‘Do all of my tires have to be snow tires?’
The Car Doc offers seasonal advice.
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I have a 2006 Toyota Avalon. It runs great and just went over 200,000 miles. I’ve never put snow tires on it, but it’s really never been that good in the snow even though it has front-wheel-drive. Would it be OK to just put snow tires on the front or do I need to do all four tires for it to be effective? Would having a mismatch of tires (snows on the front only) cause any other problems?
A. It is always best to have four matching tires. Having just snow/winter tires on the front may give better traction to get moving but may upset the car when you apply the brakes on snow or other slick road conditions. If I were to put winter tires on a vehicle—whether front, rear, or all-wheel- drive, it would be four.
John Paul, AAA Northeast’s Car Doctor, answers questions from drivers every week. He has 40+ years of experience in the automotive business and is an ASE certified master technician.
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