Why You Should Not Buy a 2010 or new 4Runner if you plan to drive in Weather.

I drove up to Eagle River the other day. It wasn't snowing, raining, or anything, but the highway was wet, so there was junk flying at the windshield and I had to use the wipers to see.

During my 20 minute trip, I remembered another reason to hate my 4Runner. Never mind that it is huge, bulky and drop dead ugly, you cannot for the life of you DRIVE THE THING IN THE WINTER. Why? Because, you cannot see out any pertinate windows except the front and passenger side. The back windshiled wipers only clears a TINY portion of the window and not even where YOU NEED TO LOOK. The dumb ass spoiler on the back also adds insult to injury because it just adds to amount of junk that gathers on the window. Currently, I cannot see anything worth while out the window and if the cars refuse to use their lights, there is no hope of me seeing them at any given point. And not just because the back window is so caked with grime, no, that isn't just the issues any more.

When we traveled up here, we learned that when traveling at speeds of 50 or higher while using the wipers, kicks back grime onto the driver side window. Since the back window has been uselsess since any rain/snow/sleet/dirt/wind has been going on, I've taken to using the mirror to see what's behind me and make sure I'm not going to run anyone over in the Monstrosity. Well, during my 20 minute highway drive, this became almost impossible to do because the window was caked in grime from the front windshield. This occurred on our drive up here and I had forgotten. This isn't an issue when it rains. Just snow and ice and grime. In the lower 48, where they salt the living daylights out of things, this is a BIG PROBLEM, as the salt just sticks and is hard to get off the window. So, basically, when we drove up here, daily cleaning of the window took place because we couldn't even SEE the back window due to our belongings. Once we got here, and cleared the car out, we were like, Dear God. There is like five inches of grime on the back window. More than the rest of the car.

So, Mr. Toyota Car Maker, you SUCK. And I HATE YOU. HOW THE HELL DID YOU MANAGE TO MAKE A CAR "BETTER" AND NOT TEST DRIVE IT IN WINTER CONDITIONS? YOUR REDESIGN OF THE 4RUNNER SUCKS AND YOU SHOULD ALL...WELL, BE FORCED TO DRIVE THE 4RUNNER IN ALASKA ALL WINTER AND NOT ALLOWED TO WASH IT. I GARANTEE YOU WILL CRASH AND DIE.

In other news, till I get a window washer thingy, I will have to risk my life in the Subaru, which has no winter tires (we thinks studded tires are lame and do not understand why the people of Alaska are holding on so hard to studded tires, they just ruin the roads. They make winter tires. The 4Runner has those. They work brilliantly).

That is all.

::steps off soap box ::