sumo_elan

used Isuzu Vehicross

jankemi

Certain model & year Subaru's are notorious for head gasket problems. You'd have to stay away from those. (97,98,99?)

I've had real good luck with Jeep's. A 6cyl 4wd would be a $10K car. It will be primitive & rude compared to imports of the same vintage, but will cost less.

Do you think that you can find a front wheel drive car with traction control? That would be just about as good as awd/4wd on snowy roads.

After 30 years of driving in WI and MN I can say that Awd/4wd is not essential for the midwest. Front wheel drive with good tires is more than adequate.

Slamnasty

Hehe, I actually like the way those things look. The wheel/tire package looks terrible on it, but it is an interesting vehicle.

Dr. WOT

I agree, the Vehicross never sold well but it was before the SUV crazy really hit, I wonder how the same car would do if it was released today.

s2kbrian

explorer

pierceman

you can find a high milage wrx or a 2.5rs for that or a honda crv

StkS2000

dcak, I think a 4 wheel drive suv might be more of a pain than a benefit. I went to school in pittsburgh, and depending on where you are going to live or are living, the roads can be very narrow and parking can be very tight. I would highly recommend snow tires on any car you get in pittsburgh, because the hills do get very steep and extremely icy during bad weather. As for a recommended car to get, I think people in the previous posts have came up with some great ideas, but personally I would stick with some sort of sedan, wether it be a 4WD or FWD. Good Luck

Warren J. Dew

You definitely don't need a 4x4 SUV.

Several inches of snow and freezing rain were falling here just north of Boston today, and the snow plows and salt trucks were a little late getting out. My wife was going just as fast in her FWD Jetta with all season tires as the 4x4s were - we passed more of them than they did us. When I get out in a RWD sports car with real snow tires, I do even better, averaging 5-10 mph faster than the SUVs - today's silica compound snow tires are incredible.

We saw one major accident. It was caused when an SUV spun out ending stopped across the roadway. A bunch of cars stopped in time, but two other trucks didn't - having four wheel drive doesn't help you when you need to brake or swerve. Some innocent cars got caught in the resultant crossfire.

The one thing having a 4x4 or AWD vehicle can help with is avoiding getting stuck. Unless you are planning to go off road, a 4x4 SUV doesn't really have any advantages over an AWD sedan in this area - and it does have disadvantages, like being more likely to roll when you go into the ditch.

And if you are planning to go off road, remember - four wheel drive just lets you get stuck deeper in the snow, further off the road.