a car up there to UND. Besides needing snow tires, what is the situation as far as block heaters and stuff??? or how good is transportation around campus??? do you guys think i even need a car out there for my first semester? (i currently have a 1985 toyota camry...but i dont even think it will be able to make the trip out to ND let alone brave the cold)

thanx

Bauer

[Maximillian_Jenius]

I don't attend UND...But I think life would suck anywhere not having a car and having to rely on others to get around.
That being said I know people who attend UND. So bring a car dude!!!

-Matthew

[Wild_Weasel]

I'm currently a freshman there and frankly, I think bringing your car to UND would be a waste. There's really not even a whole lot of places you'd be able to drive to given the lack of stuff in Grand Forks and you'd save quite a bit of money on gas/maint./insurance and wouldn't have the hassles of "winterizing" you car.

The only real advantage of having a car is, ahem, *learning* to drive on the ice...aka spins in parking lots; and charging your friends, without cars, exorbitant amounts of money for rides. :cough erik cough:

Just buy yourself a bike.

[Pilotwannabe]

I don't have a car up here and it works ok. I just bum rides from friends when the go to Target/walmart or a grocery store. There is a campus shuttle as well as a shuttle to the airport every half hour . . . I would like to get a car up here in last year or two . .

[roundout]

i never bought snow tires for either of my cars. as long as you get a decent all-season radial and drive like a normal human being, you shouldn't have any trouble. i bought a block heater for my intrepid. i think it cost about $50 installed - worth the money.

a car is worth having, but not as long as you live on campus. you'd probably be better off buying a beater up there than trying to nurse your car to GFK.

[JaceTheAce]

Bauer... Drive your Toyota up here. If it's been reliable within the past recent years, I don't think you'll have any trouble.

You WANT a car here in GF. You will have no freedom without a car. The public transportation system here in Grand Forks is NON EXISTANT. It's not like LA or SF or NYC where you can get around anywhere you want on a Bus real easily, at all hours of the day/night. All you need is a block heater, snow tires ($350 mounted on a spare set of steel wheels), and you'll be set. If you have decent all-season tires, you will be fine if you drive more cautiously. I just had to get snow tires because my summer tires were directional v-pattern - absolutely no lateral traction to dig into snow, plus it's just that much safer to get snow/ice tread and a special rubber compound made for the colder temps.

If you decide to keep the car there, just buy one when you get here. You can get a beater for $500 and you'll be set.

Ok, but where can I student plug in a block heater? I live in West, and am thinking about bringing up my car soon, but I dont know where it would plug in. We use that lot next to the Fritz.

[JaceTheAce]

Originally Posted by Alex1354

Ok, but where can I student plug in a block heater? I live in West, and am thinking about bringing up my car soon, but I dont know where it would plug in. We use that lot next to the Fritz.

Well, in that case you will not have plug-ins. I think the only places on campus that have plugins are the university apartments. If you want to bring a car, it's highly advised to either live in those on-campus apartments or get an apartment off-campus. Most off-campus apartment complexes here in Grand Forks have either plugins or garages for each parking space.

But then again, you have a Toyota - those bomb-proof engines can start in any weather conditions...so I wouldn't worry about it if you have to live without a plugin for one winter. Just don't drive it as often when it gets below 0.

[UAL747400]

Just get a good battery. Mines got 800 cranking amps at 0 degrees. More than most batteries warm. My car started perfectly at -32 degrees. No struggling starter and in only like 3 cranks.

Block heaters arent hard to install, but if you're living where you cant plug in, get a good battery and you'll be just fine.

As far as tires go, I've driven nothing but all seasons with the car I have up ther and have gotten around just fine. Just dont drive like a fool and you'll be just fine.

If your camry is running fine now, it'll most likely continue to run fine. If its the engine Im thinking of, it should take the drive up here and the winter no swet. I suggest putting the lightest weight oil possible when it starts getting cold, and make sure your coolant is mixed for -40 degrees.

[roundout]

i bought the toughest battery i could afford, an exide orbital with upwards of 900CCA. the only time my intrepid refused to start was the day it was -43F and i forgot to plug it in. if i was buying another battery with such a brutal mission in mind, i'd get an optima instead. the exide was only like $30 less and probably would've been a better choice, in retrospect.

btw, i run synthetic oil in every car i've had up there. highly recommend that for unplugged cold starts, too.

[Bauer]

do many of you guys have bikes up ther??? and can you/ do you actually bike around in the real cold weather?

[Philip]

which kind of bike? Pedal or motor?
GFK has more motorcycles per capita than anywhere I've ever lived it seems, which is funny because there are NO decent roads to ride on. Anyway, bring your car, dude catching the shuttle to and from the airport would be a serious pain in the ass.

I always used synth oil and optima batteries and never needed a block heater. YMMV (but I never lived on campus and my car didn't sit for extended periods of time)
One morning it was -30 and took a bit of cranking to get it going, the optima didn't even fade a bit.

if you have a nice stereo, take it the F out. Cars get broken into constantly up there.

[JaceTheAce]

Originally Posted by Philip

if you have a nice stereo, take it the F out. Cars get broken into constantly up there.

Yeah when I moved to the midwest I thought "yeah this is the honest midwest!"

Boy was I wrong...

[JaceTheAce]

Originally Posted by Bauer

do many of you guys have bikes up ther??? and can you/ do you actually bike around in the real cold weather?

Sure, you can bike around in really cold weather. If you'd like to have surgery to carve out the little piece of exposed dead frost bitten permanent-tissue-damaged skin that you left open to the elements because you rode your bike going 10 knots towards the northerly winds going 40 knots gusting to 50 when the actual temp was -30, SURE! You should be well equipped with spike tires (about $200 for a nice set for Mountain Bike) and a good medical insurance policy.

[Philip]

cut him some slack, he's from CA and has probably never seen it colder than +15F

Wait until your first Jan/Feb


One thing I noticed about GFK, you don't see a lot of old cars, about 5 years old is the max from what I remember. I don't know if this is because of the cold and snow, or the fact that 90% of them are american cars, lol.

[AngelFuree]

Originally Posted by Bauer

do many of you guys have bikes up ther??? and can you/ do you actually bike around in the real cold weather?

Depends on how far you wanna go. Anything below 10F and I won't do store runs on my bicycle. The winds are the killer ones. I'll still ride to class though. Also, when the roads ice up, it's a real pain in the ass to bike around, unless you're in a mountain bike. Like Jace suggested, studded tires are ideal for this place. Unfortunately, studded tires are not an option on newer road bikes because there's almost no clearance space between the tire and the fork, or the rear tire and the seat stays, so I'm kinda out of luck in that case. But on a mountain bike, it's a lot of fun riding around in the snow and ice. I'd just be careful when on the bike lanes though. You never know if a car will slip into your lane when it's icy. As long as you're wearing adequate clothing and have good gloves and hood, then it shouldn't be too much of a problem... =)

[AngelFuree]

Originally Posted by Philip

One thing I noticed about GFK, you don't see a lot of old cars, about 5 years old is the max from what I remember. I don't know if this is because of the cold and snow, or the fact that 90% of them are american cars, lol.

Nah, it's probably the fact that these ****ty drivers are involved in accidents one way or another. HEY! Know what's funny?? Earlier this year, I was biking down S. Columbia. It was raining...
Wanna know how many collisions I encountered that day along S. Columbia?
THREE!!!!!!!!!!!!! Three #$%#*&@# collisions. All which were from people that rear ended the front car. How ridiculous is that???? That equals six cars. Goooooood god...

[Philip]

Yeah, I got rear ended on a cycle in front of subway on columbia, totalled the bike

[JaceTheAce]

Originally Posted by Philip

cut him some slack, he's from CA and has probably never seen it colder than +15F

Wait until your first Jan/Feb


One thing I noticed about GFK, you don't see a lot of old cars, about 5 years old is the max from what I remember. I don't know if this is because of the cold and snow, or the fact that 90% of them are american cars, lol.

Well all you have to do is take a look at the average age of total Japanese cars in Grand Forks (although not very much in total) and you will see it's much older than American cars. Gee I wonder why?

But yeah you don't see a lot of old cars here in Grand Forks because A) The winters are hard on American cars such as Pontiac Grand Ams cuz they can't handle it and B) Because most cars here in Grand Forks are Pontiac Grand Ams....or Chevy Cavelier, Buick Cutlass Supreme (ooh the upgraded luxery model!)....or the Burnt Sienna Olds from Fargo.

Oh man I'm asking to get slapped by a North Dakotan

[Philip]

you forgot the olds alero.

[UAL747400]

Hey now, I drive a cutlass ciera! Its in showroom quality condition too while going through 12 Iowa winters. We use salt in Iowa by the way. Used to be in showroom condition till it was vadalized. GRRRR!!

Its definetly a really lame car and god knows I would have bought something else if I were buying the car, but you'd be dead wrong to bash its reliability. Its a smaller stroked version of the 3800cc engine thats in the higher end grand pricks(because most people that drive them are pricks) and other medium to large GM cars. Which are one of the most reliable engines ever made.