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Please suggest good snow cars in the $20s

dullard

dullard

Elite Member
Wife needs a new car for commuting alone on the interstate. Her main criteria is to be great on snow / ice and a large range of seat height adjustments. Snow tires are key but AWD, stability control, traction control, etc are also helpful. We've been looking at the Subaru Impreza which feels cheap and the Outback which is quite pricey for what you get (and a far bigger car than she'll ever want or need for commuting). What else would you recommend? New or recent used.

Ideal criteria in this order:
1) Good on snow / ice.
2) Highly adjustable seats.
3) Reasonable fuel economy.
4) Reliable.
5) Visbility is good.
6) Ground clearance is good (for snow driving) but not critical.
7) Preferablly in the $20000 to $30000 range.

I keep being drawn to the Acura TL, Infiniti G25x and Lexus IS 250 AWD but they are about double what she'd be willing to pay.
 
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RKS said:
Since you already wrote off Subaru, what about the CR-V or RAV4?
Click to expand...
I may have been too harsh. We very well may end up with the Outback. I'm just looking for more choices and searching for "AWD vehicles" on Google gives a ton of incorrect answers for vehicles that no longer are AWD or only have one model far outside of our price range. Thanks for the suggestions.
 
Get the last gen subarus. The legacy/outbacks are much smaller then the current models out. I personally think they look better, too. I also didn't see you mention forester?

<== drives 2006 legacy wagon.
 
'04 Forester XT plus $10k in the bank? >.>

Seriously though, Subarus are tough to beat - worth a test drive to see if the seats work out okay.
 
All you really need is any car with good snow tires. Ask yourself this what about the rest of the year when I don't need all that stuff.
 
Like someone else has said, if the current gen Legacy/Outback is too big, look at the last gen, they were quite a bit smaller. Also, if you're really interested in AWD, do some research and learn about it. AWD from brand x doesn't always mean the same thing as AWD from brand y. A lot of AWD systems are FWD 90% of the time and send some small percentage of torque to the rear wheels when slippage is detected. Good systems always route power equally to the front and rear wheels.
 
Aren't the last gen outbacks just remnants of the '08 WRX's? They are essentially rebadge after the '09s got the power bump and other modifications.

The new outbacks are huge but they are popular and look pretty decent. They look like a lot of car for the price. Also i think subies got the best AWD system of any of the cars in the 20s recent and older.

edit: nm the outback sports were the WRX re badges.
 
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The "good on snow and ice" part just means "get decent snow tires". Unless you've got some insane roads to drive on routinely in the winter you'd likely be fine with 2WD and some good tires.

A co-worker of mine has a Haldex drive Volvo (on-demand AWD) that's kicked on momentarily only two times in the 3 years he's driven it. He's got studded snows, and lives down a couple miles of VERY steep dirt road, and doesn't skip work when it snows.

If your wife is insistent on AWD you should consider 2007-2009 used Volvos. There are many good options (S60, S80, XC70) that fit your bill pretty well. You could get the turbo-charged versions to keep it interesting.
 
^^ Agreed, good snow tires make a huge difference. With that said, I drive in lots of crappy weather, and have been in tons of cars, and there is nothing like an Audi in the snow. They are heavy, and have a great AWD system. Our family has had three of them thus far, and I will admit they leave a little to be desired in the reliability category. The newer ones keep getting more complex, and more expensive to fix. The old ones.. are well... getting old. The sweet spot seems to be mid 2000's. I currently have a 2004 A4 avant that I LOVE! It has a 6-speed manual and the 1.8t engine. I get 23-30 mpg depending on driving conditions. I found mine for under $10k, so pocket the difference! Honestly, I would recommend one to a friend, but understanding that they can be $$$ to fix. These are the kinds of cars where you need to find a good shade tree mechanic and build a relationship with them.

Good luck!
 
Venza? But that will really push the upper end of your price range.
Forester is probably the best bet though.

Fusion AWD is an option and probably had for cheap now that it's past the winter and they are doing closeouts on them to make way for the new ones.
 
You can get a g35x with 60k miles 2007-09 used great condition under 20. Dont be afraid at all of miles on these cars if they are cared for. That is the new body style as well.
 
Almost anything with AWD or selectable 4WD will be fine. So will a lot of front wheel drive cars. The biggest item, as mentioned, is snow tires on all 4 wheels, if you must drive a lot on roads before they are plowed. And remember, even with snow tires, you may get going, but stopping and turning, while better than with all season tires, will still not be the best. A lot depends on the skill of the driver. When I used to work, I always kept some vacation days in reserve for bad winter days. And some jobs will let you work from home now and then.
 
My sister has had to drive her Audi wagon in some bad weather, and she says she feels very comfortable and safe even when it's very icy.

You can get a really nice one that's only a few years old for around $20,000.
 
Suzuki SX4 1.6 petrol 4x4.

Amazing fuel economy, very reliable and not very expensive.

Cons: small trunk, the steering wheel feels too small and toyish.
(the first con is very individual, for instance I do not need a big trunk, the second con is not really a con)
 
With the right rubber any car is a good snow car. My first car was a '68 Mustang. In the winter i ran studded rubber and ran up to Tahoe all the time. If the wife can not drive maybe you should get her some lessons?
 
Snow tires. That is all. Oh yeah, AWD can help you accelerate, but EVERYTHING about driving in snowy conditions will benefit from snow tires. AWD won't help you stop or turn.

<-- Has driven into ditch in AWD car with Summer performance tires.
 
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