Get 4WD Before Coming or After We Get There? (discount, vehicle)

[bluescreen73]

Originally Posted by Jarrett7

Good to know. Any recommended Toyota dealers in the area?

Does everyone keep two sets of tires and swap them out at certain points in the year?

No. In fact, I wouldn't be at all surprised if a majority of people don't use winter tires. I don't, but then again I rarely venture into the mountains during the winter and if the snow's too deep I just work from home. The new traction law makes it even less likely that I'll go into the mountains during the dead of winter from now on.

[Texas Ag 93]

Originally Posted by double6's

global warming is here...just get a convertible..

My husband owned a convertible in Denver as his daily driver. In the Winter, he usually switched to his truck, but there were still plenty of days where he would drive the convertible as long as there wasn't snow.

When we moved back to Houston, his convertible lasted about 2 more years, and then he traded it in. He almost never drove down here with the top down because of the heat and humidity. Said he enjoyed driving it much more when we were living in Denver.

[SkyDog77]

Originally Posted by Jarrett7

Good to know. Any recommended Toyota dealers in the area?

Does everyone keep two sets of tires and swap them out at certain points in the year?

There are two camps:

1) Those who have owned snow tires and keep two sets of tires. Discount Tire swaps for free if they are both mounted on rims, or $60 if they aren’t.

2) Those who have never owned snow tires and don’t know what they’re missing.

2a) Those who work from home when it snows.

[pikabike]

Originally Posted by Jarrett7

Good to know. Any recommended Toyota dealers in the area?

Does everyone keep two sets of tires and swap them out at certain points in the year?

That’s what I did in MA, where I grew up. Real snow tires on the rims plus some sand bags in the trunk did the job, along with knowing how to drive a RWD vehicle in dicey conditions.

Eleven years after moving to the Denver area, I finally bought a 4WD vehicle. During those first 11 years, RWD cars and trucks sufficed for me. Then we moved to a part of the Front Range with steep, long, winding roads and looong winters with more snow. At that place, there was no doubt we would need 4WD just for work commutes.

I don’t regret getting 4WD at that point. I also don’t regret having done just fine with RWD trucks until we really needed more traction, and often the low range transfer case, too.

Whether you can manage RWD by swapping to real snow tires and adding some weight in the bed depends on where you are used to driving now. Are you in New Hampshire or TX, for example? Flat or hilly?

[Jarrett7]

Flat, hot, Texas. Haven't seen snow in a long time.

[pikabike]

Originally Posted by Jarrett7

Flat, hot, Texas. Haven't seen snow in a long time.

It’s gonna be a shock, winter driving when things are dicey. Not that you can’t learn.

Take your time learning and allow extra drive time on bad days, regardless what you drive. You could be driving a Humvee with the best tires and still get hit by someone else. Never forget that. The best equipment is your own attention to conditions plus common sense. Slow dowwwwwwn. That is ALWAYS what state police are quoted as saying is most important, typically on a TV news interview after a huge pileup has clogged roads for hours.

[suzco]

Important that we should all be aware now as well of the new traction law in effect:

https://www.codot.gov/travel/winter-driving/TractionLaw

Traction Law (Code 15)

During an active Traction Law (also known as a Code 15), motorists must have either snow tires, tires with the mud/snow (M+S) designation, or a four-wheel/all-wheel drive vehicle.

Starting Aug. 2, 2019, the legislation updated requirements for drivers using state highways during winter months. Specifically, it changed the required minimum tire tread for vehicles on snowy roads to 3/16 of an inch. The statute also says that the minimum tire tread for dry roads is 3/16 of an inch. You can also install chains or an alternative traction device (like AutoSock) to be in compliance with the law if your tires aren't adequate.

Passenger Vehicle Chain Law (Code 16)

During severe winter storms, CDOT will implement a Passenger Vehicle Chain Law (also known as a Code 16). This is the final safety measure before the highway is closed.

When the Passenger Vehicle Chain Law is in effect, every vehicle on the roadway must have chains or an alternative traction device (like AutoSock).

An article in the Denver Post last May explained it fairly well, including a new wrinkle:
https://www.denverpost.com/2019/05/1...-traction-law/

Colorado’s winter driving restrictions on a mountain stretch of Interstate 70 will be in full force for nine months beginning Sept. 1 under a bill signed into law Friday by Gov. Jared Polis.

The beefed-up traction law takes particular aim at drivers of two-wheel-drive passenger vehicles. Each September through May, they will face the requirement of having specialized winter tires or carrying traction devices while traveling on I-70 between Dotsero and Morrison. The old traction law had been activated only before and during actual winter weather.

House Bill 1207 also increases the minimum tread depth for tires on all vehicles — including those with four-wheel-drive — from an eighth of an inch to three-sixteenths of an inch.

Though I-70 is the only highway corridor where the increased restrictions will be in effect for nine months a year, they will apply to other corridors when the state activates the traction law for storms.

[SkyDog77]

Originally Posted by pikabike

It’s gonna be a shock, winter driving when things are dicey. Not that you can’t learn.

Take your time learning and allow extra drive time on bad days, regardless what you drive. You could be driving a Humvee with the best tires and still get hit by someone else. Never forget that. The best equipment is your own attention to conditions plus common sense. Slow dowwwwwwn. That is ALWAYS what state police are quoted as saying is most important, typically on a TV news interview after a huge pileup has clogged roads for hours.

While I do agree with this, I have also been able to maneuver around some of these low traction drivers because of snow tires and AWD.

Originally Posted by suzco

Important that we should all be aware now as well of the new traction law in effect:

https://www.codot.gov/travel/winter-driving/TractionLaw
An article in the Denver Post last May explained it fairly well, including a new wrinkle:
https://www.denverpost.com/2019/05/1...-traction-law/

I know this will shock all of you, but I am so happy about this.

I actually had a letter to the editor published in the Denver Post on this topic 15 years ago.

[brown_dog_us]

Originally Posted by Jarrett7

Good to know. Any recommended Toyota dealers in the area?

I bought my Highlander at Mountain States Toyota and was happy. I visited almost every Toyota dealership, got their best price, pitted them against each other, and in the end nobody beat the price the guy at Mountain States gave me the first time I went there. My neighbor bought a Highlander a few months ago and had the exact experience. lol. Anyway, let them know you will plan to buy from the place with the best deal, and the verify they give you the best deal.

[sheerbliss]

Originally Posted by pikabike

Take your time learning and allow extra drive time on bad days, regardless what you drive. You could be driving a Humvee with the best tires and still get hit by someone else. Never forget that. The best equipment is your own attention to conditions plus common sense. Slow dowwwwwwn. That is ALWAYS what state police are quoted as saying is most important, typically on a TV news interview after a huge pileup has clogged roads for hours.

That, and leave plenty of room between you and the car ahead of you.