In your neck of the woods, over in Moscow.. I have never had snow tires here and have driven the gambit of vehicle types. When I had my Highlander that was the easiest to get around in, actually had to do a lot of trips to Spokane my wife was in Deaconess at the time. I still have to think about it some more, I do have the benefit of full tread going into winter, we will see.
Well howdy neighbor! Did you keep all terrains on the Highlander? The only snow tires I've ever used were Gislaveds and I loved them. Since we kept our Sequoia 4X4, I think I'm going to sipe the Prius tires this year and if the weather is bad enough, I will take the Sequoia to work instead of the Prius. I'm hoping it's a mild winter...
The noises (and lack of them) take some getting used to... my roommate was watching me park in the garage under electric power and calls my car the "Spaceship from Planet ZOK"... and he found some music from "Forbidden Planet" - a science fiction movie from 1955 that he will play at random times if I am in the room... Having the engine "kick off" at a stoplight was another startle moment - "Did I just stall?! Nope, just saving money..."
Yeah I ran with the all seasons on my Highlander, and this was during that wonderful winter in 2011 with all the snow in Spokane and it did fine, so did my Venza. I said screw it and went and got snow tires on Friday after work. It's just not worth the risk, the amount of miles I put on my car the snow tires should last me years so why not. Got stud-less snows and wheels for about $750 and that includes free swapping in the winter and spring forever and they dont require tpms yay.
Ordered my mudguards on Wednesday night, got them on Saturday, got them installed this afternoon. Couldn't find the instructions on Priusshop though. Luckily there are still out there on the internet since they aren't included. Very easy to install though, didn't have to take off the rear tires, front took about 5 minutes each at most being careful and the rears took about 7. If it wasn't so cold outside or I had a fricken garage they would have gotten done faster. Still loving the car, I have been averaging about 47-50 mpg on the highway all my around town trips have been between 63-70 mpg. Now if I would just stop buying stuff for it lol. Going to hold off tinting I think until tax time, I have spent enough lately. All season mats, all season cargo mat, cargo net, mudflaps, interior pad set, snow tires. lol they keep adding up. And of course my priuschat decal for the rear.
Trust me, you won't regret the tint! I love mine all the way but I must admit I wish I could go darker in the front without drawing undue police attention (SoCal tint laws suck). How do the mudguards look? I've been tempted to pick up a set for myself but I'm kinda worried how it would come out.
I think they look pretty nice, I couldn't believe how much dirt was on my car in 3 days, yes the US mudguards are small, but that's what I wanted, and they will block all the dirt. I will take some pictures tomorrow after work for you.
LOL ok I guess I won't be waiting to get my car tinted. I submitted a request for an online quote on my car from a local tint place and they called me back within 15 minutes. Told me if I could get it there over lunch they would get it done for me this afternoon and do all 10 windows and the windshield for $225.... seemed like a good price to me. Now to see how much better it looks tinted. I will let you all know.
Is the place reputable? I got all my windows tinted (no windshield though) for 170. I'm not sure if location matters but I know that I have a lifetime warranty (as long as the shop stays in business lol!)
Wow that is cheap, but you have to remember I am down in this hole in the ground, if we are lucky we have 2 choices lol. Yeah it's a local place with 2 stores in 2 towns, and it does have a lifetime on it. They actually even asked me if I wanted to stay legal...aww how nice of them to be willing to break the law lol. Of course I opted to stay legal in Idaho
Too crappy, cold and wet out when I picked it up. But it looks really nice, I am glad I decided to do it.
Make sure you don't roll down your windows for at least 24 hours if they didn't warn you! Also parking your car in the sun while the tint "cures" helps it to prevent bubbling later on.
I wish I had some sun to park it in, it's nasty here right now, I expected to wake up to snow this morning. Thanks for the tips though.
Oh man especially Washington. I was up there for a conference once for a week and I saw the sun maybe once. I hear you all have somewhere in the neighborhood of 260 cloudy days a year.
It depends on what side of the state you are on. East side sees a bit more than the West side, but not much. It took a long time for me to get used to, moving from sunny Southern California.
From CA originally myself, but that was 30 years ago. Damn Prius, ordered my dashmat and my snow cover for the windshield today, also ordered some for the wife's Venza, have to protect both the blizzards Snowed for almost 3 hours today, but none of it stuck. Hoping to get everything ready before all the snow comes for good.
