We have a standard shift outback. It was four years old with 110,000 miles on it…and we figured with that kind of mileage it had to be highway mileage. We got it for $11,000 because no one wanted standard shift…or the higher mileage. We have had it for 4 years and love it.
I know…standard isn’t for everyone.
We found ours because DH was surfing the Subaru dealer sites near here and saw it.
My daughter recently bought a 2015 Toyota Prius C with less than <35 K
mileage for $12,000.
She bought it from a fellow graduate student who was leaving the country.
The car is quite small.
I bought a new Subaru Impreza about 18 months ago for about $18,5K. It replaced my 2004(ish) Toyota Corolla.
I shopped around and the Subaru was the best deal for something new and not ugly, plus has the 4-wheel drive for winter.
Note that the Subaru Impreza (the smallest cheapest model) is a size and market class up from the Kia Rio. Other cars in that class:
Chevrolet Cruze
Ford Focus
Honda Civic
Hyundai Elantra
Kia Forte
Mazda 3
Nissan Sentra
Scion iM / Toyota Corolla iM
Toyota Corolla
Volkswagen Golf, Jetta
My son bought a used Prius a couple of years ago and was happy with it. DH drives an 18 year old Toyota Corolla. I have a friend who every time you see her tells you how much she loves her Scion xB - it’s too bad they were discontinued. She’s very tall and loves that it fits her and all her art work.
Perhaps a search here (changing parameters for what you want) can help you find out what may be available in your price range:
I just got through researching and buying a used car (2016 Honda CR-V to replace super-rusty 2004 Subaru Outback that I inherited from my mom when she moved to a retirement community). I would also recommend using cars.com, which is similar to AutoTrader. Edmunds.com has a pretty robust review database.
I don’t know where you live (we are in NH) but if you already have one AWD vehicle you might not want to get a second one (subjective, obviously). We live in a fairly wintery place and I might actually care about having AWD maybe 15 days out of the year (at most).
My primary vehicle is a 2013 Honda Accord, which I purchased a few years ago with about 60000 miles on it. It’s been a great car and good enough in snow (even with baldish tires). I am a big fan of newer model high mileage cars (our new CR-V has 80000). We also own a 2010 Accord, which we got a couple of years ago with about 120K miles on it. Perfect for my newly licensed kids.
I have driven in snow all my life (not always successfully). I’m pretty convinced that driving in snow is, for the most part, more a function of your discretion, your driving skills and your tires than it is of the car itself.
We bought a used Suburu crosstrek from the dealer. Low mileage, 3 years old, and tons of extras for a little more than you want to pay. But they did have some older cars on their lot that would have been in your range.
I know that dealerships aren’t always the best way to get a super deal, but we walked away feeling very happy about ours. And we love love love the car, especially in snow.
In 2001, my wife was driving her 1998 Subaru Outback. In the car with her were my 2-year old daughter and my unborn son.
She got into an accident and the car rolled over, ending up on its roof. The car’s roof was barely dented. No injuries to my wife except a bruised knee. My daughter and son were absolutely fine (I was an insistent pest on she should wear her seatbelt when pregnant).
And since then, Subarus have only become safer.
Another vote for Subaru. They are worth spending a little more. But if your budget is firm, a used Toyota Corolla or Camry, or a used Honda Civic or Accord, will suit your needs. If you get snow, you will want AWD or at least 4WD if available.
We got our daughter a Ford Fiesta and it’s been a great little car. She drives 500 miles each way to school. It does fine in the winter.
In the past few years we have bought several certified pre-owned low mileage cars. 2013 Honda Civic for my H, 2014 Toyota Corolla for S and 2015 Honda Civic for D. We all live in the upper midwest, Wisconsin, Cleveland and Michigan. They all get snow tires in the winter, honestly they are ok but not great in the snow without them. I have a used Subaru Outback. Both the Civics and the Corolla were in the 14k- 15k range. Outback quite a bit more than that. I looked at the time for awd vehicles in that price range and couldn’t find one with the low mileage that I wanted. You may be able to get an impreza or crosstrek for that, maybe even a Forester, just depends what’s out there when you’re looking and how much time you have to look. I had a relatively short time line and had to go with what was available at the time. Why do you think snow tires wouldn’t work for you? My S and D both balked initially when I insisted they get them but they’re both happy they have them now. They get them put on in late November/ early December and off in April/May. My H says it makes a huge difference on his civic.
I also recommend Cars.com as a search tool. You can do a lot of research on line that saves running around to dealers.
Another car to look at is the Honda HRV. A little smaller than the CRV and it has awd. At the time I was looking they hadn’t been around very long and I couldn’t find a used one but they’ve been around longer now you may be able to find one in your price range.
This is my 7th winter driving a Legacy in the snow belt in Cleveland. Never had had a problem getting around in the snow. Right now I have those snowflake tires on the car (first winter for them). Had never heard of them until recently on this site. Didn’t even know current set has snowflakes until I went out and looked at them. Never driven a car with snow tires (though rode in cars as a kid with the old metal studded snow tires). But never had a problem in the snow.
That being said, I probably will go back to an Accord for my next car (in another 100k miles/6-7 years). I have driven a Civic or Accord for far more winters here than the Subaru without any issues in the snow. No snowflakes or snow tires for any of them. In my experience (and YMMV) front wheel drive makes a huge difference (rear wheel drive cars could be crazy in the snow–though I was a much less experienced driver back then) but AWD/FWD makes much less of a difference.
My daughter has an Impreza and loves it. She is in Lexington so winter driving really isn’t an issue.
If you are in an areas where there is a decent amount of snow (like 35" or more), snow tires make a massive difference. The USA is one of the few countries where people think that all-seasons are fine (American exceptionalism?), whereas other countries switch tires during the winter.
While AWD helps you go, snow tires help you go, stop, and turn. My RWD car can comfortably drive through 8" of snow with snow tires and is limited really only by ground clearance.
If you have that much snow and really insist on having all-seasons, get something like the Michelin Cross-Climate, which has very good snow performance for an all-season tire. It has the mountain symbol on it, but significantly outperforms other all-seasons with that symbol.
TrueCar.com is a good way to “shop” what’s actually available, in your area. in your price point. I am a loyal Toyota driver, I’m on my 4th one in 30 years - I, like some others, drive my cars until they’re no longer able to be driven. Recently I read that many of the pre-owned certified are early (or on time) lease trade ins. I’m also a huge fan of CarFax - when I sell my cars (never trade in) I get a good 1/3 more by offering it.
https://m.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=125 describes the snowflake-in-mountain mark that is typically found on winter tires but is now also found on a few models of all-season tires (but most all-season tires have only the M+S mark).
Having driven rear wheel drive cars when I was younger, if I had one now where I live I would get snow tires for it. We get north of 50" of snow per year (with nearby areas getting 100"). With all of tires I have had over the past 30+ years (for cars and vans), none of them have been snow tires and one set has had snowflake mark. Never had an issue. Most with just front wheel drive. Haven’t seen a difference with the AWD cars. Where I could see a difference is if we had a lot of hills/mountains (combined with the snow) but that isn’t the case here.
I personally think the benefits of AWD are oversold (which in this case could take vehicle options off the table in this case). Also feel the same about trucks (though its tougher to find manufacturers making cars anymore). But different people look for different things. YMMV as they say.
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=231 is a review of four examples of all-season tires with the snowflake-in-mountain (3PMSF) mark.
You’re in Michign, right? Subaru. We have had three
And, even though you have on car for baby, you need two. Babies have a way of taking up all the space in the world.
You don’t need your second car to have AWD in Michigan (WI until retired to FL). You want front wheeel drive. You do not want to need two sets of tires- ie snow tires either- consider the costs of twice a year changes (plus that second set of tires- or wheels as well).
Consider how long you probably will own the second car. The latest car models, even among less expensives models, have so many safety features you should consider the model year carefully to see what is/isn’t part of the car.
I presume this is your go-to-work/stores car that you wouldn’t need for out of town or bad weather- before the plows/sand trucks come through. Hills, not mountains et al.
Do pay attention to reliability to avoid spending the saved money on repairs. And presume child expenses will continue for a couple of decades or more so money will always be tight. Plus- you will need to consider the kid in the back seat over the years.
Sigh.
Among car experts, there really isn’t any disagreement on this. If you have a lot of snow, snow tires are the way to go. In one test, Tire Rack did tests on a sudden stop from 30mph, and the winter tire stopped in 59ft. At that point, the car with all-seasons was still going over 15mph, and took another 30ft to stop. That’s the difference: Stopped vs potentially hitting something at 15+ mph.
Most people have exactly the wrong attitude towards tires. Stock tires are the weakest link in terms of getting your car to turn and brake as well as it can whether on dry, wet, snow, or ice. Upgrading those will almost always make your car perform better, and at much lower cost relative to any other upgrade you can make.
While you have an upfront cost of a second set of tires, only one set is on the car at a time, so your all-seasons last longer. Most people with snow tires mount them on a separate set of wheels, so that is an additional cost, but you are also saving salt corrosion on your regular wheels. I do the wheel swaps at home in about an hour–faster than taking them to the shop and back.
But if you really want to ignore all the good advice, at least get something that comes close to winter tire traction, like the Michelin Cross-Climates.