What's the best low cost 4 wheel drive vehicle?

[WI wide body]

My youngest daughter travels at least 30 miles to work each day up here in this frozen hell. I know there's a reason I left the Greensboro area but it escapes me right now. Anyhow, we (mom and I) decided that she should get a good snow car since winter starts in Sept. and seems to go until May.

Keep in mind that I stupidly allowed her to get an Art History Degree and her pay is commensurate with that field. Well, actually she's not even in that field!

So what I have narrowed it down to in her price range is probably a 4 wheel drive Jeep Compass or a 4 wheel drive Suzuki SX4.

The Suzuki seems to be the best deal for what she requires. (not much)

So what are the thoughts or suggestions on these vehicles?

[RWebb]

Don't let your daughter drive the Suzuki. Get something safe for YOUR daughter.

Check the Cons. Reps. issues or IIHS data to see how the things do in crashes.

re the 4whd - AWD may be what she really needs.

The really critical thing is to get ESC or ESP - what ever they call it. Electronic Stability Control (or Program). They really work great in snow. This will limit you to newer vehicles - MB SUB had it by 1999; and others followed.

Finally, get her as low as possible - I'd get a Subaru wagon over a Forester - less chance of tipping over.

Make sure she has good snow tires on too - not all seasons - look for the snowflake in a mountain symbol. She can swap to something else for summer.

The above are the criteria to follow. IF I had to guess, it would be a late model Subaru. Maybe the newer Honda CRVs have ESC now - I know my Pilot does.

Don't take ANY chances.

[RWebb]

oh yeh - you were smart to NOT force her into a major she hated - trust me, I had to deal with that all the time as a university professor.

If she got a good degree at a good college, she will do just fine. College is for education and 'flexing' the mind - it is not a technical training school. Big Biz is about to figure that out too.

[Seahawk]

Toyota Truck, Bronco II, tons of Jeeps or a Subaru

Suzuki's are fine as well. It all depends on the condition of the car...which you know.

Edit: RAV4s are getting cheap.

[Dave L]

slap some good snowtires on what ever you choose for her.

[911Rob]

What's the best low cost 4 wheel drive vehicle?

uhmmm, I can tell you what's not?

[WI wide body]

Originally Posted by RWebb

oh yeh - you were smart to NOT force her into a major she hated - trust me, I had to deal with that all the time as a university professor.

If she got a good degree at a good college, she will do just fine. College is for education and 'flexing' the mind - it is not a technical training school. Big Biz is about to figure that out too.

Well, I'm glad to hear you say that but the degree did seem like a waste. She's very good (actually in the upper 95 percentile) in the verbal skills but extremely mediocre (and that's being generous) in the math/scince stuff and I wish she had went into writing or editing or something like that.

Whatever, she went to Florence for a semester and had a very good experience with all the art and history of that area. Met some cute dago boy but that finally went away also!

She did get a fairly rounded education and like I told her about the Art History Degree: If you ever get on Jeapordy it will be invaluable!

[WI wide body]

Originally Posted by 911Rob

uhmmm, I can tell you what's not?

Rob, did you not notice that I did want opinions/experiences? So...................................

[911Rob]

Originally Posted by WI wide body

.....
So what I have narrowed it down to in her price range is probably a 4 wheel drive Jeep Compass or a 4 wheel drive Suzuki SX4.
The Suzuki seems to be the best deal for what she requires. (not much)
So what are the thoughts or suggestions on these vehicles?

Sorry bud, I was just eluding to my H1. ha!

I think you nailed it in your original post buddy.
I'm glad you're getting her a 4x4 though, put some good snow tires on it and she'll be good to go.

I've always had a 4x4 of some kind and the most economical ones were the Ford Explorer or Chev Blazer utility sized, but I've never had an import model?

Cheers,

[Steve Carlton]

Sometimes some great deals here:
http://www.subaru.com/tools/financialsolutions/special_offers.jsp?from=topNav

[gatotom]

frozen hell??? alittle over the top this yr??? you are finally getting some snow this yr. I grew up in Milwaukee, winter is no big deal, mostly wind and blowing snow.

Out here in the mountains we reached our ave. for snowfall, 160 inches, 40 miles up the road on the mountain pass 460 inches so far and counting.

IMHO, audi is the best all wheel drive out there, beats subaru, or I should say slugaru hands down in ride, performance and reliability. Yes, they have some issues but all cars have issues. Then you put on some studless snow tires and you can go anywhere. Audi will get better fuel mileage than subaru.

My wife drives a 98 A4 2.8l with 165k still all original, my oldest son drives a 2002 A4 1.8l with 110k and I drive a 2000 A4 1.8l with 92k.

[WI wide body]

Yeah, I read on the road tests of the SX4 that they often say to move up to a Subaru if possible. Might look into that since the sedans hit her price range range.

[imcarthur]

I'll agree with gatotom. While an Audi might be slightly scary due to the repair costs, we love our 02 A4 2.0L Quattro. With 4 snow tires, it is a great handling car. Low center of gravity vs the roll-over SUV buggies & short of off-roading, it is a go anywhere car. I bought it since my wife commutes daily & we have to be able to get "up north" once in a while in the winter to visit the outlaws.

As for the repairs cost, so far it's like any good Euro car. But then that's what it is.

Ian

[WI wide body]

Originally Posted by gatotom

frozen hell??? alittle over the top this yr??? you are finally getting some snow this yr. I grew up in Milwaukee, winter is no big deal, mostly wind and blowing snow.

Out here in the mountains we reached our ave. for snowfall, 160 inches, 40 miles up the road on the mountain pass 460 inches so far and counting.

IMHO, audi is the best all wheel drive out there, beats subaru, or I should say slugaru hands down in ride, performance and reliability. Yes, they have some issues but all cars have issues. Then you put on some studless snow tires and you can go anywhere. Audi will get better fuel mileage than subaru.

My wife drives a 98 A4 2.8l with 165k still all original, my oldest son drives a 2002 A4 1.8l with 110k and I drive a 2000 A4 1.8l with 92k.

Maybe living in Greensboro for 17 years caused that "over the top" thing from me!

[artplumber]

Just how "economical" are you looking at? You can probably find AWD BMW/Audi/MB's that aren't much more than 10K and you can use in summer too....

[Laneco]

As a 4 wheel drive commuter, kinda hard to beat a Subaru... Every price range available as a new or pretty new car.

angela

[MattKellett]

+1 on Subaru. Forrester or Impresa with snow tires


Matt

[Rot 911]

For the type of driving your daughter does I would just get a good front wheel drive car with good snow tires. Better gas mileage than you will see in any 4wd vehicle.

[WI wide body]

Originally Posted by Kurt V

For the type of driving your daughter does I would just get a good front wheel drive car with good snow tires. Better gas mileage than you will see in any 4wd vehicle.

Kurt, if 30-50 miles a day in the snow in WI doesn't qualify for AWD then what does?

She got stuck twice in the snowbank just outside our drive from the pile left by the snowplows!

Actually sounds like Subaru is the small AWD of choice.

[WI wide body]

Per the original question...has anyone actually owned one of those Suzuki SX4 things? I realize that they have only been out for a year but I thought there might be a few snow/mountain dwellers who had one of them.