Snow capable vehicle for under $5k

[Mykl]

A quick Autotrader search reveals a number of Subarus for under $5000. That might be my first choice if I've got more to spend, but for the money it would be hard to beat a Chevy 4x4. At that price an old pickup might be the most reliable and durable option.

Autotrader reveals a large number of these for sale as well, at least within 500 miles of where I'm at.

 

[cutter]

Bought a geo tracker 4x4 5sp for $1000 + set of grabber at2 solely for snow last august and mother nature sure didn't disappoint! It's a $1400 snow shoe.

 

[rjundi]

Originally Posted By: bigdreama
New option.




Pay a mechanic to diagnose the problem and evaluate don't guess with a scanner. Also have them evaluate the entire vehicle.

$5000 4x4 is likely buying a $2000-$3000 FWD car which is NOT much at least in New England.

If you are getting SUV/AWD car budget in winter tires. They make the largest difference.

Our winter getaway is in a similar situation. It is what I'd describe as hill climb. Over 1.5 miles a 600' elevation gain up gravel roads. The town maintains the gravel well when they get to them enough that FWD all seasons can pass. However otherwise you need AWD with good all-seasons or winters. The final driveway is 1/4 mile across an open field that simply drifts in(daily occurrence with wind). Bashing up to 2.5' feet of loose windblown powder ensues with my 2007 MDX with Nokian WR G2's(winter biased all-seasons). On that long drive my wife's 2005 Legacy GT just claws its way up with pure mechanical bliss AWD with 50/50 split. Until I figured out to disable stability control/likely traction control my MDX with SH-AWD simply struggled and smelt of burning brakes.

Of course the next day the plow guy shows up when I call or the neighbor talks to him.

I'd get AWD on at least on vehicle and budget for winter tires for all vehicles that are driven out in the winter. The car parked in barn up there is a 1998 Forester(80k miles) with Nokian winter tires (RSI?). It claws its way thru this situation with ease. It may actually be getting sold soon.

 

[JustinH]

I lived in Buffalo almost my whole life.

Never had a 4wd anything.

Usually just regular cars with new snow tires.

Never had a problem, so long as you don't get a real sporty car that is low to the ground. My mother had a monte carlo SS that was terrible in snow.

My saturns, cobalts, etc were all fine in the snow.

The key is new snow tires, brand does not matter. I would buy an extra set of steel wheels and hub caps for winter use.

 

[rjundi]

Originally Posted By: JustinH
I lived in Buffalo almost my whole life.



Did you live on gravel roads and have a long steep driveway to boot? That is a major difference. Lest I forget about mud season too where FWD's get swallowed up in road with running rivers of mud/snow/ice/ruts!

Best approach really is what the neighbors drive. I noticed the ones where my winter place is have one 4wd/AWD something in the fleet.

I am not here to qualify my AWD or past winter tire purchases. AWD just happened to be on th vehicles we got and was not a selling point to us.

Btw this is a class 4 road in the winter and unplowed:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/redjar/388484563/

 

[SwampSurvivor]

I think the XJ Cherokee with good snow tires would be the best bet for that.

I have taken my taurus up similar before. Got a bit sketchy here and there but I did get in and out. It had Blizzak WS50? WS60? tires on it at the time

 

[supton]

There was a few times I wanted more ground clearance on bare paved roads.

One of these days I should find a decent snow tire that can deal with 10kmiles per season. And not sound horrible.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Buy a cheap set of winterforce and then a boatload of dynamat!

 

[supton]

Winterforce wear out quickly, don't they? I suppose if they are cheap though then I don't care.

 

[Clevy]

Originally Posted By: supton
Originally Posted By: wsar10
Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Originally Posted By: supton
How does hitting a 3' tall snow drift not bring a vehicle to a stop? Must be 3' of powder; but to get 3' tall it would have to be a 10' wide base.

At least the farther north you go, the colder it gets. More apt to be powder and not packing, or worse, slush. Or ice.


All 4 wheels pulling and momentum! I have gone through 3' drifts in my Cherokee...and higher ones in my F350s. Yes: for an unplowed road, you need ground clearance.


X2....
Some guys have never had the pleasure of JEEP ! Therefore they just don't understand.....



Clevy said he was doing this in a Caravan tho.




Yep. Sure was. With only snows on the front.

I remember it like it was yesterday. I had a hockey game in stayner but lived in nottawa and all the highways were closed with the opp stopping traffic. So considering I'm the goalie I gotta be there so I back roaded it to the game.
I was hitting drifts at least as high as the hood,and higher.
I'd hit the drift,then back up and hit it again.

Once I found out what that van was capable of I drove it across Canada in December and discovered that northern Ontario had closed so many highways I thought I was stuck in wawa til the plows hit the roads however I snuck around the barriers,with a full tank of fuel and I was on my way again.
That van was amazing in deep snow. Only my 4wd in 4 wheel lock up could compare.
You can make vehicles do amazing things when you have to get somewhere.

 

[IndyIan]

+1
On an empty highway, with a driver that knows what they are doing, in a vehicle they don't don't really care about, FWD and snows can get through alot.
The Neon would go through rutted up snow deep enough to drag on the bottom at 50-55-60 mph on the highway quite easily if you didn't panic when it got a bit squirrley from a big rut or drift, just keep your foot on the gas and it would sort itself out. I'd slow down when there was oncoming traffic but the road was pretty much empty and I wasn't going to crawl along at 30 mph to maintain good contact with the road...

Once you get into back road hills and turns though, 4wd is nice as you don't have to use momentum as much, but for high speed deep snow driving, I'd take the Neon over the Tracker.

 

[rjundi]

My on qualm with XJ Jeep's is rust. The two folks I knew who had them had Honda/Toyota esque reliability. They both sold the vehicles with 200-250k with massive rot enough that road spray was getting the back carpeting wet and were unfit for road/inspectable. Vermont EATS cars alive like no other place. My sis in law lives near Burlington and her cars seem to get quite rusty.

 

[rjundi]

Originally Posted By: IndyIan
+1

Once you get into back road hills and turns though, 4wd is nice as you don't have to use momentum as much, but for high speed deep snow driving, I'd take the Neon over the Tracker.


+2 found same experience with my prior low slung 95 Civic coupe with Blizzacks. 65MPH in unplowed passing lane(10"+ powder) was not an issue. Accidently passed a VT state trooper going to ski hills who threw his blues on and tried to follow in Crown Vic and lost it into median. I removed my ski rack for ride home as I was petrified the VT State troopers would get my going back.

 

[supton]

Ah, ok I see how speed would make a diff (and powder snow). My car definately handles bumpy roads at speed vastly better than my truck does. I can see how once you are moving the differences are pretty slight.

It's that whole getting moving that is problematic.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: rjundi
My on qualm with XJ Jeep's is rust. The two folks I knew who had them had Honda/Toyota esque reliability. They both sold the vehicles with 200-250k with massive rot enough that road spray was getting the back carpeting wet and were unfit for road/inspectable. Vermont EATS cars alive like no other place. My sis in law lives near Burlington and her cars seem to get quite rusty.


But the OP is in Florida. Get a Florida truck, stop in RI on the way to have it thoroughly blasted and undercoated.

 

[Kuato]

Originally Posted By: bigdreama
Wow, lots of responses and some good ideas. I guess that I should add a Cherokee to my list too.

Thanks to your suggestions I am considering just buying my son a car and keeping the Civic. We have owned it since new and it has new tires and a new timing belt. It is a known commodity and keeps taking the abuse that I heap on it and asks for more.

FWD with snow tires and I'm good to go, huh?

Abuse: pulling a u-haul trailer 1500 miles to Vermont.

You pullin' a fast one on us, or is that someone else's Subie hiding behind your abused Civic?

 

[Clevy]

Originally Posted By: supton
How does hitting a 3' tall snow drift not bring a vehicle to a stop? Must be 3' of powder; but to get 3' tall it would have to be a 10' wide base.

At least the farther north you go, the colder it gets. More apt to be powder and not packing, or worse, slush. Or ice.




Hitting those drifts absolutely brings the vehicle to a stop. Once stopped I backed up on the trail I cut and hit it again til I finally get through.
I'm not saying that a really good fwd vehicle is any match for a 4wd/awd vehicle driving in similar conditions.
What I am saying is if the vehicle has good snows on it and the driver is competent then the fwd vehicle should be capable of getting a person where they've gotta get to.
I have driven in every winter condition that exists,and in vehicles that had no business being on the highways to begin with and I learned that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
For example snow chains. Once the snow flies they get put in the vehicles. They might be needed only once that season but that once they were crucial and I was glad they were there.
Blankets,small Jerry can of fuel,candles whether they be tea lights or actual candles I've seen survival kits that supply them,but no plate to put them on so unless you want to melt your dash I suggest bringing a plate.
And the most important of all to have in winter storm conditions..........half a brain.
Pull over,have a nap,wait for conditions to improve if they are that bad.
Sounds simple right.

 

[Ausfahrt]

Originally Posted By: Kuato

You pullin' a fast one on us, or is that someone else's Subie hiding behind your abused Civic?


No fast one here.

The Crosstrek is my wife's dd and the Civic replacement is for me. Incidently my teenage son is "between" part time jobs at the moment so everything is on hold right now.

 

[Ausfahrt]

Originally Posted By: Clevy
Originally Posted By: supton
How does hitting a 3' tall snow drift not bring a vehicle to a stop? Must be 3' of powder; but to get 3' tall it would have to be a 10' wide base.

At least the farther north you go, the colder it gets. More apt to be powder and not packing, or worse, slush. Or ice.




Hitting those drifts absolutely brings the vehicle to a stop. Once stopped I backed up on the trail I cut and hit it again til I finally get through.
I'm not saying that a really good fwd vehicle is any match for a 4wd/awd vehicle driving in similar conditions.
What I am saying is if the vehicle has good snows on it and the driver is competent then the fwd vehicle should be capable of getting a person where they've gotta get to.
I have driven in every winter condition that exists,and in vehicles that had no business being on the highways to begin with and I learned that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
For example snow chains. Once the snow flies they get put in the vehicles. They might be needed only once that season but that once they were crucial and I was glad they were there.
Blankets,small Jerry can of fuel,candles whether they be tea lights or actual candles I've seen survival kits that supply them,but no plate to put them on so unless you want to melt your dash I suggest bringing a plate.
And the most important of all to have in winter storm conditions..........half a brain.
Pull over,have a nap,wait for conditions to improve if they are that bad.
Sounds simple right.

 

[rjundi]

You'll be floored how well 4 really good(michelin/bridgestone/nokian/or studded) winter tires work. Enough that you'll feel safer in winter tired Honda over the likely all-season equipped Subaru.