[MT930]

Thanks for the comments and considerations.

Had very good experience with Mazda 's 20 years ago. My brother had one and it took a vicious licking and kept on ticking. I would add it to the list.

Based on where we live, lots of winter driving. a 2002- 2006 2nd gen Honda CRV would be the ticket.

But i'm finding cars with 150K Miles in the $ 8-9 K range that have been abused. yikes ! they are probably getting that type of money out of them. I think it's the right car at a price I am having a hard time getting my mind around it. They are very popular in the region 2nd to the Subaru Outback, both are on the edge of 30 MPG zone they are safe for smaller cars.