<p>Owners of Escalades and Denalis rule the snowy roads out here. Whereas I, in my humble minivan, have to carefully dodge slush and snow to avoid spinning out, these brutes speed down the roads with no worries. I am sick of it and with my lease coming up, and ds graduating this year, I also don’t need the size of the minivan. Can someone recommend smaller (not low to the ground though, I don’t like being below Denali bumpers either 
) 4wd replacements? I don’t want to be like the neighbors with their evil Escalades and tower over lowly cars, I want a nicer, kinder version that holds the road.</p>
<p>We are either getting a Subaru Forester or a Honda CRV. We want four wheel drive but we do NOT want a vehicle the size of a school bus. We don’t need a “people mover” anymore either for car pools. We are also looking at the Mazda CX7.</p>
<p>My van is 12 yrs old and served me well. But I now hate it. More importantly it is paid for. I’m longing for a new vehicle and would choose a Chevy Traverse/GMC Arcadia. Same room inside as a Tahoe but easier to park.</p>
<p>increasing in price range:</p>
<p>Mazda CX7
Honda CRV
Toyota RAV4/Highlander (depending on what size you are looking for)
Cadillac SRX?(correct letters?)
Acura RSX? (correct letters)
Audi Q5
BMW X3</p>
<p>We own our Honda CRV…love it…</p>
<p>2 of my friends have VW Tiguans. They love them.</p>
<p>My dad has a Subaru Forrester and that thing goes through anything. My BF has a Honda CRV and it seems to do pretty well too.</p>
<p>We had had minivans so many years we could hardly remember not having one. We looked at the smaller SUVs but ended up with the Toyota Highlander and love it. It is not so large but not so small - just a right change from a minivan.</p>
<p>I’m with you Rom828. I now hate my minivan but it’s paid for. It will unfortunately need to serve us well for a bit longer. If I could get a replacement, I would get a RAV4 or a Forrester if I lived in a cold climate.</p>
<p>I have a CRV. It is just so so in the snow. Our courier fleet has many different smaller vehicles. The Subaru Forrester seems to be the one the drivers like in the snow.</p>
<p>We recently bought a Land Rover LR2 as an extra all-weather car. We had narrowed it down to the LR2 and Audi Q5. The Land Rover has superb visibility and sits up a bit higher than many smaller SUVs. It also has heated seats, back-up sensors, navigation - more extras than most cars in its price range.</p>
<p>I’m guessing we have 1.5 years before we won’t need our 2000 Honda Odyssey van. Still have to move our son to wherever he goes to grad school in fall 2011 and move our daughter when she graduates from college in 2012.</p>
<p>I just wish it didn’t need a new timing belt this spring!!</p>
<p>The only thing I love about the van, though, is how easy it is for me to get in and out of. I have a hard time with the Honda Accord we have.</p>
<p>I drove a minivan for 18 years! (not the same one :))</p>
<p>I now drive a Honda Pilot and LOVE it. My H drives a Mazda Tribute (ever so slightly smaller than mine) and LOVES it too!</p>
<p>We’ve had two Subaru Foresters–they are wonderful in the snow and very reliable cars. I don’t know about the new, super-sized model, but the one thing we don’t like is the lack of leg room in the back seat (our two models are 1999 and 2007).</p>
<p>You may want to consider just getting winter tires (on their own set of wheels) for the season of snow and ice.</p>
<p>4WD/AWD may help you go in the snow and ice, but it won’t help you stop or turn any better. Winter tires will help you go, stop, and turn better in the snow and ice (whether or not you have 4WD/AWD).</p>
<p>There is a reason that almost everyone in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa drive Subarus. We have two Outbacks and they make driving in the snow painless.</p>
<p>We spent the last 6 months on this topic at our house - drove me crazy!</p>
<p>Replacing H’s car - an Envoy - he didn’t want anything as big as the Envoy but wanted something bigger than a small SUV. AWD or 4-wheel was a priority. And he wanted some bells and whistles.</p>
<p>We looked at the Mazda CX- 7 or 9 and the Transverse, the Dodge version - all felt too short and cramped in the front - the window view just wasn’t a “full” feeling. </p>
<p>He ended up with a Saab 9-7x (or something like that). Kind of a Saab in an Envoy’s body only about 20% smaller. Are you looking brand new or not? He was able to get a very low miles (12,000) loaded with excellent remaining warranty for $21,000.</p>
<p>LOL - I went from an Escalade to a Jeep Grand Cherokee. Get what feels right for you, but look for something the size and height of the Jeep.</p>
<p>(there IS a difference between 4 wheel drive and all wheel drive)</p>
<p>chocchipcookie- got you beat. Recently realized that I have passed my 20 year- two decades- anniversary of being a mini-van driver (5 of them)!! I am ready for a change, so this is a timely thread. Still feel like we need a good size vehicle (H’s is smallish) for a few more years for moving stuff around. I also can foresee that I will be called on more to transport my elderly parents, so need something elder-friendly. Any one have any experience with the buick Enclave or the Ford Flex? I have driven both and like them, but I hate the concept of not getting better mileage than my van. I also prefer being up a bit higher and live in a part of the country where I would like AWD or as-needed 4WD. Also tried the newly designed Explorer, but wasn’t crazy about it. Considering a Ford, as I am eligible for their “Friends and Family” discount.</p>
<p>A friend has the Flex and she loves it. It can haul a lot of people and stuff.</p>
<p>Our minivan died a few months after we moved S1 to college. I’ve been driving my Forester for five years now and I love it. Lately I’ve been spending a lot of time on I-80 driving between Chicago and PA. I like being a little higher up in all the truck traffic and I don’t worry quite so much about the lake effect snow around South Bend. It’s also a great dog car and easy to park. (The turning radius seems about the same as our Civic.)</p>
<p>For the rare occasion that we have to haul a lot of stuff we have a rack that mounts on a trailer hitch. With it we can take 4 people, one 50 pound dog, 4 duffels and laptop backpacks, a cooler and a canoe (with paddles and PFDs), no problem.</p>