Advice on potential new car

Hi all, wanted to get people that live in snow states POV on a situation...

Wife and I currently live in SoCal. Been here all our lives. We'll be moving to Fort Collins, CO in late 2023. We have a 2020 4R SR5 4WD and a RWD 2013 Lexus GS with 107k miles. Given the current sellers market, I'm debating on selling the GS since it'll most likely be worth more than when we move to get a AWD vehicle for the wife. Another option is maybe keep the GS and buy a set of winter tires/wheels.

What are your thoughts? This will be my wife's daily. Would she need AWD w/3PMSF rated tires or RWD winter tires good enough?

 

That Lexus GS will be 100% worthless in the Fort Collins winters.

Also, it’s a hell of a move from southern California to northern Colorado, I hope you like scary weather.

 

Yup, it's going to be a big change!

 

Living in Maine all my life, unless you like doing donuts and having the rear end of you vehicle beside you, I’d get rid of the rear wheel drive.
That being said, there still is skill involved with driving in snow and what not. Even 4 wheel drive and snow tires doesn’t make you invincible.

what ever you drive, find a parking lot or big open space after snow and practice making the vehicle go squirrelly and trying to correct it.

 

CO winters are unforgivable. If you plan on adventuring to ski resorts and the rockies in general, or navigating storms locally for work etc.. I’d say 4WD/AWD is ideal for CO winters.

 

If it was me, I'd sell the GS and get something Colorado winter appropriate. Like Spare Parts said, practice with the vehicle when you get here. Stops and panic stops, turns, sliding, etc. Good luck with the move to FOCO!

The right tool for the job (Crested Butte, CO):

 

Probably best to sell the GS in SoCal since RWD cars might not be in much demand where you're headed. Consider a Subaru for your spouse. They are incredible in snow and ice with winter tires which make a big difference over all seasons. I have a 4R and a Forester in N ID. I have two sets of tires/wheels for the Subaru and I think I'll stick to AT tires for the 4R and just don't drive it much in winter.

 

I've been leaning towards selling so all these answers will probably help solidify my leaning. Just sucks to spend money when both our vehicles are paid off. Oh wellllll, such is life

 

A long time ago when I was living in Colorado Springs, one of my friends just moved there from San Diego and brought his rear wheel drive Infiniti sedan. He put some snow tires on it and wrapped it around a utility pole the first snowfall we had.

 

Oh man. Yeah, stories like this are actually good to help convince the wife

 

You don't have to buy new. If you sell the 2013 Lexus, how much will you get for it? Id imagine you could turn around and spend that on an Outback around the same year or newer and still have everything paid off. My wife drives a '14 Outback and has no desire to get a new vehicle.

 

I was considering a PHEV such as a RAV4 Prime or Tucson Plug-In. Wanted to get somewhat in the electrification arena for the next vehicle. God knows the 4R eats up enough gas

 

We have the rav4 prime, it’s perfect for the short 20 to 30 mile daily stuff. Summer range is 42 plus EV, winter we saw 30ish on full charge.

 

Mrs. Catus has a gas Tuscon and we love it. It's got the 1.6 turbo (2018), and has been really good for us here in CO. I know nothing about the new or EV ones, but our experience has been great. The first weekend we had it we road tripped to Buena Vista and got caught in a wicked little snow storm. The little Tuscon powered through just fine, even with crappy stock tires. I was impressed.

 

Yeah. A PHEV seems like a good bridge. I know in cold weather, EV range drops significantly

 

I grew up in Wisconsin, so I had 15 winters of experience driving on snow and ice covered lakes before moving to Denver 5 years ago. I thought snow driving would be better in Colorado, but I was wrong. The Midwest is much better at cleaning the roads, but more significantly Colorado always seems to have a layer of ice or slush below the snow making roads even more unpredictable. In Wisconsin the best winter car I had was RWD with snow tires. I could get through anything, and in the Midwest almost everyone runs non-3PMSF all-seasons year round. My wife and I got an AWD crossover shortly after moving to CO, and in my second winter I had an altercation with a few curbs, bouncing back and forth across the street, where I damaged 3 wheels, wheels bearings, and broke the steering rack while on factory all-seasons. Moral of the story, sell the GS before moving and get AWD or 4WD with 3PMSF tires especially if there will ever be trips in the mountains.

 

RWD can be done, but you gotta have patience and confidence. I had a Volvo 240 Turbo sedan for a number of Maine winters when I was young. I had studded snow tires and really didn't have many problems other than the great ice storm of 1998 (see pics below). Our driveway was too steep and curvy to get out of before we had it sanded. Granted, I wasn't dealing with the mountains you find in CO either.

But if its going to be your wife's vehicle, I'd err on the side of caution and get her a nice AWD vehicle. Maybe a Mazda CX5 or one of the Subarus.

 

Thanks for your input Ripmo. It'll be exciting to actually have a winter but gotta pay the consequences as well

 

That is one gnarly ice storm!

 

I think for people used to Midwest winter driving Colorado is a rude awakening.

like mentioned above, they don’t do a great job of clearing all of the roads and there’s usually a nice layer of ice underneath the snow because the day before the blizzard and single-digit temperatures it was 75° and sunny.

 

I have a widget on my phone for CO weather. It goes from snow on Wednesday to 50 deg on Thursday then rain next two days. It's pretty crazy

 

Honestly if she has a far drive I'd sell and buy a 4WD in Cali where it may be cheaper, otherwise you are fine with snow tires. I went to CSU in FoCo for 4 years and its really a hit or miss there. Born and raised in CO and the weather there is 50/50 compared to metro area. When FoCo gets snow the metro area doesnt and vise versa. if you plan on taking her car to the mountains or if her commute is down to loveland, Id get a 4WD

 

Heck with that stuff. Here in lies my reason to be a snow bird when I retire.

 

I'd be looking to end up with two 4WD/AWD vehicles, at least one with true winter tires and the other with good 3 peak "all weather" (aka all season) tires. And I'd want at least one of those vehicles to have good ground clearance and at least one to have a real 4WD system, as opposed to a front drive platform that sends some torque to the rear when you start to slip -- which is what you get from virtually every crossover out there today.

With your SR5 you've checked all the boxes for one of these vehicles so long as it has proper tires, either real winter or good 3 peak.

For the other I'd either look at something similar to the 4R or, if you wanted to get more commute friendly and with better MPG, then definitely a Subaru. The new Outback and Forester Wilderness editions give you great ground clearance while still being more car like in demeanor and yet have a better than usual AWD system.

Ideally you can spring for an extra wheel set for one of these two vehicles that has dedicated winter tires so you can switch out and have the benefits of the all season 3 peak tire for the warmer part of the year.

 

I'd rather have RWD and snow tires than AWD and 3PMSF any day.

We put Nokian Hakkapeliittas on my ex's Scion TC (FWD) and it was a beast in snow. I felt safer in it than any 4×4 on AT's I've driven.

If you're going to be in areas where roads aren't maintained, AWD or 4WD + winter tires might be ideal.

Edit: even if you decide to go with an AWD, I would get real winter tires. 3PMSF tires are decent in snow, but nowhere near a true winter tire.

 

I owned a 2015 Forester XT. Lots of space and comfortable inside but the CVT was giving me issues so I'm a little turned off of Subaru which is a bummer but maybe I would consider them again?

 

then i'd go CX5 all day long. the only decision would be do i need the 2.5T engine? their 6 speed auto while outdated is still a really strong unit. i can't stand CVTs (GF has one in her CRV).

 

I agree that the CVT is a concern. Personally, given the conditions, I'd prioritize the ground clearance and AWD system of the Subaru over options like the CX5. I'm assuming that both you and your spouse will need to be driving in bad weather at the same time, often unable to be in the same vehicle. But certainly the CX5 is an excellent vehicle in so many ways.

PS we had a 2015 Forester with manual trans. Great vehicle once they replaced the short block to deal with the incredible amount of oil consumption (a fix forced by a class action lawsuit on the issue).

 

in my opinion, the CX5's AWD system is just as good as that in the Suby. plus the driving dynamics and interior blow the Suby's away. i had one for a few years and it was quite capable in maine winters with winter tires.

ymmv

 

I should add that I've had several Subarus -- Impreza, Outback, Forester, WRX and even a BRZ -- but only one had a CVT and we ditched it (for other reasons) before it had much experience in the snow. So my recommendation of Subaru is really based on non-CVT models. I know that their reputation as generally superior in the snow has continued, but it's an important caveat that I'm not 100% sure how valid that remains since they've moved to CVTs. My others were either traditional autos or manuals.

I certainly do think the CX5 is awesome. Mostly wish it had more ground clearance, and do have some skepticism about FWD based AWD vehicles generally.