Am from sunny California and am moving to Boston soon.

[Chill32]

I own a five door hatch back 2013 yaris and am wondering would it be able to deal with snowy conditions and also the if it could deal with the cross country drive to where I am moving.

[cali yaris]

Yes and Yes.

[DevilGirl]

Snow tires. That's all I will say.

[nookandcrannycar]

I own a five door hatch back 2013 yaris and am wondering would it be able to deal with snowy conditions and also the if it could deal with the cross country drive to where I am moving.

I think your Yaris will 'handle' the trip with aplomb :thumbsup:. My Yaris has been in every state (except ID, MT, AK and, of course, HI) as well as DC and Ontario, Canada. I've driven on (as far as I can recall) asphalt, cement, gravel, and a wee bit of dirt. All without mishap (except trying to escape an accident backup on I-10 heading to New Orleans...but that = driver hubris :biggrin::redface:, no reflection on the Yaris). Boston and LA might both be liberal cities in well populated blue states, but (IMO), one might think they are on different planets. Good luck :thumbsup:.

[yougojay]

one might think they are on different planets
They are! One planet is Massachusetts & the other is California :laughabove:

Seriously your Yaris will be fine. I'd make sure you have a fresh oil change & check the oil as you stop for lodging. Don't forget to get GAS, then it will make it NO problem :biggrin:
Oh, and road munchies, and make sure you are rested & don't push the drive too much...make it fun & enjoyable.
Please have a safe trip, and please check back in.

[NEexpat]

No problem cross country.

Echo what DevilGirl said, get a set of dedicated snow tires, makes an enormous difference. Ran my Yaris one winter w/o them and had no problems, but I got them because of my trips out to OH, it was only then I saw the marked improvement.

I'm on the South Coast of MA. and will be putting my Altimax Arctics on sometime next month.

Welcome to the Commonwealth, I actually plan on leaving as soon I can get a few things sorted.

I don't know how accustom you are to long drives, I just returned from a trip to OH, 744 miles, takes me 12-13 hours with one stop. That is my limit.

There is a phenomenon known as highway hypnosis which is quite real, I used to think it was all a bunch of Bravo Sierra. Not true. Don't push it pull over frequently, and be safe. Good luck! It's a big beautiful country we have here, enjoy it.

Cheers.

[nookandcrannycar]

They are! One planet is Massachusetts & the other is California :laughabove:

:laugh:

[nookandcrannycar]

It's a big beautiful country we have here, enjoy it.

Cheers.

:clap::clap::clap::clap::clap:

[yougojay]

:thumbsup:
Driving cross-country is so cool, it's neat to see how the landscape changes over the 100's of miles. Don't forget the Pringles!

[mirapatec]

When driving cross country, it is probably a good idea to have some planned rest, fuel, and food stops along the way.

I prefer truck stops such as Love's or Pilot since they are open all hours, you can buy quality fuel, have clean restrooms, most have decent food options, and there are always helpful people around in case you need assistance. Simply put, there are some areas along the Interstates you will be unsafe if you stop, but truck stops overall are usually safe havens in the middle of the night.

Not sure about others, but I find about a 10 or 15 minute rest break to stretch my legs at a truck stop every two hours or so allows me to be a more alert driver on the road.

I hope you enjoy your trip.

[jambo101]

I own a five door hatch back 2013 yaris and am wondering would it be able to deal with snowy conditions and also the if it could deal with the cross country drive to where I am moving.

What gives you the idea that your new Yaris wouldnt make a paltry 5K trip?
If you are going to be in the snow belt winter tires should be installed either when you get there or before the trip depending on what time of year you are making the trip.

[etherdude]

I own a 2012 Yaris SE 5 speed here in the greater Boston area. Yours will do fine in the Winter driving. BUT, you definitely should get a set of snow tires. I recommend Tire Rack. I got a set of 15" GT wheels with 175/65-15 Bridgestone Blizzaks on my Yaris for around $650. I use the 16" stock SE wheels with 195/50-16 OE tires during the non-winter months. Plan on about 5 months with the winter tires and 7 months on stock tires.

[nookandcrannycar]

When driving cross country, it is probably a good idea to have some planned rest, fuel, and food stops along the way.

I prefer truck stops such as Love's or Pilot since they are open all hours, you can buy quality fuel, have clean restrooms, most have decent food options, and there are always helpful people around in case you need assistance. Simply put, there are some areas along the Interstates you will be unsafe if you stop, but truck stops overall are usually safe havens in the middle of the night.

Not sure about others, but I find about a 10 or 15 minute rest break to stretch my legs at a truck stop every two hours or so allows me to be a more alert driver on the road.

I hope you enjoy your trip.

^^^^^
I agree with this. I especially like that the pricing on prepackaged food at Love's and Pilot (which are now under the same ownership) is uniform and also not 'jacked up'. After my last trip, I plan to add my own version of your last suggestion re optimal circulation in my legs.

[nookandcrannycar]

Plan on about 5 months with the winter tires

:eek: I knew there was a reason I don't want to drive in the Northeast during the winter months :biggrin:.

[jambo101]

:eek: I knew there was a reason I don't want to drive in the Northeast during the winter months :biggrin:.
Most of your winter driving will be on bare roads, the snow factor comes in for a week or so after a major snowfall which isnt as often as many southerners would think..
Also driving on snow with proper winter tires can be fun..

[mirapatec]

I agree with this. I especially like that the pricing on prepackaged food at Love's and Pilot (which are now under the same ownership) is uniform and also not 'jacked up'. After my last trip, I plan to add my own version of your last suggestion re optimal circulation in my legs.

In fact, I normally plan my long trips based on distance from truck stop to truck stop so my rest breaks, food/coffee breaks, and fuel-ups are at regular intervals. You will be amazed at how much better you feel driving long distances with a few breaks during the trip. We all know the importance of clean restrooms.

[nookandcrannycar]

Most of your winter driving will be on bare roads, the snow factor comes in for a week or so after a major snowfall which isnt as often as many southerners would think..
Also driving on snow with proper winter tires can be fun..

Good to know :thumbsup:. I've only lived in the South for the last 5 years. I grew up about 200 miles from Lake Tahoe (Squaw Valley, Heavenly Valley, etc.). I didn't start skiing until I was 13, but from the time I was 13 until about 25 I skied every area in the Sierras north of Yosemite through the north end of Tahoe except one (Northstar). I never had snow tires, only chains. When I was on a ski trip with my friends in high school I got into a 12 car accident in the steep parking lot on the California side of Heavenly Valley. The person who caused the accident (by parking in the middle of the road and staying in the car and then moving) was the only person who pulled a hit and run...so each person's insurance company ended up paying for just their own insured's damage. When I was on my first trip...years before, when I was not yet driving...(to Silde Mountain (now part of Mt. Rose), Tannenbaum (now closed), Squaw Valley, and Heavenly Valley, my experienced and mostly older friends (3 guys and 2 girls) managed to break the chains on the rear wheel drive car we were traveling in and get the chains wrapped around the axle (eventually untangled). I've taken both 'bus only' and 'fly only' ski trips from Southern California to Vail/Beaver Creek, Aspen/Snowmass, and Jackson Hole.....didn't have to do any driving on these and liked that very much.

What really freaks me out is ice. When we graduated from high school, my best friend and his family moved to New Jersey, north of I-78 and west of I-287. His dad had already been back there for over 6 months. My friend's sister was 16 when they moved and had obtained her DL in California. I went back to visit them right before Christmas and his sister had already totaled the family's new VW station wagon by losing control on a low speed limit road (on black ice) and hitting a tree.

[nookandcrannycar]

In fact, I normally plan my long trips based on distance from truck stop to truck stop so my rest breaks, food/coffee breaks, and fuel-ups are at regular intervals. You will be amazed at how much better you feel driving long distances with a few breaks during the trip. We all know the importance of clean restrooms.

On the trip I just returned from I overextended myself one day. I planned to leave Bangor, ME...go south and visit the big L.L. Bean HQ/Campus/Store....then visit Kennebunkport....then to Newport, RI for the night. I left Bangor much later than I had planned to, had a great visit to L.L. Bean, got to Kennebunkport early enough to get a picture of Walker Point before the sun completely set, and then headed south. The detours and delays re road construcion, etc. in the Boston Metro area were unreal. Mapquest didn't reflect this. I got lost, but after driving around for a long time I recognized the terrain again and decided to head to one of the Starbucks in Framingham that I had been to on previous trips....and remap the rest of the trip from there. Hit one right as they were closing. Tried the second one, already closed. The third one was the charm (still open) and the barista could have worked for Mass DOT with her extensive knowledge of the current road conditions. She gave me great directions. As I got closer to Newport, I said 'Uh-oh' and knew I was getting a bout of Cellulitis. My doctor's assistant, over the phone, told me that my doctor wanted me to go to the hospital right away. I did and got an IV (antibiotic) in the evergency room and an oral antibiotic and then had to take both (orally) for 10 days and spent 4 1/2 days in my hotel room with my leg elevated. The hospital's listing of the cause: insect bites I'd 'suffered' 2 weeks earlier in South Carolina.

If I had had more of your mindset that 'travel day', I think I would have been better off.

In the future I also plan to make sure I continue (while traveling) to take the vitamins I normally take when I'm at home.

[bronsin]

When you drive across the country you will be able to watch the weather every night at the motel. So you'll have a pretty good idea of whats ahead. Its pretty easy to just drive around any problems!

Good luck and tell us all about it!

[nookandcrannycar]

When you drive across the country you will be able to watch the weather every night at the motel. So you'll have a pretty good idea of whats ahead. Its pretty easy to just drive around any problems!

Good luck and tell us all about it!

^^^^^ So true! I didn't realize this until I moved to the Houston area. I'd always previously lived around mountains. Now, as you illustrate above, I notice this while traveling.

[Slanoie]

Hi!

New Yaris owner from Quebec.

Been reading for some time to find some info about my Yaris and found this thread.

My old car (but I don't have less snow since I have my Yaris) :

https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/p480x480/1473050_10153543660550314_807741895_n.jpg

That picture means a lot of fun to me :thumbup: so, like the others said, yes, you'll be fine with your Yaris in Boston!

[Kal-El]

The large majority of people in the north drive front wheel drive vehicles with no snow tires (just all seasons) all winter. I find it amusing that some people (not referring to here) believe that an AWD/4WD vehicle is required in northern states. I live in MA and there's like 10-15 days a year that you'll be driving in snow. Then when it does snow, it's plowed and salted very quickly.

With that said, I am one of the few who use winter tires. They are more important than having AWD. Yaris feels unstoppable in snow with them. All season tires are fine but winter rubber does add lots of confidence and fun to winter driving. They're worth the price if they save just one fender bender during the life of the tires.

As far as a cross country trip? The Yaris can go cross country 50 times with no repairs. My Yaris has done the equivalency of that (150K).

My road trips include MA > FL > MA and MA > TN > MA. Nothing to it.

[nookandcrannycar]

The large majority of people in the north drive front wheel drive vehicles with no snow tires (just all seasons) all winter. I find it amusing that some people (not referring to here) believe that an AWD/4WD vehicle is required in northern states. I live in MA and there's like 10-15 days a year that you'll be driving in snow. Then when it does snow, it's plowed and salted very quickly.

With that said, I am one of the few who use winter tires. They are more important than having AWD. Yaris feels unstoppable in snow with them. All season tires are fine but winter rubber does add lots of confidence and fun to winter driving. They're worth the price if they save just one fender bender during the life of the tires.

As far as a cross country trip? The Yaris can go cross country 50 times with no repairs. My Yaris has done the equivalency of that (150K).

My road trips include MA > FL > MA and MA > TN > MA. Nothing to it.

:thumbsup:

[nookandcrannycar]

I live in MA and there's like 10-15 days a year that you'll be driving in snow.

How many days per year (re driving) = have to worry about ice ?

[DebbyM46227]

How many days per year (re driving) = have to worry about ice ?

I stay home when there is ice on the road, even on work days. I call in and say I'm not coming.

[bentjazz]

Government job, Debby?

[DevilGirl]

How many days per year (re driving) = have to worry about ice ?

There really is no good vehicle/tire on ice. It's the nastiest stuff.

[nookandcrannycar]

Debby and Devil Girl,

I visited Mentone, Alabama (up on Lookout Mountain) toward the end of my trip last month. There is a small ski area there (the 'southeasternmost' downhill area in the U.S.). I had to see it, even though the season hasn't started. The area is owned by a family. I talked to the daughter of the founder for a couple of hours. She lives down in the valley (closer to Chattanooga) and comes up occasionally when other members of the family, who are there most of the time, cannot. She drives a rear wheel drive car (a 3 series BMW). I asked her about driving in snow and she told me about that. I then asked her about driving on ice, especially re Lookout Mountain. She said, you don't. Not how to...you just don't.

[bronsin]

There really is no good vehicle/tire on ice. It's the nastiest stuff.


It time for a story!


I have a Honda ST1300 sport touring motorcycle. Its capable of going 100 mph all day long like sitting on your sofa.

I ride it to work all year here in NJ.

On e day in November there was a 10% change of RAIN so I rode to wrok.

We got one inch of ICE during the day!

People we leaving work for home at noon. I planned to stay until 5 or so and have my wife come get me when she got out of work. By 3pm traffic and road conditions were so bad people who had left at noon were not home yet and they lived six miles away!

But then at 4 second shift John came in and said "Paul its not that bad. The ice has melted a lot." I live about 6.5 miles away but I can go home on the freeway or city streets. I figured I would take the city streets. I figured the people with the problems were on the freeway.

So at five I got out to my motorcycle prepared to leave for home. Sure enough the parking lot was clear.

Just then my wife pulled up. "Paul Kneisl GET IN THIS CAR RIGHT NOW!"

I said "Follow me!"

So we left for Westmont NJ down the city streets of Camden NJ, Murder Capatal of the World. (drugs!)

Sure enough John was wrong and my wife was right, the streets were coated with an inch or ice outside the parking lot.

But... I have a lot of eperience riding a motorcycle and Id ridden on ice before but not very far.

The streets were deserted of traffic. Everything went fine until I came to a red light and stopped and put my foot down. It slipped right out from under me and over the bike went. It weighs 700 pounds but is designed to tip over and not be dammaged.

I have a bad back and a repaired disk in my neck. Picking up the bike was out of the question. My wife got out of her car and said "Now what are you going to do? These people are all drug dealers around here!" (maybe!)

"Well we'll just ask some of the drug dealers to help!"

There were no cars but lots of people on the street. I didnt have to ask anyone to help a bunch of them came right over and picked up the bike for me.

My wife said "LEAVE THE BIKE HERE AND GET IN THE CAR!"

I said "Follow me!"

The rest of the way home I didnt stop for red lights just slowed down to check for traffic. I went about 15 mph. I didnt use the brakes just let off the throttle. I had to make a couple of left and right hand turns too. There were few if any people out driving.

We got home without further incident!

[NEexpat]

^Fortunate.

My niece got her license a year ago, and got herself a car at the end of last winter. I told her that first time we get any kind of appreciable snow this year I will take her to the big parking lot and the industrial park and we will practice in the snow.

I think new/young drivers get what new pilots get - Goitis, gotta go no matter what. Trust the equipment, trust the machine, trust the technology, absolutely. However nothing beats experience and time in the seat. (Well how do you get time in the seat if you don't go?) Thats it right there, knowing when.

I think as you get older you're/me are less inclined to go. Leave earlier, go slower, if you must.

In my hometown there is no ryhme or reason to it, sometimes the my street gets plowed every couple of hours, and sometimes not once, I'll drive on fresh snow all day long, it's usually the second day after the sun has hit unpaved streets and then the temp drops, winter ice festival/demolition derby.

There are some steep, very steep hills here that all seem to end at a stop sign or light, in the winter I avoid them at all costs, driving out of my way in order to do so.

I guess I'm getting old.

Now get off my lawn!

[nookandcrannycar]

It time for a story!


I have a Honda ST1300 sport touring motorcycle. Its capable of going 100 mph all day long like sitting on your sofa.

I ride it to work all year here in NJ.

On e day in November there was a 10% change of RAIN so I rode to wrok.

We got one inch of ICE during the day!

People we leaving work for home at noon. I planned to stay until 5 or so and have my wife come get me when she got out of work. By 3pm traffic and road conditions were so bad people who had left at noon were not home yet and they lived six miles away!

But then at 4 second shift John came in and said "Paul its not that bad. The ice has melted a lot." I live about 6.5 miles away but I can go home on the freeway or city streets. I figured I would take the city streets. I figured the people with the problems were on the freeway.

So at five I got out to my motorcycle prepared to leave for home. Sure enough the parking lot was clear.

Just then my wife pulled up. "Paul Kneisl GET IN THIS CAR RIGHT NOW!"

I said "Follow me!"

So we left for Westmont NJ down the city streets of Camden NJ, Murder Capatal of the World. (drugs!)

Sure enough John was wrong and my wife was right, the streets were coated with an inch or ice outside the parking lot.

But... I have a lot of eperience riding a motorcycle and Id ridden on ice before but not very far.

The streets were deserted of traffic. Everything went fine until I came to a red light and stopped and put my foot down. It slipped right out from under me and over the bike went. It weighs 700 pounds but is designed to tip over and not be dammaged.

I have a bad back and a repaired disk in my neck. Picking up the bike was out of the question. My wife got out of her car and said "Now what are you going to do? These people are all drug dealers around here!" (maybe!)

"Well we'll just ask some of the drug dealers to help!"

There were no cars but lots of people on the street. I didnt have to ask anyone to help a bunch of them came right over and picked up the bike for me.

My wife said "LEAVE THE BIKE HERE AND GET IN THE CAR!"

I said "Follow me!"

The rest of the way home I didnt stop for red lights just slowed down to check for traffic. I went about 15 mph. I didnt use the brakes just let off the throttle. I had to make a couple of left and right hand turns too. There were few if any people out driving.

We got home without further incident!

Wow. When I was a kid, my dad worked for a jewelry company based in Camden for a couple of years (was a West Coast rep). Every time he'd come home from a business trip to Camden, he'd shake his head. My dad was just about the opposite of a wimp. He was 6'7'', and an ex-Golden Gloves boxer. In 2006 (or might have been 2007) I was trying to get back to where I was staying in Maple Shade and found myself driving in Camden. I remember asking for directions at a gas station and was amazed that the guy had lived there for 10 years and didn't know his way around more than just a few blocks away from the gas station. I drove through some of what must be some of the worst parts of Camden. I've been in awful parts of NYC, Detroit, Cleveland, Atlantic City, Houston, Mobile (AL), Miami, San Francisco, LA, San Diego, Oakland, Dallas, Memphis, Richmond (CA), Holyoke (MA), Tucson, Albuquerque, and other cities. The only places (in the U.S.) I've seen that are as bad as the parts of Camden I saw during that journey are parts of Cleveland, and parts of Detroit.

[nookandcrannycar]

Leave earlier, go slower

I think this is helpful in all climates. I see people driving like a bat out of h***, and I shake my head. I also shake my head at my younger self. However, some people never learn. I don't think my mother was ever on time in her life, and she didn't get that from her parents, nor from my father. My mother was a very genteel person, yet she failed to grasp how rude it is to be late. My uncle (my mother's sister's husband) and I have a running joke (but it really is the truth) that we both have to fight to keep from being early. The most embarrassing moment of my life was at my father's funeral. My uncle (my father's brother) had made the funeral arrangements (hundreds of guests, mostly there out of respect for my uncle/hadn't seen my father in decades) at a church in a hard to find location in San Francisco where some relative of my aunt (my uncle's wife and mother of my cousins) was way up in the hierarchy of the church. My mother was running late. I couldn't leave her.....she had no idea how to get to the church. We arrived at the church. I opened one of the two huge doors to the church. Hundreds of heads turned around, almost in unison, to see the only child and only wife (ex-wife, but still only wife) this man had ever had late to his funeral....and we were the only people who were late.

P.S. Read this after posting,. Thought some might think my mother = a crazy driver. I don't think my mother ever went more than 5 MPH over the speed limit, nor ever got a speeding ticket in her life. She was usually already late before she left :rolleyes: (:rolleyes: in a way that one only can with a parent).

[bronsin]

Wow. When I was a kid, my dad worked for a jewelry company based in Camden for a couple of years (was a West Coast rep). Every time he'd come home from a business trip to Camden, he'd shake his head. My dad was just about the opposite of a wimp. He was 6'7'', and an ex-Golden Gloves boxer. In 2006 (or might have been 2007) I was trying to get back to where I was staying in Maple Shade and found myself driving in Camden. I remember asking for directions at a gas station and was amazed that the guy had lived there for 10 years and didn't know his way around more than just a few blocks away from the gas station. I drove through some of what must be some of the worst parts of Camden. I've been in awful parts of NYC, Detroit, Cleveland, Atlantic City, Houston, Mobile (AL), Miami, San Francisco, LA, San Diego, Oakland, Dallas, Memphis, Richmond (CA), Holyoke (MA), Tucson, Albuquerque, and other cities. The only places (in the U.S.) I've seen that are as bad as the parts of Camden I saw during that journey are parts of Cleveland, and parts of Detroit.

I work in downtown Camden and there it is quite safe. However you enter the neighbohoods at your own risk! Sometimes the main road into Camden (The Admiral Wilson Boulevard) is closed due to flooding or traffic so my "escape route" is 27th street to route 38 or 70. One of my friends at work who lives in the Cramer Hill section of Camden, when she heard I sometime drive down 27th street, said "Dont go there. People get shot there!"

Me? Shoot me? As nice as I am? :laugh:

Its like people from the west and midwest going to NYC for the first time. Its got a reputation as a "badass place" so its kind of thrilling to see it!

[nookandcrannycar]

I work in downtown Camden and there it is quite safe. However you enter the neighbohoods at your own risk! Sometimes the main road into Camden (The Admiral Wilson Boulevard) is closed due to flooding or traffic so my "escape route" is 27th street to route 38 or 70. One of my friends at work who lives in the Cramer Hill section of Camden, when she heard I sometime drive down 27th street, said "Dont go there. People get shot there!"

Me? Shoot me? As nice as I am? :laugh:

Its like people from the west and midwest going to NYC for the first time. Its got a reputation as a "badass place" so its kind of thrilling to see it!

Yep. But the NYC of today is pretty different from the NYC of the past....a much cleaner and safer place than it used to be.

[bronsin]

Yep. But the NYC of today is pretty different from the NYC of the past....a much cleaner and safer place than it used to be.

I know...they ruined it! :laugh: :frown:

[bronsin]

I have another "Camden Story" for you!

I had a friend at work named John. One day I noticed scars on his neck. I had just had a laminectomy which is a repair of a ruptured disk that is performed from behind. Some operations for the problem (called fusions) are done from the front. I asked him

"John did you have a fusion operation done on your neck?"

(oh I forgot to mention John grew up in Camden)

He said

"No. One night when I was a teenager I was walking home. Four black guys jumped me before I got there. (um...he did not use the words "black guys" he used something else which is unprintable)They thought I was somebody else they had a problem with. Three of them held me down while the fourth cut my throat. The left me for dead but I managed to get to my house and was taken to Lday of Lourdes where they sewed me up. They missed the juguler.":eek:

I shit you not!

[nookandcrannycar]

I know...they ruined it! :laugh: :frown:

:laugh:...I have kind of mixed feelings about that. I like not having to step over down and out people 'stopped'* (*:biggrin:) on stairs in the subway, but I don't really like how (for example) Times Square has become sort of a strange combination of the movie The Truman Show and a military installation :biggrin:.

[nookandcrannycar]

I have another "Camden Story" for you!

I had a friend at work named John. One day I noticed scars on his neck. I had just had a laminectomy which is a repair of a ruptured disk that is performed from behind. Some operations for the problem (called fusions) are done from the front. I asked him

"John did you have a fusion operation done on your neck?"

(oh I forgot to mention John grew up in Camden)

He said

"No. One night when I was a teenager I was walking home. Four black guys jumped me before I got there. (um...he did not use the words "black guys" he used something else which is unprintable)They thought I was somebody else they had a problem with. Three of them held me down while the fourth cut my throat. The left me for dead but I managed to get to my house and was taken to Lday of Lourdes where they sewed me up. They missed the juguler.":eek:

I shit you not!

I believe you. My dad had a much less severe incident happen to him. He was jumped from behind by two "black guys" (to use the phrasing from your post) in San Francisco on a sidewalk. He carried them on his back for most of the block (trying to shake them off...no joke - a female witness on the other side of the street confirmed this) before they got him down and got his wallet. He had a severely sprained ankle, one of the worst the treating physician said he had ever seen. Unfortunately, my dad used the same language your friend likely did. Fortunately, I take cues related to this from the women in my family, and not my dad and some of the other men in my family.

[bronsin]

Yes its no good getting into confrontations with each other over things. It just continues the unpleasentness which none of us needs!

[nookandcrannycar]

Yes its no good getting into confrontations with each other over things. It just continues the unpleasentness which none of us needs!

:thumbsup:....and unnecessarily shortens one's life (not at that moment, but later issues related to stress...not me personally...but I have observed such).

[DefStarYaris]

I moved from Fresno, CA to Boston, MA a few years ago. The Yaris got me there like a champ.

You'll do fine in the snow as long as you've got some tread on your tires, but snow tires are definitely good to have when you get stuck out in a blizzard.