AWD car

[F4mandolin]

Ahhh, if they would only bring back the 1971 Datsun pickup I used to have. Best vehicle I ever had. 30mpg highway, actually useful, even I could do minor repairs under the hood.........and until the small pickups became "not small"...cost under $10K.

 

[freebird5825]

I love my 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee AWD, but it miserably fails your fuel economy requirements.
I use it for winter driving, towing my boat, dual dog transport, and saving myself delivery fees. It is also very useful for grabbing free items by the side of the road for friends in need of cheap furniture.

 

[rescueme]

I love my 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee AWD, but it miserably fails your fuel economy requirements.

I have the same situation with my '05 SRX.

Under normal circumstances, it would not be a vehicle I would consider. By normal, I mean still wor*ing or using for long-distance travel.

I needed a vehicle that would be able to get me through the snow to do my volunteer work (meals-on-wheels), provide seating for at least four adults (two of us are needed for the route, but we often take along two others since we help train new folks).

Additionally, we need room for a large cooler, hot bag (for hot meals), and additional room for frozen (weekend) meals. Along with ease of access (flip up back gate). I did test drive a Subaru Forrester but it didn't meet my requirements, even though in other circumstances, I would certainly consider it.

Since I only put a bit over 4k on the vehicle annually the three years I've had it (since retirement), the fuel issue is really not an issue, in this case.

BTW, I work*d with a guy who had a Subaru (don't know which model) and he said it was better than his 4-WD (not AWD) in snow. He felt that it was due to the narrow tires that would not build up the snow in the tire's path. I have no idea if that makes sense, but I thought I'd just throw it out...

 

[NervousNellie]

We have two CRV's and I love both of them. What I like about them is that for me they are easy to get in/out especially when compared to my getting in/out of our Civic!

 

[happy2bretired]

We have two CRV's and I love both of them. What I like about them is that for me they are easy to get in/out especially when compared to my getting in/out of our Civic!

One thing I miss about my old Isuzu SUV was I would just kinda slide down out of it when getting out. Now with my Civic...takes a little ummph to get out. It's a little too low to the ground for almost 60 me.

 

[TooFrugal]

Back into daydreaming mode again about cars. I had kind of been thinking about the Subaru Outback and Forester....kind of think the Outback is a little more than I want to spend.

We have an Outback and love it. We got the bigger engine and it is really zippy. We test drove the Forester and liked those, as well. We may get a Forester the next car we need to replace.

Subarus have great safety ratings -
IIHS vehicle ratings

and they also have great repair records and are on the more economical end in the realm of car prices.

If you need it for the snow the repair technician at the dealer told me not to bother with cables even for the mountains. He said at the checkpoints they always just waive the Subarus on through.

 

[FinanceDude]

I know the Subie folks will bristle at this, but Subies are not known for their awesome gas mileage.........and some of them need premium fuel to run right........

That being said, DW has an 84 GL-10 that she tried to kill but it refused to die.........

 

[BigNick]

I'm very happy with my new Hyundai iX35. I got the 4WD model which has 2WD by default; 4WD kicks in if you lose traction, or you can lock 50/50 front/rear power with a button.

If I wanted full-time 4WD I'd probably go for the Subaru, especially if I paid US prices for gas. At $7.50 a gallon, we look extra-close at mileage over here (although Subaru still sells the 3.6-litre version of the Outback in Germany).

 

[bruce1]

I love my 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee AWD, but it miserably fails your fuel economy requirements.
I use it for winter driving, towing my boat, dual dog transport, and saving myself delivery fees. It is also very useful for grabbing free items by the side of the road for friends in need of cheap furniture.

My old 98 Explorer 4X4 at 270,000 K has the same advantages / disadvantages / uses. Except for the boat.

 

[F4mandolin]

Well......now my latest plan (changes day by day). Buy a cheap car for the first year. The Forester (I think) is going to get a transmission update in the next year or two and I am hoping they will either throw a 5 speed automatic in it or the CVT. The 5 speed would be fine with me, likely up the mileage by a couple mpg. Wonder what my plan will be next week........