One of the drawbacks of living in Upper Cryogenica is the harshness of the winter environment, especially on vehicles that never see the inside of a garage. I just had to turn the Grand Marnier over to the local car vet for an extended stay. The road salt rusted out the emergency brake system, the spare wheel release mechanism under the floor was rusted shut, and the oil pan was leaking. It wouldn’t pass the NH state inspection with a faulty emergency brake, so it had to get fixed, and I had all the rest done as well while they had the thing up on the lift. $1,000 later, I have my sticker and state permission to drive the Grand Marnier on public roads for another year.
The Dodge is a 2005 model, with pretty low mileage for an 8-year-old car (about 110,000.) It is, however, sliding off into that territory where fixing the age-related boo-boos is getting pretty spendy. In addition, the side panels are starting to show corrosion (again, liberal use of salt up here), and I am starting to wonder about a suitable replacement.
Every time I do think about a new car, I am torn between just getting another minivan because ours is just so freaking versatile, not to mention the most comfortable vehicle for those once-a-year road trips to the family down South. But I also like the idea of a smallish, fuel-efficient car for puttering around town, since I don’t use the full cargo or passenger capacity of the Dodge 95% of the time. So right now I’m waffling between a new Grand Caravan, something from the Subaru line (an Impreza or Crosstrek), a VW with TDI engine, or maybe one of those Mazda 5 microvans. The kids are getting older and no longer require a huge supply train for trips, so I don’t need the space for strollers and high chairs anymore, but it sure is handy to be able to haul furniture or plywood sheets or six friends in a pinch.
What would be a good option for a dude like myself who drives about 1,000 miles a month, has to deal with snow and shifty roads in the winter, and occasionally takes the family on 2,000-mile round trip family visits to NC and TN? Bonus points for fuel efficiency and decent interior space. Sporty pep would be nice, but it’s a secondary concern, because let’s face it, I’m middle-aged and boring now, and getting the kids to various destinations cheaply and safely has to take precedence over being able to outrace teenagers in souped-up Civics at the stop light.
Throw your recommendations at me, Internets!
I’ve been a car pro for 30 years (grease ,gears and body’s)..When the urban assault vehicle moves from mobile nursery to elementary transportation a smaller, SUV or crossover vehicle does the trick.My recommendation would be a CRV(mileage),Ford Escape or Toyota RAV4 .Diesel is a thick smelly red herring in the great white north,reserved for truckers towers and haulers with mechanics on call .extension cords and additive tanks(VW,right rear behind tire).
Driving only 1000 miles a month even if you drive a fuel hog it’ll have minimal effect on the budget. I’d look at a Subaru Forester for your use. All wheel drive, great record for reliability and longevity, very fuel efficient for an SUV and a nice amount of room for 4-5 people and their needful things. Subies and their kin rule snow country and smallish SUV’s are just so darn handy for all around use. In my mind you give up so much practicality and functionality with a car. I drive 3000 miles a month for work and pay extra to drive an SUV above and beyond what I get reimbursed from my employer just because the CRV’s I used to drive and the Pilot I now drive are so much more useful than a car.
Regarding the TDI VW’s, I had two, a new Beetle & a Passat. Both were fun and fuel efficient cars to drive. BUT, the fuel savings were outweighed by the far higher cost of diesel fuel. They also are far harder to start in the cold, needing fuel treatment and requiring the use of a block heater. Regular maintenance is also more expensive (don’t forget to include the cost of a timing belt replacement). Realistically, you will never give any payback benefit given the relatively few miles you drive. The TDI wouldn’t make economic sense given the info you posted about your expected usage. And I say this as a diesel fan, as I earn my living working for Detroit Diesel.
My sisters lived for a number of years in your neck of the woods – one of them on your road. They got really good work from a Honda Accord and a 1st-gen Ford Fiesta. The key was to have good snow tires in winter/mud season, and with the front-wheel-drive they were fine. Of course, both their husbands had 4×4 big pickups, but the ladies actually did more driving since one commuted to Hanover and the other to Lebanon while the boys were carpenters who worked locally for the most part. Food for thought.
I live southeast of you and for the most part have better roads. Missus AW has a CRV and I’ve got an old F250 4×4. I get most use of 4×4 in mud season and not winter; she uses the AWD mostly in winter.
My current GC does very well in the snow with FWD and good snow tires. I think there’s been only one day this winter where I haven’t been able to get up the incline of our driveway, although there were several where I had to try two or three times and gather steam at the bottom of the road. I may just get another GC–this 2005 certainly served me well over the years.
I’ve had a VW TDI and while it was a fun and nice car to have, I cannot say I’d recommend it to you, especially in Upper Cryogenica. While the winters here (west central Missouri) are downright tropical compared to yours, it does get cold enough to cause ignition issues. Long heat-times for the glow plugs (in sub-zero temps, the wait could be ~2 minutes) are something to be prepared for. A block-heater would most-likely be a good idea in your case (and would obviously negate a lot of the wait-time). I couldn’t justify it due to the few times a year I would experience those temps usually. Also be prepared for maintenance costs and such to compromise much of your fuel savings as when things do go wrong with the TDI, they are expensive to fix. YMMV.
They also have tons of low-end torque which must be managed carefully on slick roads (this goes back to the “fun” part). Good snow tires (previous poster recommended Blizzaks–those are great tires) are also recommended.
Winter fuel economy was (2000 model Jetta) around 33 mpg in-town, 38 highway. Warmer weather this increased to about 40 in-town, 48 highway if I kept my speed reasonable.
Good hunting. Looking forward to your next book.
Never underestimate a good pair of snow tires. I had a house in West Dover, VT for over a decade and I used to make the 4+ hour drive from NJ every weekend to go snowboarding. When the weather was bad (read snowing like crazy) and most sane people would be staying home, my buddy and I were out driving. We had a second hand Honda Civic with 160k on it, but our Blizzak’s were new and we never had any trouble with snow.
I think your best bet is to purchase snow tires now and leverage that as your short term solution. After you win the Hugo Award for “Lines of Departure” and the movie version wins best picture and best original screenplay (adapted by you), then you can go out and buy a fleet of Range Rovers or whatever it is you’ve decided is the best choice (as per the other posts in this thread).
Good luck with your decision.
I’m rather fond of the Kia Sportage, although the more recent models (I drive a 2001) are more the size of a Ford Escape or Mazda Tribute.
Back when I was raising children, Dodge Caravan was the vehicle to have. Not too expensive, four cylinder engine reasonable on fuel (23 mpg), front wheel drive for snowy roads farther north into Upper Cyrogenica than you are, a separate seat for each child, big enough to get sheet rock home from the lumber yard or furniture home from the auction. I owned three of them over the years, bought ’em new and ran ’em up to 100,000 miles and then replaced them. Good snow car, felt really solid at 70 mph on a snow packed I93 heading north to Cannon Mt.
Others in my family have had excellent luck with various Subaru wagons. Not as roomy as the minivan, but reliable, and 4 wheel drive.
The Subaru line is always a good choice but you might want to look at a Used Toyota Tundra. The Crew Max cab has astounding amounts of room in it and still sports a useful bed. The gas mileage isn’t great, a Subaru would win hands down in that category, but a 2012 Tundra can be had for the low twenties and still give you another 250,000 miles at least with upkeep.
I’ve had minivans, trucks, cars, and SUVs, with front-, rear-, and four-wheel drive. My favorite vehicle combination (and the one we currently have) is a 4wd SUV for The Missus and an extended-cab pickup (also 4wd) for me. The SUV (and an AWD wagon like a Subie would fall into that category, for all intents and purposes, as far as I’m concerned) is a good family vehicle for most running-around (shopping, chauffeuring rugrats hither and yon) and commuting The Missus to and from work. The pickup handles the heavy/dirty stuff (home improvement, dump runs, etc.), gets me to and from work in heavier snow (my occupation is a “rain-or-shine” affair; no snow days allowed) and still has room for all of us to fit when the whole family needs to go retrieve something we don’t want in the SUV (I have never tied a Christmas tree on top of a car, and never will) or haul something heavy, like our camper. The Missus and I are both active in our local fire department and EMS corps, so “staying in” during inclement weather isn’t an option. 4wd is therefore a must. Our current vehicles are both Chevrolets, through sheer coincidence – I’ve owned many different brands, and as long as you do your research going in, and shop intelligently, whatever you buy should serve you well. I have also never purchased a “new” vehicle, and never will. I don’t see the logic in making a purchase the size of a vehicle and watching it abruptly depreciate five to ten percent the moment you drive it off the dealer lot.
just pick up and move to North Carolina…
TDI VW and a beater pickup for any actual work. Bonus points if it has a plow already attached!
Impreza wagon for best performance in the snow. If not as concerned with that, take a look at the Honda Fit–it has a surprising amount of cargo space for its size.
Toyota Venza. I have one after owning Nissan pickups for 7 years. I love it. AWD, Bluetooth and lots of room. Get one with a roof rack and sun roof. It craps all over the snow we have here AND WE ARE GETTING MORE!!!
I bought a Honda Pilot about a month ago and I’ve been pretty impressed with it. Sounds like it would meet most of your criteria, especially the AWD version.