Keeping a truck outside over winter

[chorlton]

If I lived at around 8000' in the Rockies, where winter temps might be a minimum of 0, is it necessary to keep a vehicle in a garage? I'm not used to those temperatures and have always been lucky enough to have a garage, so its all new to me. I've read about battery blankets and block heaters - I guess I'd need those even if I had a garage (unheated anyway). Would a high quality waterproof/breathable car cover be as good as a garage? The truck would be used over the winter, not just stored. Thanks for any advice.

[CarolAnn]

If there's any way you can get it undercover, you'll be glad you did.

Or you can spend a lot of time digging it out of the snow, scraping windows and warming it up!

I kept my car outside in Wisconsin's bitter -10 degrees or less winters, and I used to throw an old quilt over the front glass so I could just pull it off rather than scrape. The engine should start even without a block heater (I never had one) - but you need a good battery and lots of warm up time!

If you don't care what it looks like, there are some relatively inexpensive carport kits with metal legs and a tin pitched roof. My dad used one and put a tarp around the sides to keep the snow out. Not pretty, but it worked!