Droid

I've often prided myself w/ my ability to decipher the vane plates. In this case, I just looked at your Thumbnail and was a bit stumped on why somebody would put "Oh, Piece of Sht" on their car, unless they REALLY didn't like the car. A shame in this case considering the car. I read down in the threads and got confused on the bloodtype thing, so then opened the file to see the blood donor portion of the plate at the bottom. Unless cars will be right on your tail, I'd tend to think that most would read as I originally did -- from afar, and not get the blood relation. Perhaps an "O-PLUS" would've been less ambigious (how often do you really see blood types written w/ the words negative or positive?? i'd presume even in your field it would be the sign). Me too, not a fan, AT ALL, of the vane plates, but if I did, I'd spend an awful lot of time thinking, pondering, and considering every possible perception of the type i had chosen to assure the least amount of confusion, unless, of course, that was what you were after. Clearly too late, but... well... ok then... enjoy.

All great points! Thanks so much. I do agree that Winter/Snow tires indeed would've been the way to go. Cost was a factor here however, so went w/ what I thought would be the best way. (thus only rears) Another note that I probably subconsciencely left off was that the rears that were on there ended up being darned close to the end of their life. I really never checked them seriously (i recall noted them having decent tread in the fall), however, the guy at the tire shop couldn't believe I could even drive the car on plowed/salted roads -- he said they were atrocious. The driving has improved drastically -- more confidence, and no getting stuck anymore. Between 300-400 extra pounds in the rear and the new Conti's, we seem to be good. I tested in my subdivision, deliberately stopping on an uphill grade w/ packed snow/ice, then taking off. Takes off like a tank now. Don't even need the 'ETC/Snow' button now. Am satisfied, but cannot even IMAGINE what true Winter tires would do for us. I currently drive a 4wd Hybrid Escape and the Lexus is my g/f's car. In bad snow, I'd been taking it, but now we can go back to our own cars. (Trust me, this Lexus is NOT the most popular car to be driving in the MotorCity these days -- I'll let her get the dirty looks!) The front tires were new last spring, so I opted against buying matching fronts this time ($). Am thinking these two sets may time out just right for replacement around the falltime -- then I think the wise way would be a FULL set of true Winter tires for it. Then come spring 2010 w/ tax$, buy new summers/ then do the swap thing from there on out. Car is near paid off and plan to hold onto it so makes sense both $ and safety wise. Thanks again, everyone. Ya'll are great!

I tried searching this forum but didn't find anything on the subject... I recognize the Navigation has the safety feature that doesn't allow one to manipulate the GPS system while moving. Has anybody figured out a reasonable way to disable this feature? Portable systems I've used in the past allowed 'on-the-fly' changing of destinations, etc. Wish I could do the same w/ the system that came w/ the car. Thanks much

Yes, tires were the Arizona kind. Well, Not Anymore! The New Tires from TireRack.com arrived super fast (yesterday aft, 2-days std shipping!!). Again stuck yesterday, spent half an hour having neighbor push me back up my street, then spent another two hours running my snowthrower down the entire sub to a main road. I had ALL the watersoftener salt in the truck AND a full tank of gas and still the bugger would not move. Flat surface, NO move. In fact, it would only move Sideways!! Finally, once on mainroads (w/ fresh salt and fresh plow), car was Fine. I went straight to the tire shop to have the new rears installed. Bought the 255/40-18 ContiExtremeContact All-Season. $250 delivered to my door. Sweeeet. (I get a decent discount from Continental) I can't believe I was such a dumbo buffoon. Can't believe the difference. WTF was I thining. OK, no forget EVERYTHING I had posted until today. I'm a moron. The answer was simple -- Tires, Tires, Tires. NOW, I'm "having a totally satisfactory experience." :)

Hi. Brand new to this Forum. Just brought an IS-250 (RWD) from Az to Michigan. Its been a very snowy season here. I've driving what seems like a zillion cars in snow over the years w/ success, but having tremendous difficulty w/ this car. Clearly, its probably one of the least favorable cars for snow considering the monster width of rear tires (255/40-18), etc... - I'm unfamilar w/ the Snow Traction or when/why/where to use it. Snow?? Still get stuck nearly every day. - I just bought 300# of salt (for H20 softener) and am now storing that in truck. - Filled up tank to top (will keep it full w/ this snow). - I 'try' not to give too much gas, but the darned car just slows, then stops. Its like the Traction is fighting and loosing. - Tried a few times w/ TC off. Just spinning/sidesliding, then ESC kicks in and slows car and am back to same prob. - I DID just order a set of Rear Conti Tires from the TireRack -- hope this will make the difference. I thought I was doing all the right things, but still have been stuck/no-go over a dozen times. Embarrasing. :-( Essentially, does anybody have any suggestions to aid in getting this car to move in the snow?? Any added tips, tricks, suggestions that you might have would be helpful. Calling into boss claiming 'working from home' is getting old. Thanks!!