Posted by bandi By the way, nice Mazda 3. It's the first one I've ever liked. I have a feeling you'll learn to love the amber headlights in the snow... I've always run them in winter rallies, they REALLY help with night visibility with white stuff on the ground. http://i104.photob.../2gbsdcard1244.jpg (Not exactly winter in that pic, but hey... those lights worked well)

mileage doesn't scare me and you can tell if the car has been piss-pounded. Hell, that 98 Lumina I had back in 2008-2009 is STILL GOING. 300,000+ miles on the same engine and transmission and the guy that bought it off me just drives it. She's rusty, but trusty. Also, as a sidenote, that Monte Carlo I had before the Beretta, well I met it going the other way tonight... She rides again. That damn thing must have 250,000 miles on it by now!

Also, my Cobalt is so awful in the snow, i can't see wasting the money on winter wheels and tires... it's just better off to park it for winter. I paid nothing for the Beretta and if I biff into something i am out nothing. By the way, are those amber headlights available in like normal bulbs? As i get older I have a really hard time driving in snowstorms.

Posted by bandi Meh, mileage means nothing if the car has been looked after, my daily driver (which I don't drive in the winter) has 645,000 km on the clock. I'd rather own a well maintained high mileage car than a beat up low mileage car.

QFT. Our vans at work are a few years old and have less than 20K on them, but run terribly, since all the driving has been short trips around campus. The place I used to work has the same vans, similar age, all with more than 200k, and they all run perfectly. The difference: maintenance and highway miles.

Posted by Agent Skelly I'm looking to acquire actually a Dodge Mini Ram Van, aka the Caravan C/V, aka the Cargo Caravan. I might have a lead on one...

Sweet! Haven't seen one of those in a while.

Posted by terapr0 $400 ?!? Damn, what a steal! 430,000km is pretty scary high, but I suppose if you're not faced with a lengthy commute it's all good. I recently switched jobs and now have a 120km roundtrip every day. Thought of buying a shitty beater for the winter, but can't deal with anything that may die in a snowstorm on the roads near Caledon. Will end up driving the regular ol` car with winters. one of the perks I was able to negotiate for my new job was a $2000 allowance to buy winter & summer tires. Just ordered some Hankook iPike W409's and plan on blowing the rest on some Nitto NT05, Falken Azenis RT615-k or Dunlop Star Spec's. I've always cheaped out and bought used tires before, usually with mixed success. Looking forward to driving on brand new winters Here she is in summer mode. winter rims are 16" mazda stockers painted Mil-Spec CARC green. The yellow headlight film was a test...Still unsure if I want to keep it for the winter. http://www.tohella...esized1-yellow.jpg

I just got a speed 6 , tires are all season but hope it does ok due to the awd. My e46 BMW that's rwd I have a set of snows I throw on it and it's a beast.

Posted by terapr0 $400 ?!? Damn, what a steal! 430,000km is pretty scary high, but I suppose if you're not faced with a lengthy commute it's all good. I recently switched jobs and now have a 120km roundtrip every day. Thought of buying a shitty beater for the winter, but can't deal with anything that may die in a snowstorm on the roads near Caledon. Will end up driving the regular ol` car with winters. one of the perks I was able to negotiate for my new job was a $2000 allowance to buy winter & summer tires. Just ordered some Hankook iPike W409's and plan on blowing the rest on some Nitto NT05, Falken Azenis RT615-k or Dunlop Star Spec's. I've always cheaped out and bought used tires before, usually with mixed success. Looking forward to driving on brand new winters Here she is in summer mode. winter rims are 16" mazda stockers painted Mil-Spec CARC green. The yellow headlight film was a test...Still unsure if I want to keep it for the winter. http://www.tohella...esized1-yellow.jpg

I just got a speed 6 , tires are all season but hope it does ok due to the awd. My e46 BMW that's rwd I have a set of snows I throw on it and it's a beast.