Car for commute + snow.

Cellos88GT

Cellos88GT

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Joined
Jan 20, 2008
Messages
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Location
Santa Cruz, CA
Car(s)
2 Fox Mustangs and a '00 VFR
I'm moving from Los Angeles to Chicago for a job and I need a car for commuting in Chicago through the snow and ice. I don't want to bring either of my Mustangs out there as that would just be silly....lol I asked my parents if I could take our recently acquired $500 BMW but they don't think it's a suitable car to take across country and they are adamant about making it my brother's first car. So that leaves me to buying a "new" car...

I'm looking to spend around $4K-7K and I just have no clue what to get...

I've been entertaining these possibilities:

Honda Accord or Civic
Subaru Impreza or Legacy
Volvo V70 or 850
maybe an Audi of some kind?? although their reliability scares me...

What do you guys think? I'm open to all suggestions...
 
Canuck said:
Go for a Suubie. Or better yet a Saab 9-2x if you can find one.
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Saabs will be hard to find at that end of the price spectrum, but other than that, X2.

Another good choice would be a Porsche 944 :D

Definitely go with an Impreza, the bugeye models should be affordable now. I'd advise buying one in CA or elsewhere as they will most likely be cheaper (and least rusty) than in Chicago.
 
Roadmaster or Caprice. They can be had for cheap, are reliable, decent on snow with decent tires, and will hold a ton of stuff.
 
+1 for Roadmaster/Caprice. Although you don't even need decent tires, my mom used to have no problems on mostly-bald tires in my grandparent's old Roadmaster.
 
+1 for a non-WRX Impreza, which are less likely to have been thrashed. Snow tires are highly recommended. Once you get used to snow driving, any car with snow tires can be ok.
 
GRtak said:
Roadmaster or Caprice. They can be had for cheap, are reliable, decent on snow with decent tires, and will hold a ton of stuff.
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I agree. They aren't cool and hip, but they weigh ~4500 lbs. and get decent fuel economy. The iron head LT1s are indestructible. I've driven my dad's one extensively over the years. I haven't had issues when it snowed.
 
Dodge Viper, no snow tires, that's cheating :p
 
A Volvo is a good idea, only if you get an AWD one. The FWD ones are terrible in the snow - torque steering bitches, followed closely by fishtailing because of the light rear.

It's quite fun sometimes lol :)
 
_HighVoltage_ said:
A Volvo is a good idea, only if you get an AWD one. The FWD ones are terrible in the snow - torque steering bitches, followed closely by fishtailing because of the light rear.

It's quite fun sometimes lol :)
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LoL that's silly, not that I don't believe you, but they didn't think about that when designing their car for the Scandinavian market?

E34 would be awesome but isn't RWD a no-no for the snow?

And why are you guys recommending a Roadmaster/Caprice? I already own two American cars...I want to try something new... plus gobs of torque + RWD + snow doesn't sound like the best idea.
 
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Get an AWD Civic wagon :)
Like this one:
DSCF0055.JPG
 
I think I over-exaggerated a bit. I've driven a lot worse in the snow - for example a Mk3 Golf.

The Volvo is not that bad as long as you are light on the throttle. Front wheel drive torque in the snow is hard to handle. The V70 AWD on the other hand is awesome.
 
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A few questions: Have you ever driven in the snow? Have you ever driven in Chicago? Have you ever driven in Chicago, in the snow?

If the answer to any of those is "No"; I would advise you buy the cheapest Impreza or CVPI you can find. Driving in Chicago (in good weather) is like a big game of bumper cars. I would just get something cheap and tough. 4 grand will get you a CVPI in great shape or a Impreza (maybe WRX) in OK shape.

Cellos88GT said:
E34 would be awesome but isn't RWD a no-no for the snow?
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It will be fine, as long as you can get Smurfen to hook you up with a custom zip-tie reinforced front lip (/snow plow). :lol:

Plenty of people handle RWD in the snow just fine. If you've got proper tires and think when you drive you'll be just fine. Smurfen seems to get around fine in his E34. I drove an E30 last winter and the only thing that stopped it was stopping in 5-6" of standing snow. It's actually nice having something RWD that handles well in the snow. Just like in any other situation, a capable suspension/chassis lets you avoid/get-out-of bad situations. I know I'd rather have that E30 this winter instead of my F150.

Cellos88GT said:
And why are you guys recommending a Roadmaster/Caprice? I already own two American cars...I want to try something new... plus gobs of torque + RWD + snow doesn't sound like the best idea.
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Unlike a Mustang, they've got the weight to put power down in the snow. Of course, that weight can also be a liability.

Personally I'd just buy a CVPI. They're cheap, tough, OK on gas and parts are abundant. Oh, and they handle well for a tank.
 
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97-01 Jeep Cherokee?

4wd > 2wd and they can be fitted with some serious bumpers to deflect the other idiots.
 
tigger said:
4 grand will get you a CVPI in great shape or a Impreza (maybe WRX) in OK shape.
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:lmao: 7 grand will maybe get you a beat-up, high-mileage WRX. 4 grand won't even get you an older 98-01 2.5RS in good condition. Unless the rest of the country is vastly different from the Northeast


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Crazyjeeper said:
97-01 Jeep Cherokee?
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Not a bad idea. The 6-cyls are some of the most reliable engines out there and will take amazing amounts of abuse.
 
_HighVoltage_ said:
I think I over-exaggerated a bit. I've driven a lot worse in the snow - for example a Mk3 Golf.

The Volvo is not that bad as long as you are light on the throttle. Front wheel drive torque in the snow is hard to handle. The V70 AWD on the other hand is awesome.
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I really like the V70 AWD, how are those in terms of maint. and reliability?

tigger said:
A few questions: Have you ever driven in the snow? Have you ever driven in Chicago? Have you ever driven in Chicago, in the snow?

If the answer to any of those is "No"; I would advise you buy the cheapest Impreza or CVPI you can find. Driving in Chicago (in good weather) is like a big game of bumper cars. I would just get something cheap and tough. 4 grand will get you a CVPI in great shape or a Impreza (maybe WRX) in OK shape.
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I've driven in the snow but, I've never driven in Chicago. A CVPI would be awesome and I'll definitely consider it but, I'd prefer to find something comfortable. I've driven a volvo 850 and I absolutely loved that car so between that and a Subaru, those are at the top of my list. Since no one has recommended an Audi, I guess I should just give up and stay away from those... :lol:
 
I used to use a 7th generation Civic LX Coupe with a manual transmission. For the winter, I would put on a set of Goodyear Ultra Grip ice snow tires that I had mounted on separate wheels. It would get 38mpg regularly, and with the snow tires, I never once got stuck, even when I once purposely drove into a snow bank to avoid being hit head-on by a tractor-trailer.
 
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