Eugene to Lebanon (Corvallis, Albany, Phoenix: rental, house, school)

[Cotton Hill]

My daughter is relocating to Eugene from Phoenix, AZ to attend Med school in Lebanon.
She currently has a vehicle that isn't suited for winter driving in snow. What type of winter
Weather driving will she be experiencing? I'm open to getting a 4wd for her if it's needed.
What's the locals say.

[jjpop]

Originally Posted by Cotton Hill

My daughter is relocating to Eugene from Phoenix to attend Med school in Lebanon.
She currently has a vehicle that isn't suited for winter driving in snow. What type of winter
Weather driving will she be experiencing? I'm open to getting a 4wd for her if it's needed.
What's the locals say.

Winter weather is generally wet and cool in the southern part of the Willamette Valley, with infrequent ice and snow. Coming from Phoenix it will feel cold and very damp (assuming you mean Phoenix, AZ and not Phoenix, OR). Probably not freezing frequently enough to require 4WD.

However, the drive from Eugene to Lebanon is mostly freeway, but it is kind of long -- about 45 miles. She should have a well maintained car with good tires for driving on wet pavement if she's going to be making that 90-mile round trip commute regularly. It's a lot of open country on I-5 and OR-34 between the two cities, so if she breaks down she won't get assistance (tow truck or AAA) as quickly as she would if she was in the middle of the city.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

She is going to live in Eugene to go to school in Lebanon? Has she looked at a map to see how far that is?

There won't be a lot of snow driving. It doesn't snow a lot in the Willamette and she will mostly be driving on the freeway and highways that are plowed. But seriously? She can't live closer to the school?

(And my next question is: Since when has there been a medical school in Lebanon?)

[oregonwoodsmoke]

I didn't answer your question. First preference would be a car with good clearance. I like front wheel drive for snow. In the valley, she should have a set of snow rated tires for winter. Generally, in Oregon, we keep two sets of tires, one for summer driving and one for winter.

The snow tires are expensive and wear out quickly and aren't so good for hot pavement, so we swap twice a year to make them last longer.

On the other side of the mountains, many of us use studded tires for our winter tires, but that would be overkill in the Willamette where there are not many days with icy roads.

[Metlakatla]

Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke

(And my next question is: Since when has there been a medical school in Lebanon?)

Since 2011.

Why would she even want to do that commute? Isn't med school time-intensive enough without tacking on two hours a day for driving?

Generally, in Oregon, we keep two sets of tires, one for summer driving and one for winter.

I've never kept two sets of tires for the valley and don't know anyone who does.

[karlsch]

I lived in Lebanon for 6 years. I drove often to Albany and occasionally to Eugene.

I owned a front wheel drive Honda Accord with ordinary tires and found it to be more than adequate 99% of the time in the winter. At no time did I think I needed special winter tires or four wheel drive.

It doesn't snow very much and when it does it melts fast.

What is needed are tires that are good in the wet.

[texasdiver]

Yes there is a small osteopathic med school in Lebanon: College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific-Northwest » Campus Information

No, you don't want to commute there from Eugene if you are in med school. Just get a rental in Lebanon. Or alternatively get a rental in Corvallis or Albany which are both 2-3x closer to Lebanon than Eugene is.

And finally, no, you don't need any special car. Just something reliable with good all season tires for the rain.

[Cotton Hill]

Her spouse is a PA and landed a position at a Eugene hospital that's the reason for
Living in Eugene area, they will be house hunting this summer.
My daughter lived in Ohio before moving to Phoenix, so she has experience in cold and snow.

[jjpop]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

I've never kept two sets of tires for the valley and don't know anyone who does.

Me neither. I still hear cars with their studded tires on driving down the street. I think it's been illegal since April 1 or so.

When we had the snow this year, my car was pretty much stuck in the garage until I couldn't take the cabin fever anymore and put on chains. But this was a really weird year, weather-wise, and my hesitancy was due to laziness 100%. That and the fact that I didn't have to be anywhere. Preserving my sanity won out though.

Our universities were closed for a couple of days while the weather thawed out. Not sure if the med school in Lebanon closed during those storms, but I would imagine it did.

[Metlakatla]

Originally Posted by jjpop

Me neither. I still hear cars with their studded tires on driving down the street. I think it's been illegal since April 1 or so.

When we had the snow this year, my car was pretty much stuck in the garage until I couldn't take the cabin fever anymore and put on chains. But this was a really weird year, weather-wise, and my hesitancy was due to laziness 100%. That and the fact that I didn't have to be anywhere. Preserving my sanity won out though.

Our universities were closed for a couple of days while the weather thawed out. Not sure if the med school in Lebanon closed during those storms, but I would imagine it did.

I spent the winter at my place in SE Alaska for the first time in years, and...well, I can relate. My Subaru will go anywhere, but there wasn't anywhere to go, and cabin fever rather took its toll. It was an off-year there as well (the southern panhandle gets very little snow and ice, and the year before last, we even had some annuals live through the winter), the steps were always icy, and the driveway was always icy except when I put salt on it.

Anyway, yeah, snow and icy conditions are enough of an outlier in that part of Oregon so that I really don't see the need for 4WD or "winter tires."