+- MacResource (https://forums.macresource.com)
+-- Forum: My Category (https://forums.macresource.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=1)
+--- Forum: Tips and Deals (https://forums.macresource.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=3)
+--- Thread: Random thoughts / planning to buy a car (/showthread.php?tid=202325)
Re: Random thoughts / planning to buy a car - mattkime - 02-28-2017
>>Yeah, IMHO 4WD/AWD is a must have in WI.
Any fool can out stupid 4WD/AWD and a careful driver can make do without.
...I should talk to my family about this. Maybe I shouldn't be so dismissive. I need a "real wisconsin" perspective on it.
Re: Random thoughts / planning to buy a car - C(-)ris - 02-28-2017
mattkime wrote:
>>Yeah, IMHO 4WD/AWD is a must have in WI.
Any fool can out stupid 4WD/AWD and a careful driver can make do without.
...I should talk to my family about this. Maybe I shouldn't be so dismissive. I need a "real wisconsin" perspective on it.
I live in La Crosse, WI. An hour from Madison. I have a Subaru Forester and a Pontiac Vibe AWD. I personally wouldn't purchase a car without AWD. It isn't that you necessarily HAVE to have it, it just makes it much much easier to get around in the winter and is one less thing to worry about. There will be days in the winter where it is not safe to drive with a FWD only car. Probably a only a handful of days in a bad winter season. We had one day like that last year, none this year. You would just have to plan on not going in to work or anywhere else those days.
I'd also add that I would pick up a set of snow tires, or all seasons that rate highly in the snow. I had a set of Pirelli P4 4 Season Plus tires installed on the Forester. They are kind of a hybrid of All Seasons and Snow tires but you can run them year round and they have a 70k mile tread life warranty. They handle significantly better in the snow/ice than all seasons. I'd say probably 85% as good as a dedicated snow tire and easily 10x as good as the stock all seasons.
As far as cars, my short list for AWD SUVs would be:
Subaru Forester/Outback/Crosstrek
Mazda CX-3/5
CR-V/RAV4
For Cars:
Subaru Impreza or Legacy
Audi A4
Volvo S60
Re: Random thoughts / planning to buy a car - numbered - 02-28-2017
Any fool can out stupid 4WD/AWD and a careful driver can make do without.
I, too, fell for the dark side on several vehicles. And never hit a light pole.
But when you live with it every day, and you see otherwise decent drivers in ditches.....and then think about wife and baby off the road because they had to avoid an idiot.....welp
I think the cost and mileage is not the hit. The hit is having to help 2WD folks who are stuck!
btw, there is a reason that Subaru sells most of its cars in the northern tier and the Rockies. And Honda can barely keep CRVs and Pilots in stock.
Re: Random thoughts / planning to buy a car - anonymouse1 - 02-28-2017
If the Prius V (which is really sort of a mini-SUV) isn't good in snow, I highly recommend the RAV4 hybrid--great vehicle, all have all wheel drive:
http://www.toyota.com/configurator/#!/build/step/model/year/2017/series/rav4hybrid/model/4456
Looks like they're offering 72 months at 0% financing; not sure if that applies to the hybrid:
http://www.toyota.com/deals/
Re: Random thoughts / planning to buy a car - cbelt3 - 02-28-2017
QUITE a geographic change for you guys ! It's going to involve some culture shock from dat big Apple.
Living in the Cleveland Snow belt, I LOVE my 2008 CRV. Admittedly I can handle pretty much anything in my little Civic except more than about 4 inches of accumulated snow. But the AWD just gives me more confidence.
The CRV rear doors open pretty wide to get the little one in and out. And has back space for gear and whatnot. It's not a minivan, but you can put two child seats in the back if you need to. But room for a back seat parent to mange the children will be tight. Hondas and Subarus are the go to small SUV around this area. RAV/4's less so... their reliability recently has been less stellar.
Definitely the snow tires idea is a good one. That will depend on how much space you have for garaging. Most folks get a set of rims with the snow tires, and just swap wheels when winter starts. I personally just ride with all season tires, but there have been a number of times when snow tires would have really made the difference in feeling more secure.
And.. to heck with the "American small SUV". They are mostly made in Canada or Mexico. The CRV is almost 100% American parts and assembly. And their reliability stinks.
Re: Random thoughts / planning to buy a car - space-time - 02-28-2017
I know that some people would straight up refuse to consider a sedan when raising a kid but...we're pretty sure we're not those people.
we survived with 2 Honda Civics until last year. We have 2 kids, now 11 and 7, so yes, you can manage with smaller cars. Just don't expect to get strollers AND suitcases in the trunk.
Re: Random thoughts / planning to buy a car - space-time - 02-28-2017
in my experience, snow tires are just as important, if not even more important that AWD.
Re: Random thoughts / planning to buy a car - Todd's keyboard - 02-28-2017
You might want to consider adding a Honda HR-V to your list. My understanding is it's a smaller, less-expensive version of the CR-V.
A friend leased one after finding out he can fit his bicycle in the back without having to take off the wheels. He's pretty happy with his choice.
Re: Random thoughts / planning to buy a car - davester - 02-28-2017
I can't advise you on a particular vehicle, but I think that a sedan is way too limiting when you have kids. First off, there's always mass quantities of junk to cart around when you have kids (strollers, playpens, toys, diaper bags, etc). Second, kids have friends and playmates. You won't be carting around only two adults and one kid much. This gets worse as time goes by, and expect to be driving around half the soccer team or swim team in a few years. Living in environmentally conscious Berkeley, I know lots of people who attempted to get by with a small car while having kids. They all regretted it. The ones with more than one kid even regretted getting a small SUV (Forester, RAV-4, etc) instead of a larger one because they were too cramped. If you don't have a need for 4WD, I would highly encourage you to go the minivan route instead of the SUV route. However, based on my experiences in the California mountains I think I'd probably lean towards the SUV in a snow state.
One very important aspect that most people don't think of is how far do you expect to drive. For the last twenty years, my wife and I have always tried to live very close to work, thus minimizing the commute. As a result, the gas mileage our car gets or whether it takes premium or regular doesn't matter a whole lot to us because we just don't buy much gas except on road trips. Buying a hybrid would be a total waste of money for us since they are only worthwhile for people doing many miles of urban stop-and-go type driving. That means that we have a relatively large SUV (Acura MDX, equivalent to the Honda Pilot), which provides much more comfort and carrying space than our neighbors' RAV4s and Honda CRVs. Also, don't fall into the trap of buying a small vehicle and then strapping a roof box on it because it is too small. It's well documented that those things can increase gas consumption by 30% on smaller vehicles. The dumbest thing I see around here is people with Priuses and gigantic roof boxes.
Re: Random thoughts / planning to buy a car - wurm - 02-28-2017
Well, in this fairly early stage you can certainly narrow down your choices fairly easily without subjecting yourself to a salesweasel from a specific dealership. Bring the fam, get an up-close look, sit in and eliminate accordingly all in one shot.
http://www.autoshowny.com/