MT - vehicle information (Great Falls: school, moving to, garage)

[Mt-7]

You know we could "invent" an uncle say up in Valley county to have a little leverage with the car salesman
The idea of a grizzled old relative that might drive his combine over a few cars in the lot might get you a better deal

[Reedsmit]

Originally Posted by seven of nine

You know we could "invent" an uncle say up in Valley county to have a little leverage with the car salesman
The idea of a grizzled old relative that might drive his combine over a few cars in the lot might get you a better deal

ROFL, love it.

Thanks for the smile this morning, have a wonderful day.

[Reziac]

Originally Posted by Reedsmit

Thank you for your input. In my mind, optimum is 4 studded snows on a 2nd set of rims.

Buying a set of rims is defnately the better way to go as the tires are going to have to be changed in May and again in Oct.

TireRack.com has some excellent videos on testing of different types of tires in various condition. They tested them on glare ice and snow, starting, stopping and cornering.

I am going to be very short on time (5 days) to pick up the vehicle, buy furniture and anything else she will need and get her moved in. So I may be stuck with whatever the Dealer and my hubby work out, even if it is not the Optimum. Also there may be a storage issue as we don't have housing locked in. I would really hate to have to rent a place to store the tires.

Cars are not so easy to sell right now.. if you insist that the dealer install four studded snow tires as part of the deal, chances are he'll find a way to do it. And if those are the tires on the vehicle when you get it -- you've got all winter to find a good deal on four rims and four summer tires, and meanwhile no need to store them since they don't yet exist.

One of the comparison pages re studded vs unstudded tires:
Winter Testing at the Arctic Circle: Studdable Winter / Snow
Enough to be significant, especially for an inexperienced winter driver.

As someone else mentioned, Big O and Les Schwab [sp?] are good choices, with a good longstanding reputation. Big O can get you rims too, or at least that's where I got my extra rims back a couple decades. (I had to order them in; for some reason my common-as-dirt-truck's rims were not available in Bozeman, so I had to get them in Great Falls!)

Be sure to compare summer tire prices at Costco or Sam's Club (usually within a few dollars of the same price) and watch for their $60 to $80 off coupon sales, too. You can save as much as 50% of the cost of the tires there.

[Reziac]

Originally Posted by seven of nine

You know we could "invent" an uncle say up in Valley county to have a little leverage with the car salesman
The idea of a grizzled old relative that might drive his combine over a few cars in the lot might get you a better deal

Hmm... I always wondered how my uncle got me 20% off on the price of my truck.

[Mt.SNOW]

I never thought of Sams club or Costco for tires, dang I am glad I have followed this post. I need new tires for the van shortly and esp. before driving that 1500 + miles. Hope things are continuing to go well for you!

[Reedsmit]

Originally Posted by amyflorida70

I never thought of Sams club or Costco for tires, dang I am glad I have followed this post. I need new tires for the van shortly and esp. before driving that 1500 + miles. Hope things are continuing to go well for you!

I actually bought tires for my car yesterday at Costco. While I was there I asked the salesmen if he knew if the stores in colder climates carried snow tires or if they had to be special ordered. He said they definately carried them and he believed that they would change the tires in the spring to your all weather tires, for a very nominal fee of $5 a tire. It sounds like some of the tire stores change them as a courtesy if you purchased the tires from them. But you are going to need those new tires before you start that drive from OH to MT.

Things are going ok, I found a furnished house with a garage about 3 1/2 miles from where my daughter will be working. Just need to find out if it is still available and get it locked in.

Things seem to be happening fast, graduation is 2 weeks from today. Christmas will be here shortly there after and than off to MT on January 13

Have fun putting up your tree.

[AirForceSFwife]

I have a question!

For those of you who remember me -- I posted about a week and a half ago -- I have now made it all the way to southern Montana, and I'm super excited! This state is beautiful!

ANYway, onto the question:

My husband and I (moving to Great Falls) will be sharing my 01 Toyota Camry, which has about 135,000 miles on it (not sure if any of that info is relevant lol but I figure it can't hurt!) -- should we invest in a block heater?

Thank you

[ElkHunter]

Originally Posted by AirForceSFwife

I have a question!

My husband and I (moving to Great Falls) will be sharing my 01 Toyota Camry, which has about 135,000 miles on it (not sure if any of that info is relevant lol but I figure it can't hurt!) -- should we invest in a block heater?

Thank you

It's really up to what you want for comfort. An 01 Camry is computer controlled and fuel injected and will start in just about anything the weather has to offer. A block heater really won't make a difference.

But it is nice to have a block heater plugged in and when you start the car it only takes a minute or two to get warm air out of the heater. Where as with no block heater it can take 10-15 minutes to get warm air.

Personally, I would invest in an automatic engine start so you can just hit the button on your key fob and it starts the car. This also works in the summer when it's hot and you can start it a few minutes before leaving so it's cooled down. But they can be expensive. A block heater, installed should run less then $100. but will add a small bit to your electric bill.

I used to put a timer on my block heater extension cord so it would kick on about 2 hours before I needed the vehicle. That way I wasn't paying electricity all night.

[Mt-7]

Elk Hunter you are just a gem. I sure appreciate your advice. I never thought about a timer I don't need to have the F150 plugged in all night? I have such early shifts, in different spots I have always kept it on.

[ElkHunter]

Originally Posted by seven of nine

Elk Hunter you are just a gem. I sure appreciate your advice. I never thought about a timer I don't need to have the F150 plugged in all night? I have such early shifts, in different spots I have always kept it on.

You might get by with less time depending on the temp outside. I've got an old ford truck (F-250) with a 3208 Cat Diesel under the hood. So I've got to put heat to her or she won't perk up for me. She needs a couple of hours and I keep 20W-50 oil in it. So you might get by with an less time but two hours before you need it should be about right. Certainly don't need all night.