I currently drive a Mazda Tribute which is a great car, yet it only gets 18 mpg(at the most). Which for driving 4 hours back and forth from school is killing my wallet. I'm looking for a car that goes good in the snow (awd/4wd) gets at least 25 mpg and has decent crash test ratings. Can anyone help? I was looking at spending about $10,000 at the most.
Thanks in advance.

Check into a subaru legacy. They get about 25 +or- on the freeway depending on the year and trans. There AWD is top notch for reliability and the rest of the car isn't to bad as well. There can be some issues with head gaskets leaking coolant externally so make sure you get up to speed on the years and engines that have this issue.

You can check out www.fueleconomy.gov to see the estimated fuel ecomomy for just about any vehicle.

Plus add a grand to an used car,thanks to cash for clunkers which ends Monday.

Check into a subaru legacy. They get about 25 +or- on the freeway depending on the year and trans. There AWD is top notch for reliability and the rest of the car isn't to bad as well. There can be some issues with head gaskets leaking coolant externally so make sure you get up to speed on the years and engines that have this issue.

You can check out www.fueleconomy.gov to see the estimated fuel ecomomy for just about any vehicle.


I've heard the subaru's are good in general, but I've never liked them. Thanks for that website, it helps!

I know in Canada the Suzuki SX4 is our cheapest, most efficient AWD car - gets 30+ mpg and looks pretty decent inside, but was manufactured in (I believe) 2006+, so will still require likely $12K minimum.

Honestly, to buy a cheaper AWD used car you're taking a risk on higher repair/maintenance costs and a substantial hit in fuel economy. Living in Ontario I drive 4 months of the year through snowy cold weather on rural roads and FWD with a good set of snow tires has always been sufficient. It would also open up your opportunities to get a more powerful/fun car, like a VW GTI or Jetta 1.8T, a Mazda3, Older Sentra SE-R, or a bigger car like a Honda Accord or something.

Honestly, I've looked into it and the only advantage AWD/4WD gives you on the road in the snow/rain is better acceleration - braking is exactly the same, and the difference in cornering is marginal. Unless you live in an unmaintained area or need to go seriously off-road, a FWD'er will give you a lot more choice and save you a good chunk of coin.