Good, reliable car that can handle the snow.

[turtle777]

Audi any 4x model

Seconded.

A4 quattros - 4 year old with 60k+ miles can be had below $20k.
2009 and forward is the latest platform and an excellent car.

-t

 

[TSE]

Seconded.

A4 quattros - 4 year old with 60k+ miles can be had below $20k.
2009 and forward is the latest platform and an excellent car.

-t

Audis cost more to maintain. Otherwise I would.

 

[AhmedFaisal]

<snip>

 

[Gav2k]

Audis cost more to maintain. Otherwise I would.

That's debatable. Servicing can be cheaply done and there pretty bullet proof

 

[iPhonemaster5S]

How about a 2006 Audi A4 2.0T. They're really robust amazing AWD just need to be careful around maintence but if taken care of they will never die.

 

[AppleCruncher]

Jeep Cherokee

 

[ucfgrad93]

This will get you where you need to go....

That might be just a tad over his max price of 20k.

 

[mobilehaathi]

That might be just a tad over his max price of 20k.

Ahh, well, you know, trade-offs.

 

[wordoflife]

You could also look at used Volvo S60s or the high end S40 models used. They all come with AWD, are very reliable in the snow and get good gas mileage.

Not all S60s are AWD

 

[G51989]

That's debatable. Servicing can be cheaply done and there pretty bullet proof

However, they're no more bulletproof than a Ford and will stall cost far more to maintain.

 

[dukebound85]

I have an impreza. I live in Colorado. I love it. Wen it snows, I try to get stuck. Web I had my celica, I was scared to drive out of fear of getting stuck

 

[AustinIllini]

Seconded.

A4 quattros - 4 year old with 60k+ miles can be had below $20k.
2009 and forward is the latest platform and an excellent car.

-t

Pay less that $20,000 on an Audi and you might as well buy a new Audi after all the costs of repairs upwards of 75,000 miles.

The only thing I would deem prohibitive in snow is RWD, other than that, AWD isn't necessary as FWD will be completely safe.

Note: I live in Austin now, but I lived in Chicago for 25 years.

 

[Seniordan]

I live in the great white north that is Canada and I drive a Infiniti g35x. Its an awd and I've only owned it for one winter and didn't get stuck once. Probably not the greatest mileage though.

 

[Sun Baked]

Diesel vs. Ecotec all depends on the driving style.

If you tend to mash the pedal down the Ecotec will mash the MPG also.

Light foot will work with either.

But the diesel "may" keep the mpg up even if you tend to like rabbit starts.

---

Don't know about the chevy diesel, but was always funny to see the guys who tried their best to get great mpg in their VW diesel by babying it, be trounced by their wives who thrashed their cars go button and brake pedal and got a lot better MPG.