The best used car for $5k that prioritizes snow driving, fuel economy, and cargo space is ___

How hard is it to install a front locker? Mine is a 4x4 with only a rear locker ;_;

>shit in both weather conditions
>2 sets of all season live shorter than 1 set of each and thus cost more in the long run just because you are too much of a nu-male to change tires in 10 minutes

nice

an audi with quattro

a6 c5 or a4 b6

>buying a $5k Audi
Now that's just asking for problems

Holy fuck, are you literally retarded?
I hope you cover your mouth when you speak irl, so that you do not spread the autist

Do not buy a used Audi.
Unless you want to spend shit load on repairs.
>Few of my friends as had them, worst decisions they ever made (their words, not mine)

How bad is the snow where you live?

I can get away with an 08 Civic and new all-season tires where I am in Cleveland, Ohio and it can get up to a foot sometimes.

The only thing I don't like about my Civic is that I can't lay down in the back and go car camping. If I could do it over I'd probably try to buy a used oddessey, but it's whatever.

An unabused Civic will take you where you need to go.

Anything from Subaru. Their 80s and 90s cars are fun as fuck and can take a serious beating. All while maintaining fantastic ride and handling quality and not being afraid of snow.

you wouldn't kill your retarded son, now would you?

I wouldn't let him be born in the first place

This
Get an Aldi OP

I love this new meme

you mean a female wouldn't let him to be born

how do these compare to Outbacks? I ask about this specifically since I have looked at these a lot (mainly gen 3 ['05-'09])

>4x4 truck
>good on gas

sounds fun but the bad on gas part ruins it for me

Pretty bad. It snows Nov to Mar/Apr here, and I often visit family in Houghton County.

I smell a ruse; others here say its a bad idea

Wrong

watch this my man and tell me if its a ruse or not
youtube.com/watch?v=9oIQyF7-DyI

>Quattro power
It's called using winter tires dumbass

alright

but why don't bmw and mercedes drivers use winter tires?

I was going to recommend a forester.

Idunno

I have high interest in an Outback, with my budget I seem to be able to get something with around 140-180k miles. I'm worried about that many miles though, since Outbacks (with the standard 2.5 engine) have that infamous head gasket issue that usually shows up at around 100-150k miles.

Something like this
holland.craigslist.org/cto/d/2008-subaru-outback-ll-bean/6351187198.html
seems interesting to me though. That engine isn't known for the infamous HG issue, but thats still a ton of miles. Anyone have an opinion on this? What else is prone to failure with this many miles?

you mean *americans

No. It's entirely dependent on the local market.

Look at subaru prices in cities with large gay populations vs subaru prices in the south for instance.

Subarus are cheaper in MA compared to TX.

my point exactly. gays hate the subaru meme now and the prices reflect that.

No, you're just a dumbass trying to save face

I always thought that in the north they looked at Subarus as a more pragmatic choice, vs down here the AWD is showing off/status related. My great aunt and uncle in Maine swore by those outback wagons, but had a son to fix them so they didn't have to blow money at the dealer fixing headgaskets. They also had 300,000+ miles before getting a new one.

Had a similar desire in 2012 op.
I bought my 99 CRV (pic related) with 170k for $3000. From Ohio but was about to head to college in northern Wisconsin. Winters even worse than Ohio.

The AWD is FWD biased so it isn't quite as good as a subaru, audi, or a real 4x4 however it still works and is way more functional than a FWD car in most situations.

We've gotten slammed many times and it has always powered right through even with all-seasons. I finally upgraded to snow tires in 2015 though we only had one decent snow since then and it was like driving on pavement.

Plenty of room too. Good for riding passengers but also good for doing what I do and taking out the rear seats frequently to haul shit around. I've also saved on motels cross country road trips by just removing the rear seats and using the rear for a bed on camping trips and such.

It has 270k miles on it now. I've only had to do maintenance items (brakes/oil changes/and a timing belt at 230K, and replaced the distributor once.

It is started to puff some smoke on startup or after idling awhile so I think valve seals are starting to leak a bit. Doesn't use more than 1/2qt of oil between changes though.

Nice thing is still gets 28-30mpg with the nice and simple B20 motor. Easy to work on.
And they've only gotten cheaper that I've seen.

>Highly dependent on your local used car market
>Figure it would be relatively the same across the continental US, but Northern Michigan specifically

how long do you intend to keep this car?

how many miles will you drive a year?

how many of those miles are on poor quality roads? (pot holes, gravel, secondary and tertiary county roads, etc..)

will you pay full-price (dealership) for maintenance and service?

I see greatly discounted (depreciated) used audi, bmw, land rover, etc... it's usually the second or third owner who buys them for under 1/2 or 1/3 their original price, then learns a major repair will cost more than their purchase price

for the first 100k-miles a honda, subaru, and toyota probably have similar ownership costs, but for the 100k-200k-mile era, the subaru costs will be higher (e.g. head gasket) IF the car wasn't maintained conscientiously during the first 100K-miles.

the longest lasting cars usually cost more in the used market, e.g. the Civic-tax, the RAV4-tax, etc...,

if not concerned about higher ownership costs, then I'd go with a Subaru Outback or Forester

pay more up front, cost less in the long term - Toyota RAV4 or if fuel economy not a concern Toyota 4Runner

fuel economy is a concern - Honda CRV

Good post, thanks.

Impressive mpg and maintenance requirement. I'll definitely consider this now, even though I'd prefer a wagon shaped vehicle.

>best winter car coming through

...

It's what I wanted too at the time.
But I really wanted a 5 speed and I wanted reliability.

I think the subaru boyracer tax is pretty common everywhere - even for an outback especially if it's 5 speed. They are somewhat reliable but with the 4cylinders you have to worry about headgaskets.
Just in general both the 4cyl and 6cyl subarus are super annoying to work on. Granted once you fix the main issues they usually tend to stay reliable for a long time. Their gas mileage is crappy though even the 2.2s.
Then anything like Audi/BMW/Volvo you're just getting into the same thing but more maintenance heavy and expensive more complicated stuff.
I will say their AWD systems are probably much better.

The CRV is just a simple old 90's honda motor that will run forever. And there are ample amount of 5 speeds out there if that's your thing.
The 5 speed in mine has made it 10x more fun to drive in winter than my previous cars.

>how long do you intend to keep this car?
As long as it makes financial sense. I'm not going to need something new/flashy in a few years. Vehicles to me are a tool and method of transportation, not a reason to show off.
>how many miles will you drive a year?
~10k-12k
>how many of those miles are on poor quality
roads? (pot holes, gravel, secondary and tertiary county roads, etc..)
Poor quality roads? Not so much,

It should be easy to find good deals on ones with the headgaskets already done.

>muh audee
>muh quadro

Nice viral marketing there, vag.
youtube.com/watch?v=IBIUx4Tma7A

>The AWD is FWD biased so it isn't quite as good as a subaru, audi, or a real 4x4

It has more ground clearance, which is more important in the majority of cases.

V8 Grand Cherokee. Two out of three ain't bad.

How many miles is too many on a Subaru Outback with a 6 cyl 3.0 engine when buying used?

What are some common problems with the car & engine that should be checked for when looking at one?

found the dumbass.

Civic with snows. Civic hatch. Honda fit. FWD with snows/studs is fine, all the weight is over the drives.

Suzuki SX4 is getting close to 5k depending on your area. Optional AWD but mileage isn't great with it.

My Impreza has 206k.
With Subarus always check for rust, always. My brake calipers were rusted to shit too. The head gasket meme, of course.

The 3 liters supposedly don't suffer from the weak head gaskets, the 2.5 did. But still look for signs of a bad one.

How do you check for head gasket issues without spending $50 on this fluid test:
youtube.com/watch?v=_eaI78NMgBY
I know the head gasket fix is a necessary and important one for the 2.5 engine, but is it worth buying this testing kit when shopping for a Subaru? In other words, is there an easier or cheaper way to test this?

DO NOT BUY A USED AUDI
I bought a '99 audi A4 1.8t with 150k for $4.6k. No problems at time of purchase.

List of problems I've had since purchase about 2 years ago
Both front CV axles started clicking within two weeks from another
Intake cam had lobe wear on multiple cylinders
AC pump on it's last legs
LED display burned out
Turbo leak after front mounted intercooler
Vacuum leak on exhaust manifold, warped manifold and nonexistent gasket. (Luckily spotted before damage to valves/piston rings)

Good thing these cars are not rare in the pacific northwest and I can get dirt cheap parts from the local junkyard.

Again, DO NOT GET A USED AUDI UNLESS YOU ARE WILLING TO WRENCH.

pic related, said audi

I absolutely agree there. I acquired a 2003 Jetta 1.8T from a good friend who has babied this car from 20,000 up to 160,000 miles. Paid $600 because I had to do the clutch on it which took two days as I've never done one before... this thing is an electrical nightmare, the AC stopped working, and it's started to run lean. I've fixed 2 vacuum leaks so far, and have to do all the brakes and CV axles.
Chances are I'm going to fix this lean issie and sell the fucker to get an S10 or other RWD 4 cylinder that is easy to access.

jesus that is a lot of snow

How comfy would you say that model of CRV is for a bigguy4U? I'm 6'4" and I want a cheap-ish vehicle with ground clearance and empegees but the CRV looks so small from the outside.

Different user, but that's exactly what I'm looking at now. My Toyota Camry wagon finally died. There's a Volvo V70 cross country AWD with 97k miles for 4700 by my. Should I go take a look?

>it's started to run lean

I love how they manage to put a sensor on fucking everything but that code is just like "iunnoshitsbroke"

t. 2004 jetta 1.8t owner

My passengers side transmission seal is now leaking...

How's the Ford Focus? I don't see them brought up too much here. I want something that'll last me decades. Or should I just say fuck it and buy [spoiler]new?[/spoiler]

The glorious Pontiac Aztek

Any car can drive in the snow if you get the right tires.

-blows head gasket-
Psshhh nothing personel kit

Yeah, it can be absolutely anything which is pissing me off since parts are too expensive for me to just go and buy one of everything it could be.

6"4 guy here, it sucks if you have long legs. Only reason why I want to try to get rid of it because I die on long drives.

But where will one find the parts for such a vehicle?

dis

>just believe they all have the same tires and all the settings for TCS, esp whatever else are the same. just take our word guys

my '03 A6 has had a few issues but it's still great in the snow, and they can be had fairly cheap

Volvos are way more expensive to repair, but they are more "luxurious".
I would go for a nicely specd Subaru Legacy Outback 3.0R, it will be a better car in the long run.

Get one for no more than 3k and do the head gaskets, water pump and timing belt. Assuming that the rest of the car is in fine working order you should be able to drive in to the heat death of the universe.

The engines I've found, is driven under normal not shit conditions last forever. And head gaskets can blow out on any car, its because its a boxer engine that it becomes a pain in the ass.

My 04 wagon is a trooper, even with all seasons it blasts through snow. Winter is a fun time of year!

What year is it? I had a 1990 volvo 740 turbo wagon with over 200k mi a few years back. Absolute piece of shit, essentially everything went wrong and I ended up selling it to a junk yard for $200. Super hard to find repair men in smaller cities. Parts are expensive as hell. The engine was pretty simple to work on though.Did not do well in the snow, i think it was rwd tho

how can anyone be this retarded. how do you do normal everyday tasks?

Same here with an 02 A4, great shape. Stupid niggers that put in cheap oil, use wrong fluids and trash them to shit, then complain they don't work are always the first ones to shit on these cars. Buy some shit truck made out of rusty parts and cheap recycled plastics if you want them to run on sunflower oil and shitgas with zero maintenance, don't get something that is marketed as an entry level luxury sedan, you dumb fucks.

>entry level
>luxury

oxymoron

Op here again. Going to go see this one in the next day or two. The amount of miles kinda worries me, but he says nothing is wrong with it and is currently his daily driver. I'll use the used car checking guide in the sticky, but all of that will be hard to remember...

Toyota matrix XRS just make sure it was taken care of without sludge problems or you'll be burning a qt of oil every 500 miles. Fffff

It has awd. I had the one without awd and snow tires. Thing could climb walls