Am from sunny California and am moving to Boston soon.

[etherdude]

I own a 2012 Yaris SE 5 speed here in the greater Boston area. Yours will do fine in the Winter driving. BUT, you definitely should get a set of snow tires. I recommend Tire Rack. I got a set of 15" GT wheels with 175/65-15 Bridgestone Blizzaks on my Yaris for around $650. I use the 16" stock SE wheels with 195/50-16 OE tires during the non-winter months. Plan on about 5 months with the winter tires and 7 months on stock tires.

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by etherdude

Plan on about 5 months with the winter tires

I knew there was a reason I don't want to drive in the Northeast during the winter months .

[jambo101]

Originally Posted by nookandcrannycar

I knew there was a reason I don't want to drive in the Northeast during the winter months .

Most of your winter driving will be on bare roads, the snow factor comes in for a week or so after a major snowfall which isnt as often as many southerners would think..
Also driving on snow with proper winter tires can be fun..

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by jambo101

Most of your winter driving will be on bare roads, the snow factor comes in for a week or so after a major snowfall which isnt as often as many southerners would think..
Also driving on snow with proper winter tires can be fun..

Good to know . I've only lived in the South for the last 5 years. I grew up about 200 miles from Lake Tahoe (Squaw Valley, Heavenly Valley, etc.). I didn't start skiing until I was 13, but from the time I was 13 until about 25 I skied every area in the Sierras north of Yosemite through the north end of Tahoe except one (Northstar). I never had snow tires, only chains. When I was on a ski trip with my friends in high school I got into a 12 car accident in the steep parking lot on the California side of Heavenly Valley. The person who caused the accident (by parking in the middle of the road and staying in the car and then moving) was the only person who pulled a hit and run...so each person's insurance company ended up paying for just their own insured's damage. When I was on my first trip...years before, when I was not yet driving...(to Silde Mountain (now part of Mt. Rose), Tannenbaum (now closed), Squaw Valley, and Heavenly Valley, my experienced and mostly older friends (3 guys and 2 girls) managed to break the chains on the rear wheel drive car we were traveling in and get the chains wrapped around the axle (eventually untangled). I've taken both 'bus only' and 'fly only' ski trips from Southern California to Vail/Beaver Creek, Aspen/Snowmass, and Jackson Hole.....didn't have to do any driving on these and liked that very much.

What really freaks me out is ice. When we graduated from high school, my best friend and his family moved to New Jersey, north of I-78 and west of I-287. His dad had already been back there for over 6 months. My friend's sister was 16 when they moved and had obtained her DL in California. I went back to visit them right before Christmas and his sister had already totaled the family's new VW station wagon by losing control on a low speed limit road (on black ice) and hitting a tree.