Screw PH. Recommend ME/my SO a new car!

[Asher]

HELLO~

Need to buy a 2nd car to supplement my Mazda 3. It'll be mostly a car for my SO who has a long commute.

Criteria are as follows:
- Reliable
- ~30K or less
- All-wheel drive
- Higher-than normal car ground clearance (for snow)

This pretty much requires a small crossover/compact SUV.

Shortlist so far:

Nissan Juke: Looked fugly in pictures on first impression, but I saw this in the lot and it's growing on me. It's apparently very fun to drive. Great mileage. Lots of tech gadgets I like.



Nissan Rogue: I can get great discounts on this as they've overstocked. It is much bigger than the Juke with just a little worse mileage. But it's more mundane as well, "conservatively" styled.




Toyota RAV4: Would get the V6 version if anything (which is 269hp). Bland appearance, meh handling, bleh interior, but very reliable and very speedy.



Subaru Forester: "Simple" design. Supposedly feels very nice to drive, though.



Test drives coming on the weekend. Any others I should consider? Any of these I should not consider?

[dannubis]

What car feels the most drama-queen-like to you ?

[Asher]

The Juke, for sure.

[Barnabas]

I don't like it, looks like a toy

[dannubis]

The Juke, for sure.

Well ? What are you waiting for ?

[The Mad Monk]

I really like the Leaf, but I suppose it's completely unsuitable.

[MikeH]

That Juke is utterly hideous.

[Asher]

The Juke isn't winning me over on its looks. I can tolerate them.

I'm more interested in its awesome mileage (27mpg city, 32mpg highway), turbocharged engine, torque-vectoring AWD, standard tech geek features (bluetooth, iPod USB, several LCD screens including one that lets you tune engine settings), and price.

[MikeH]

Awesome mileage?! LOL

[Asher]

For an AWD SUV? Hell yes.

If you had to drive in a couple feet of unplowed snow & ice 8 months of the year, your vehicle choice may just change.

[MikeH]

I'd move somewhere hospitable.

[Asher]

I really like the Leaf, but I suppose it's completely unsuitable.

To say the least.

Plus that's a lynchable offense in Alberta.

[MikeH]

Buying an SUV there is perfectly reasonable. Buying one to drive the kids to school in Reading, not acceptable.

[Asher]

I really wish I could ban Europeans from this poll. Really, do you guys even see what you drive? It's embarrassing.

[MikeH]

You are seriously considering a car modeled on a radioactively mutated four eyed frog.