Are there any products you endorse?

[JesseVader08]

Michelin X-Ice Winter Tires.  Incredible, absolutely incredible.  Last year, my wife and I bought our 2003 Pontiac Vibe GT in August - the 6 speed standard is very fun to drive in the summer.  But when the winter came, I absolutely hated the car.  The peppy engine loved to rotate those tires and I could never get any traction, whether trying to move or stop.

But this year?  It's a totally new car.  I put these on about a month ago, and I'm enjoying the car again.  Granted, the tires will still spin, but they'll grab a lot sooner, and I havent slid through an intersection yet since putting them on.  Stopping is good!   

[Ben]

Been looking at the Hyundai SUVs-- the Santa Fe and the Tuscon. I've come to the conclusion that my Elantra is not good for winter, these last two being particularly brutal. Hopefully the used ones won't kill me price-wise.

If JoshEEE reads this he'll be off on his SUV-hating tangent again.

[Morgbug]

Michelin X-Ice Winter Tires.  Incredible, absolutely incredible.  Last year, my wife and I bought our 2003 Pontiac Vibe GT in August - the 6 speed standard is very fun to drive in the summer.  But when the winter came, I absolutely hated the car.  The peppy engine loved to rotate those tires and I could never get any traction, whether trying to move or stop.

I've been driving (in winter) on Arctic Alpin's now for six years.  The difference with winter tires is pretty remarkable.  I expect they're not too sensible in places that don't have continuous snow, but up here I don't know how I used to drive without them. 

[JesseVader08]

I've been driving (in winter) on Arctic Alpin's now for six years.  The difference with winter tires is pretty remarkable.  I expect they're not too sensible in places that don't have continuous snow, but up here I don't know how I used to drive without them. 

Agreed.  They're worth every penny, even if those pennies did add up to $900.      ->

What I don't like?  Being forced to buy the lug nuts from the GM dealer.  I bought steel rims from Canadian Tire to use just with my winter tires, but of course they wouldn't work with the lug nuts from the mags that my car came with.  So my only option was to spend $150 on bloody new ones that, of course, only GM makes.  Somebody at GM is making some money.   

[Morgbug]

Hmmm, I've yet to buy a second set of rims (I know, dumb) but I wonder if my Nissan will run into those problems.  That's a lot of money on lugs, I guess you need 20-25 of them, but still?

Is that the price for the tires, rims and lugs?  Or are the Ice-X tires that much more now?

[JesseVader08]

Is that the price for the tires, rims and lugs? Or are the Ice-X tires that much more now?

Thankfully, that was the final price for eveything: tires, rims, lugs, balancing, taxes.  The actual tires were $140 a piece for the 195-65R15's.  The Vibe came with 205-55R16's, but I read that stepping down to a smaller rim with a narrower tire is a smart way to go.  I think they call it "minus sizing"

[JesseVader08]

Been looking at the Hyundai SUVs-- the Santa Fe and the Tuscon. I've come to the conclusion that my Elantra is not good for winter, these last two being particularly brutal. Hopefully the used ones won't kill me price-wise.

If JoshEEE reads this he'll be off on his SUV-hating tangent again.

If you're looking for an endorsement of a smaller SUV, try out the Ford Escape.  That's what my wife usually drives (even though it's registered in my name  ), and we both absolutely love it. 

The AWD is really incredible in all weather conditions and the 200HP V6 is very responsive.  On the highway at 100clicks (60mph), it'll drop all the way into 1st gear if you want it to when passing traffic.  Despite that, the mileage is very decent.  As well, it's got lots of room for hauling people and cargo (of course, not as much as the full size SUVs, but it does the job for our shopping trips to the city  ). 

Pricewise, it was likely in the middle of the road.  We bought the Limited Edition, so we ended up paying for luxuries like leather seats (very handy for cleaning up spilled milk in the back seat ).  This domestic vehicle is actually shared with the Mazda tribute platform, so it has the benefits of longer term resale value that the imports often have.

Would I buy one again?  Absolutely.

[Morgbug]

Those ARE big tires for that car part of the look, I suppose.  

Balancing, tire tax, environmental levy, PST, GST, shop fees, acetylene charges (what, they're tires!).  Yeah, it makes sense now  

If JoshEEE reads this he'll be off on his SUV-hating tangent again.

No worse than a minivan in most cases.  Our Pathfinder (V6) gets pretty much the same mileage as any minivan out there.

[Ben]

If I read the tags right, these Hyundai SUVs get better MPG than some minivans. I was checking out ebay Motors for these, and the used ones seem to go between $12-14,000 range, which is pretty good.

JesseVader, I would consider the Ford, but I'd rather stick with Hyundai. I've had my Elantra for five years now, and haven't had a single problem with it, and I'd like to keep up customer loyalty.

[JoshEEE]

Been looking at the Hyundai SUVs-- the Santa Fe and the Tuscon. I've come to the conclusion that my Elantra is not good for winter, these last two being particularly brutal. Hopefully the used ones won't kill me price-wise.

If JoshEEE reads this he'll be off on his SUV-hating tangent again.

I'll limit it to a small tangent. It's recently become really icy/slightly snowy in Seattle, and the morning traffic reports are filled with stories of accidents. The hilarious thing is that most of the cars they show off in ditches on the side of the highway are SUVs. It's just more proof for me that these glorified station wagons (as well as the people who drive them around here) aren't exactly winners.

I've posted my disclaimers several times in the past about SUVs. If you live in an area where you need the off road capabilities, or you plan to haul large amounts of cargo in them on a regular basis.....hey, go get one. It sounds like you actually need one H.M.I, so more power to you (pun intended).

The only BIG problem I have with them, is 98% of the people that drive them in my area (and most other major metros)  don't need them. They buy them to use as their commuter, and replace the family compact car.

I can't wait until the fad is over and the morons driving alone in these things wake up one morning and realize how stupid they were.  It'll be like that morning they woke up and realized their Vanilla Ice CD was lame, or that it was time to stop wearing the flourescent socks.  It's coming....it's just taking a lot longer than I hoped.


As for products I endorse, I suppose I should mention fuel efficient cars.  My VW Bug for one. The Mini (which is probably going to be my fiancee's next car).  A Prius, which my dad really wants.

I endorse Papa Murphy's pizza, because for less than the price of Domino's, you can drive your ass down to the store and cook up something when you want it that tastes a lot better.

I endorse the following two video games above all others right now:

Halo 2 on Xbox Live. It's the best online console game I've ever played.
Dance Dance Revolution.  6 months ago, I would have laughed if you'd said I'd be hooked on this game, but it's great at parties, it's incredibly challenging and it's a good little bit of exercise.

I endorse Netflix. Aside from the long wait for new releases, they are the best rental service I've ever used. It's nice not to have to drive anywhere and always have movies lying around you don't have to worry about returning. It's more expensive than blockbuster....but you can make it cheaper if you watch just 5 movies a month.

That is all for now.