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Recommendations for AWD vehicle - Bay Area Daily Driver and occasional Tahoe Trips

murphysf

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Hello

My wife will soon be needing a new car.

She doesn't ski but myself and my 2 kids go up to Tahoe ALOT during the winter.

My wife often joins us on our Tahoe trips. She comes up about once every 2-3 weeks. However she is on a different work schedule than I am so often drives up on her own.

We are thinking her next car should be an AWD, this car will also be her daily driver for work, etc.

The car doesn't need to be an SUV or larger vehicle.

We are thinking something like a Subaru Impreza.

Wanted to reach out here for ideas and opinions.

Thanks!
 

DanoT

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More than just awd for driving in snow; you want to pay attention and get the most ground clearance possible. That might mean something like a Subaru Forrester.
 

Unpiste

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I can certainly recommend a Crosstrek for Tahoe, especially with good tires. Never had a problem, even driving straight through a snow burm and up a sloped driveway with several inches of fresh snow. (On more than one occasion.)

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Eric@ict

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Can’t go wrong with a Subi. Ive had the Crosstrek and 3 outback’s. My wife has had 2 Legacy’s and now drives a Forester. The forester, outback’s and Crosstrek all have the same ground clearance. Only caution is the cargo space. I enjoyed my Crosstrek but was limited on luggage amount and size. Never thought about it with the Outback’s or Forester. I never heard anyone say, “I wish I had less cargo space…”The Crosstrek was also a little puky running up the mountains. Did fine once there. They all got very close to the same gas mileage. The CVT tranny with the 2.5 is great combination. We currently own 2018 Outback and a 2021 Forester. Both 2.5 with CVT.
 

Pequenita

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+1 on the Crosstrek with good tires. The only people I know with Imprezas are those who bought them before the Crosstrek came on the market. If all you're doing is going from SF to the resort, there's not much need to think about clearance, but things are more random in the neighborhoods (washed out roads, berms in driveways, etc.). I did like my Outback Legacy sedan better, though.
 

Muleski

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Might be helpful to know a few things:

1. New, or lightly used {like CPO} or used.
2. Ideal top end spend/budget?
3. Do you do ANY of your own work or “wrenching?”

Do you tend to service at a dealer, a local “indie” shop, or……

Lots of Subie love. Where will you havd one serviced. Have had six in my immediate family. Basic Outbacks to STI’s. Most recent two Outbacks were short lived. Just full disclosure.

re: an Allroad. Entirely different everything. Including price. Have three in our immediate family.
 

my07mcx2

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Might be helpful to know a few things:

1. New, or lightly used {like CPO} or used.
2. Ideal top end spend/budget?
3. Do you do ANY of your own work or “wrenching?”

Do you tend to service at a dealer, a local “indie” shop, or……

Lots of Subie love. Where will you havd one serviced. Have had six in my immediate family. Basic Outbacks to STI’s. Most recent two Outbacks were short lived. Just full disclosure.

re: an Allroad. Entirely different everything. Including price. Have three in our immediate family.
we had two 4 cyl outback limited's. first a 2013 and the 2nd a 2015 if I remember correctly. wife wanted something with more zip and fun. tested a 18 new 3.6 touring outback and she like more. then she test drove a 18 Q5. She said game over. 64K on it and zero issues except tires. I have a 17 A6 and no issues. I do have a client who just got one of the Outbacks with the Wilderness package and she loves it. She says the turbo made a huge difference.
 

martyg

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we had two 4 cyl outback limited's. first a 2013 and the 2nd a 2015 if I remember correctly. wife wanted something with more zip and fun. tested a 18 new 3.6 touring outback and she like more. then she test drove a 18 Q5. She said game over. 64K on it and zero issues except tires. I have a 17 A6 and no issues. I do have a client who just got one of the Outbacks with the Wilderness package and she loves it. She says the turbo made a huge difference.

SQ5 here. Purchased as a CPO with 16,000 miles on it. I think it was somewhere around $33k. That dynamic has likely morphed with COVID. However that was the price of a new Outback, and is such a more satisfying driving experience. With Nokian snows it is a monster in winter.
 

scott43

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I doubt you'll find many better vehicles to drive in snow than an Outback, but they're not the greatest to drive the rest of the time. Figure how much time you'll actually be driving in snow and work backwards. A Q5 isn't as big..but a much better driver I'm sure. I have a 3.6 Outback for reference...
 

Philpug

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I doubt you'll find many better vehicles to drive in snow than an Outback, but they're not the greatest to drive the rest of the time.
I have owned over 50 cars. In that was about 15 Subarus and another 15 VW products. My 2017 Alltrack with 4 snows is the best snow car I have ever owned...and it is still fun the rest of the time.
 

scott43

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I have owned over 50 cars. In that was about 15 Subarus and another 15 VW products. My 2017 Alltrack with 4 snows is the best snow car I have ever owned...and it is still fun the rest of the time.
Yeah I would agree with you. Uninspiring is the word I'd use for the Outback. Great appliance, CAN be fun if you beat on the 3.6..it's a great drivetrain combo..but...it's not a weapon of choice on anything other than snowy roads.
 

Ogg

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Yeah I would agree with you. Uninspiring is the word I'd use for the Outback. Great appliance, CAN be fun if you beat on the 3.6..it's a great drivetrain combo..but...it's not a weapon of choice on anything other than snowy roads.
The Outback has been a squishy grandpa mobile since -2000. My father has a 3.6 Ltd. with the 5 speed auto. It’s got some good pickup but is otherwise blah. My wife’s crosstrek with a bit over half the HP is probably more fun to drive.
 

Muleski

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I’ll repeat the requests:

1. New, used CPO thru dealer, or just used?
2. Plan for service? Dealer or other.
3. Budget? What do you want to spend? What will you stretch it to?

It’s a tough market. Might be very tough where you are.

I for one think recommendations are tough with no roadmap.

An Outback, an Allroad and an SQ5 are not in the same wheelhouse, IMO. Just 3 examples. You can buy three CPO Outbacks for the price of a NEW SQ5 in this market.

There are some deals out there. Friend just bought a brand new {250 Dealer miles} two year old leftover Volvo V90. It is a new car. I am sure that he paid at least $5K less than the dealer cost. Probably $10K, or more. Pretty nice car. Volvo could not give them away. Price, I think, and other models in the lineup.

My brother ordered, waited months and took delivery of a RS6 Avant. I think he paid all of the sticker and more when done. A second set of wheels for winter, and a third for the shoulder seasons, just to start. Full dealer price. He knew exactly what he wanted.

If the question is reframed as “What can I buy for $ xx, with some type of decent remaining warranty, for our needs?” I bet we can give you rifled suggestions. Smart ones. Good ones.

If it MUST be new, again, with a solid budget number….you’ll get good suggestions.

My adult son and I play this game all the time. Best car for $10K, best for $15K, $25K, $35K, $50K. Or….best trucks. Or cars that should appreciate.

We also add in things like, we want to own it for 250K fairly trouble free miles. As one exampl

Glad to try to help, if you’ll give us some direction!
 
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Larry

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I have the 2015 Outback and my wife has the 2020 Forester. Both have the 2.5 non turbo. Outback is definitely sluggish compared to Forester. I'm more scared trying to pass on HWY 395 going to Mammoth in the Outback. Overall, I might choose another Forester for myself in a few more years
 

François Pugh

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I have the 2015 Outback and my wife has the 2020 Forester. Both have the 2.5 non turbo. Outback is definitely sluggish compared to Forester. I'm more scared trying to pass on HWY 395 going to Mammoth in the Outback. Overall, I might choose another Forester for myself in a few more years
I wonder if the horsepower in that 2.5 non-turbo increased between 2015 and 2020.

I would go Mazda 3 if the ground clearance isn't too much of a concern. Hint: if you try driving slowly through 18 inches of snow and need to make a 90 degree turn into a parking spot after having forgotten to turn of the traction control you will need more ground clearance,.......or a shovel.
I have no personal experience, but I've heard many good things about Toyota RAV4 and Honda's CRV.
Mazda CX-3 is to small imho, and you probably don't want as big as CX-5.
 

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