I did not see anything that would bring Toms profession into this , where did that come from?I cannot understand what his badge has anything to do with this or his remarks...?

I agree w/Tom... when I lived in Sweden I drove top down in sunny dry cold winters , windows up , heater on, but the worst you could do was to drive it into a heated garage...as long as you leave the car outside that frozen stuff under the car will only melt as it gets warmer...everytime you park inside it would melt and be source of rust...
Bjorn