Car advice needed.

[Davidson Deac II]

Fwiw, the most important thing is that the car is well maintained, regardless of brand.  Have it inspected, get a car fax report, ask for maintenance records, and anything else you can do to determine how well the car has been taken care of. 

[Lloyd Christmas]

Not sure if you're into a fixer upper, but I found the following on Craigslist. With a little tlc, you could end up with a gem.

 

[Gabeking]

Why AWD? More parts to break, less gas milage.

I wouldn't worry about the "fun" part of it as much as I would the reliable part of it.

That said, go get an Acura. Well built, decent on gas, fairly fun to drive.

I live in the northeast, I'm gonna need it here haha.

[Gabeking]

thanks guys for the all the advice, really useful info!

[Guest Spider Monkey]

I live in the northeast, I'm gonna need it here haha.

05+ Grand Cherokee or 04+ Trailblazer

AWD sedans are not made for snow.

[KSpan]

05+ Grand Cherokee or 04+ Trailblazer

AWD sedans are not made for snow.

Disagree if the car has a real AWD system and not just some 90/10 crap that they call AWD these days, although it really needs snow tires to be fully effective. Ground clearance does help, but my Subaru Legacy made it through the 8 inch snowstorm last year, and would've been fine in the14 with winter tires.

[The Link]

Audi & BMW are horrible choices. Those things are the same quality as American/Japanese vehicles, yet they are more expensive & break down more often with double the repair costs.

Also, the Japanese Honda/Toyota brands being superior to Ford/Chevy is a huge myth. They are no more reliable/durable & due to the mentioned myth the prices on them are way over the top. It's like Apple/Android, just because everybody & their mother drives a Honda/Toyota & they pay more for them than what they're worth doesn't make them better.

 

More people drive them because have a well earned reputation for being more reliable. I have many mechanics in my family and all of them will tell you that american cars (from the late 80's to the early 00's) keep them in business. Not only were the designs flawed more often than not, the material used in constructing the engine blocks were sub par. You can put a Honda/Toyota through hell and back without ever having to worry. I had a civic with 245,000 miles on it that ran like a dream when I got rid of it, never had to put very much money in it.

 

OP, do yourself a favor and get a Honda/Toyota. You'll love the low gas/maintenance bill.

[thefuzz]

I live in the northeast, I'm gonna need it here haha.

 

 

I disagree with you, but whatever.

 

If you need AWD/4 WD during the snow storms, you should probably be sitting in front of your fireplace and drinking brandy.

 

It's not you that you have to worry about when driving in inclement weather.

 

Good Luck.