My New (to me) Ski Car

[hammer]

I second that opinion! But to each his own!

And what other vehicles are out there? Just wondering...and I don't see crossovers as being an alternative to a Pathfinder.

 

[andrec10]

And what other vehicles are out there? Just wondering...and I don't see crossovers as being an alternative to a Pathfinder.

Do you plan on slogging thru the woods? If not, then TRUST me you would be happier in a crossover, especially for handling and actually being better in snow (More advanced awd systems and skid and traction controls). If you are planning sloggin thru the woods and mud, the 4-runner and Jeeps are other good options. I would be afraid to buy a 9-year vehicle without any warranty. But again, to each is own!

 

[jaywbigred]

Do you plan on slogging thru the woods? If not, then TRUST me you would be happier in a crossover, especially for handling and actually being better in snow (More advanced awd systems and skid and traction controls). If you are planning sloggin thru the woods and mud, the 4-runner and Jeeps are other good options. I would be afraid to buy a 9-year vehicle without any warranty. But again, to each is own!

I have piece of mind because a good friend of mine is a mechanic with 20+ years of experience. He works on my cars basically for free. I know this doesn't pay for parts, but between his cheap labor and the fact that he thoroughly inspected the car before I bought it, I sleep fine at night.

Tell me where I can get a crossover with a V6 and the size and reliability record to compete with a (pre-7 passenger) Pathfinder with under 60,000 miles on it for under $8,500. I'll be surprised if it exists; I don't think crossovers worth their salt really started springing up until the mid 2000s, and thus they haven't aged to that price level. 4Runner is a valid comparison, but we found them more pricey. I wouldn't trust a Jeep for another 50k-100k miles; in fact, we were getting OUT of a Jeep with exactly that profile because the maintenance costs and frequency of problems were outrageous.

Not to mention little things like Pathfinder's relative sportiness (owing to its terrific engine, discussed above) when in 2WD (rear), styling that I love, and standard Double-Din sized radio that allowed for super easy aftermarket upgrade to Bluetooth, Nav, Aux-In, etc...I mean, I test drove at least 15 cars, and this was by far the best in terms of fitting that profile.

Having extensively driven a Nissan Murano (rental, I think it was in Colorado), an Infiniti FX (2x rental in Utah, plus driven my buddy's at least 4 times here in NJ), and a VW Touareg (3 year lease), I can tell you that my opinion of crossovers is VERY low. Some consider them the best of both worlds, but I consider them the WORST of both worlds. This is not to be confused with my opinion of wagons (esp Subie - which was our second choice) nor smaller SUVs (RAV4, CRV, etc... which some consider crossovers...I have also driven a RAV4 extensively, and like it, but would never buy).

You keep saying "different strokes," but I still think it is kind of lame to post in someone's "I bought a car thread" all your opinions as to why that car sucks. You're entitled to, but that doesn't mean it's not lame!

 

[Geoff]

I won't get Blizzak's ever again. They were fantastic for the first 10K miles. By the time they got to 15K, they had lousy grip even though they had plenty of tread. I'm running Nokian Hakka R's on the GTI. The Mountaineer has studded Nokian Hakka SUVs.

 

[andrec10]

I won't get Blizzak's ever again. They were fantastic for the first 10K miles. By the time they got to 15K, they had lousy grip even though they had plenty of tread. I'm running Nokian Hakka R's on the GTI. The Mountaineer has studded Nokian Hakka SUVs.

Michelin X-ice are really good too. Actually they are now up to the X-Ice 2.

 

[Glenn]

I think it's a little late to tell Jay to get another vehicle. If I recall...he bought the Pathfinder months ago.

I have a 2003 Grand Cherokee...two solid axles and A/T tires. It's made more trips to SoVT in the last year and a half than I can count. Does it handle like our 02 A6? Nope. Is it as quick? Nope. But it does just fine. It can tow(and I've done a ton of that!), it has more ground clearance,it's been down a few Class IV roads and is our first choice during mud season since our place is a good ways up a dirt road.

Jay, if it were me, I'd go with the set of OEM wheels off of craigslist. You won't feel bad using them for winter rims since someone else already put a scratch or two on them. Tirerack has some nice options, but it's spendy for winter wheels. There's gotta be a website out there that lists OEM wheel sizes for your particular year. I'm not a Pathfinder expert, but I beleive those wheels should fit just fine.

I put a different set of wheels on my Jeep (OEMs from a Wrangler), but saved my stockers....just in case. If I ever decided to get snows, I'll use the stockers.

 

[hammer]

I think it's a little late to tell Jay to get another vehicle. If I recall...he bought the Pathfinder months ago.

I have a 2003 Grand Cherokee...two solid axles and A/T tires. It's made more trips to SoVT in the last year and a half than I can count. Does it handle like our 02 A6? Nope. Is it as quick? Nope. But it does just fine. It can tow(and I've done a ton of that!), it has more ground clearance,it's been down a few Class IV roads and is our first choice during mud season since our place is a good ways up a dirt road.

Agree...just wondering why one would not want a Pathfinder since it's going to be on a short list of SUVs that I'll be looking at in the next few months. I won't have a need to do much off-roading but I will be doing a fair amount of towing, and I do wonder just how well suited crossovers are for towing (looking beyond the spec sheets).

Going back on topic...I'd like to put winter tires on my cars (Volvo S40 and Toyota Highlander) but the overall cost really scares me off. For now I'm crossing my fingers and hoping for the best.

 

[billski]

Going back on topic...I'd like to put winter tires on my cars (Volvo S40 and Toyota Highlander) but the overall cost really scares me off. For now I'm crossing my fingers and hoping for the best.

I wonder if you can put two snows on as a way of cutting the cost. We used to do it that way the bad old days of real wheel drive in the 70s. And it all came down to saving money at the time.

 

[andrec10]

I wonder if you can put two snows on as a way of cutting the cost. We used to do it that way the bad old days of real wheel drive in the 70s. And it all came down to saving money at the time.

Putting only 2 on is a recipe for disaster. With Skid control and having different tires with different grip, could throw you into a spin, with skid control not being able to compensate. Without skid control, forgettaboutit!

 

[hammer]

I wonder if you can put two snows on as a way of cutting the cost. We used to do it that way the bad old days of real wheel drive in the 70s. And it all came down to saving money at the time.

AWD cars, not sure if that would hurt more than help...

 

[gmcunni]

Going back on topic...I'd like to put winter tires on my cars (Volvo S40 and Toyota Highlander) but the overall cost really scares me off. For now I'm crossing my fingers and hoping for the best.

i felt this way too until i realized how bad my car drove in the snow. fear drove me to get the snow tires but after a couple of seasons i realized that by swapping the tires you extend the length of ownership of both sets. timing worked out well for me. my summer tires were toast one fall so i slapped the snows on a little early... by the end of that ski season my snows were well worn and i just kept them on into the summer and used them up too.

the snows probably wore a little faster than the regular tires so i might have gotten 80K miles out of 2 pairs of all weather tires rather than the 70k miles i got out of the combo but the security i got out of the snows was worth it to me.

 

[RootDKJ]

AWD cars, not sure if that would hurt more than help...

I looked into getting winter tires/wheels for the xc60. Total cost would be around $1200.

 

[billski]

I looked into getting winter tires/wheels for the xc60. Total cost would be around $1200.

You must have got a local quote. I don't know what an XC60 is, but I pulled up an XC70 on tirerack.com. You can get Blizzak WS70s, steel wheels, covers and mounted for 650 plus tax and shipping, let's call it 750. The only thing missing is mounting. I've bought four sets from tirerack so far.

 

[o3jeff]

I plan on just keeping the new all seasons on the MDX to see how realistic this video is

 

[tjf67]

You must have got a local quote. I don't know what an XC60 is, but I pulled up an XC70 on tirerack.com. You can get Blizzak WS70s, steel wheels, covers and mounted for 650 plus tax and shipping, let's call it 750. The only thing missing is mounting. I've bought four sets from tirerack so far.

What do you do about the pressure sensors?

 

[hammer]

Just quoted wheels, tires, and sensors on tirerack.com. $1071.54 not including mounting or programming of the sensors.

 

[jaywbigred]

You must have got a local quote. I don't know what an XC60 is, but I pulled up an XC70 on tirerack.com. You can get Blizzak WS70s, steel wheels, covers and mounted for 650 plus tax and shipping, let's call it 750. The only thing missing is mounting. I've bought four sets from tirerack so far.

I was getting $950-1150ish with shipping for the Pathfinder. Cheapest wheel they offered that would fit my tire was $129 (no steel option), tires ranged from $330 to $500 or so. If I am misusing their utilities, would love to know.

I think I am going to go with the craigslist wheels and probably just the cheapest option from tirerack (83 for the Firestone Winterforces). Prob puts me around $600 once they are shipped, taxed, mounted and balanced (locally). Seems like there are folks on here that have had good experiences with the Winterforces (other than some noise), so as this is my first time around with snow tires of any type, I'm gonna give them a shot.

 

[billski]

Just quoted wheels, tires, and sensors on tirerack.com. $1071.54 not including mounting or programming of the sensors.

mounting is free, "programming" is just resetting your car, which is usually a DIY option.

You don't have to have sensors. Pretend it's the old days.

 

[hammer]

mounting is free, "programming" is just resetting your car, which is usually a DIY option.

You don't have to have sensors. Pretend it's the old days.

Wrong term...meant actually swapping the wheels out on the car. Can be done DIY or at a local tire shop but the cost there shouldn't be that much.

My guess is that getting the sensors to be recognized involves a trip to the dealer and a minimum of $100.

Not sure how much I would like having to ignore the warning light on the car for several months...but you do have a point there.

 

[Glenn]

Agree...just wondering why one would not want a Pathfinder since it's going to be on a short list of SUVs that I'll be looking at in the next few months. I won't have a need to do much off-roading but I will be doing a fair amount of towing, and I do wonder just how well suited crossovers are for towing (looking beyond the spec sheets).

I'm going to assume most are right around the 2k limit for towing. Some more, some less.