I'm not a car nut and have been carless since I moved to Manhattan in 2004. Prior to that, when I lived in Houston, I had an Infiniti G35, and before that I had a series of Jeeps. I just moved to the suburbs and need a vehicle. I would basically only use it to go skiing on the winter weekends (my daughters have theater and dance on winter weekends so I have free pass to ski), and soccer practice/baseball practice in the spring/summer/fall. I take the train to work as its way more convenient and I can enjoy happy hour guilt-free. I will not drive the car during the week at all, but my wife might use it to zip around town while the kids are in school. When I go skiing I go fairly deep into the mountains in Vermont so I need AWD. And I need to be able to carry my skis with me (I can put down the trunk into backseat if need be) I'm willing to spend 45 grand or a monthly lease of 500. Any recommendations?
You could take a look at the Acura RDX and max it out (with AWD) and stay under budget, they start at around $35K. The MDX is the next step up but you may have to dial back on the bells and whistles. I've driven both and I'll probably get one as my wife's next car. http://www.acura.com/RDXLanding.aspx?model=RDX#gallery
Whenever I am in Denver or Salt Lake City...I see nothing but Subarus... But as the poster said above..an MDX with AWD is a good choice.
Why in the world would you spend nearly 50 grand on a vehicle? Does make a whole lotta sense to me, unless it is just a status symbol. You could get a perfectly good vehicle for 30 and under. At 50 you can basically get what you want.
Some people like nice cars with performance. There is no practical need for this: But if you drove it with no legal limits for 5 minutes, you would understand why someone would want it if they had the financial means to buy it.
Just get a jeep wrangler unlimited sahara or altitude edition. both topped out are only 42K sticker if that.
Yeah, I still don't think I get it. Where do you drive where there are no legal limits in place, and how often would you drive there?
Every time I visit Vermont, it seems like almost everyone drives a Subaru. Maybe there's something to that?
The track is one place. Also, canyon carving. Taking a Cayman GT4 on some secluded windy mountain roads is exhilarating. I'm sure if you tried it you would love it bearing in mind you can drive stick as that car only comes in a 6 speed. It's not just about acceleration and speed with these cars. It's how telepathic and instant every input is, from the quick steering response, to immediate throttle response, to a short shifting notchy manual transmission. It's like driving a really powerful gocart with bluetooth surround sound stereo and leather bucket seats. Yes, if you buy something like this, there is a good chance that you will break the law on multiple occasions. I'm not denying it. Watch this video. Maybe you might not find it fun, but at least after watching the video, you can see why it might be fun for some. It's a hobby, an expensive hobby no doubt. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/y1LhUzL3qdU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Ignore all the weak posts of Subarus..... There is only one choice for awd...... What I drive.... Mitsubishi Evo X......
Go with Subaru. I live near Squaw Valley, CA (Tahoe northshore) and most of us drive Outbacks and Foresters. I bought my 2015 Forester 2.0 XT Touring with an all-weather package (got snow tires somewhere else for $1200) for $28k (incl. TT&L). Highly recommend getting certified dealer pricing from cars.com before test driving. Always good to have the average dealer selling price (often below MSRP) for leverage in negotiations. I started negotiating at $5k under MSRP and drove out 2 hours later at $7,400 under MSRP. Not sure how strong the Subaru market is in Vermont, but I imagine dealers are competing hard for the same target customer. Best of luck!
Excellent choice for winter driving. Only downfall is that I believe it only comes in manual which might be a no for the OP.
