$250-ish is probably doable, but there are almost no 2018s left and 2019 are still coming in.
Never too old to learn a new trick.
FWIW, in SoCal, base Forester can be leased for $270/mo with $770 DAS for 36/30K.
Anything with a dedicated 4WD system and the power to deal with steep inclines is going to be out of OP’s price range. I would instead recommend an economy car with FWD with over 200 HP.
In times of winter and bad snow, make sure you have snow tires on. There’s really not much else you can do for inclement weather. Snow tires give you more of an advantage in snow than having just AWD does, so even if you have an AWD car, you should still get snow tires.
OP, what you’re looking for is an AWD car, not a 4WD. There is a significant difference in the differentials and the way the car is configured. Vehicles with a high and rear-ward center of gravity (tall Crossovers/SUVs) are slightly more difficult to handle in a poor traction-control environments such as snow which is why it’s so important to have the proper compound tires.
Small, FWD cars with tall side-walls and narrow snow tires handle the best in inclement weather, in my opinion. Unfortunately they don’t do too well in steep incline areas because of low power. Power is what gets you up a hill and power is also what gets you to spin out in snow.
You’ll have to do some careful soul searching on this one, IMHO… FWD, economy car, over 200 HP, high side walls, and snow tires.
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Thanks. I am wondering if you could give me a couple of examples of the car you’re describing please?
I am in med school and had to drive back in that storm last night too. Uphill and unplowed roads in the woods of NJ. I got to one hill and a construction guy said you can’t get up, a Subaru was stuck on the side, and a Land Rover LR4 spun out and was backing down. I smiled and kindly said thanks, closed the window, and turned my Jeep knob to Snow and drove straight up it with factory tires. It passed all the other cars without much of a struggle. My family has owned Land Cruisers, Land rovers, And many others but nothing seems to ever do as well in the snow as Jeep.
You might be able to get a Cherokee or a Compass with Active Drive 2 which is actually 4x4 and not AWD. I would highly recommend a Jeep with all terrain tires. I have never ever been stuck and drive in the dead of storms and many unplowed uphills.
People rave about Subaru’s but it isn’t a car for me. They’re not exactly that cheap, they’re not great looking, and the majority are underpowered.
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I can agree here. My FWD VW CC with 200 hp on all-season tires climbed about 100 yards incline in one move (and got me home in 9 hours vs usual 40 mins) in 2010, while there were a few SUVs sitting in the snow. Go figure.
Blizzaks? You still have several months left so prob best to keep it. Check your payoff vs what a dealer or carmax or carvana offer.
Thank you for your comment! Glad you made it back safely. Good luck in med school (MRI tech here). Will consider Jeep.
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About Blizzaks. I searched for Blizzaks last season and must’ve shopped too late because I couldn’t find any in the size for my honda. My local mechanic sold me whatevers and that’s what I’ve got now. I hate cars.
Not to derail, but is the payoff quote simply the remaining payments plus the lease end purchase price of the vehicle? Or do financial institutions ever adjust based on current market value or any other factors?
You may consider an Elantra GT Hatchback (barest model you can find) or a Civic Sport Hatchback as well.
The trick with turbo engines is a lot of that torque and power is delivered down low, easily creating wheel-spin conditions that are not suitable to driving in snow. Jeep 4WD systems are programmed quite well for snow so even something like a Compass may fair much better than other Cross-overs.
Jeep is one of the few manufacturers that still puts dedicated 4WD systems in their smaller cross-overs. Just about every other system out there is either “passive” or “active” AWD. Active AWD systems basically mean the car is either a FWD or RWD car and power is delivered to the opposing axle through way of a center and front/rear differential whenever wheel slippage is detected. For example, the Mini All4 system sends 10 percent of power to the rear wheels whenever it detects slip.
Passive AWD systems (better in my opinion) tend to eat up more fuel economy, but are similar in function to 4WD systems. Power is on all the time and sent to both front and rear axle regardless of slippage. Example of this working is Audi’s famous Quattro. Power is usually split 40/60 split between front and rear with a rear-bias. Passive systems are great, just not so much on the fuel economy.
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That’s a great question. I’d like to know too.
At 6-8k miles per year, the only thing that makes any sense is to find a car you like, buy it, and put on winter tires during winter months. Leasing makes no sense in this situation. You’re paying for usage depreciation that you are not using.
I’m curious as to what you consider to be a “substantial repair bill” or an “aging car”? I know for Honda, you can inexpensively (~$800 to ~$1400 depending on vehicle and mileage) extend the warranty to 120k online;
Unless you can snag a low mileage lease like 7,500 miles. That said, not many offer that, and the ones that do are out of the price range OP is searching for.
Wait, doesn’t GM do 7500/yr?
And they count loaner miles with no affect on RV.
Maybe a really good deal on a GM loaner could make sense in this situation.
You are looking for new, for reasonable snow traction and cheap lease. Right now this describes a Subaru. Yes it looks like a hearse, it burns oil but you are only leasing, so what do you care ??? As long as it gets your up and down the hill.
I agree the Jeep story is nice but if the guys tell you don’t pass and you see the Land Rover on its side. why not take it easy and just stop by the dunking donuts until they plow the road. who wants to be doing snow driving heroics?
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And since your are in PA, Toyota has great deals on their trucks (Tacoma off road). That thing will get you out of blizzards. So that’s another option right @Jrouleau426?
Minimum on the General is 10k
Starting with the 2017 Allroad and the 2018 Q5, all Quattro Ultra models have a 100% FWD-biased system.