Boulder and fwd police cars? For many, perhaps including Boulder, municipalities have grown out of police car infatuation with fwd for traction in snow. It’s too expensive to maintain and really offers little to no advantage for police use. Here in Maine where it snows enough, crown Victorias with snow tires, rear limited slips and traction control with weight in the back, run circles around fwd cars in snow. Fwd is awesome only when drivers can’t handle or take the effort to properly prepare rwd cars and trucks.
Subarus may not be sexy, but it’s better then cars looking sexy, cold and stuck.
Yup. We have an acura as well. Nice car when it is nice weather but it gets stuck at when there are three snow flakes on the ground, having absolutely no ground clearance.
Hey, here’s an idea:
maybe she should get a second hand Crown Vic cop car with one of those spot lights on the side and a short antenna on the decklid and be done with it. 
I would forget sexy! If you are anxious about driving in snow, of all things, don’t get a BMW with rear drive and nose heavy design. Anything you buy will be sexier than your truck.
The Subaru Legacy Outback has great traction and good ground clearance. Lots of interior space too.
My own choice would still be a Mazda 6 with good winter tires.
If you want Sexy and Safe with room to spare…I’d look into the Brand-New Chevy Malibus (Stay away from 1999-2005 year model malibus, the engines on those tend to quit after 120k+miles because of the crappy gaskets they put in the 3.1 liter engines) or Nissan Maximas. Those cars got some good reviews and they’re a little cheaper than a BMW.
I’d start by buying a Consumer Reports New Car Preview at the local bookstore. That’ll show you all the options available and provide comparative data without the biases and preconceived notion we all possess. Choose some that look good to you and spend a few weekends doing test drives.
Buying a new car is (for most) half about data and half about purely subjective preferences. For me, buying a new car is almost purely about what my ailing back can tolerate, but you should have a number of good options.
re: Docnick’s comments - he gives solid suggestions, but unfortunately most aren’t available in AWD. We have a Mazda6 and love it, but you can only get it in AWD if you get a Mazdaspeed6 from the previous generation, and unlike the other trims of the Mazda6, those had reliability issues.
Of the Fusion, Accord, 6, and Camry he suggests, only the Fusion is available in AWD. The Fusion is a very good car and you can get good mpg (I got 38 hwy in a 4 cylinder on a long round trip), but you have to go to the 3.0L V6 at a minimum to get AWD, and that will hurt mpg. Their AWD system isn’t spectacular, either - its better than nothing, if you need AWD, but it isn’t as good as Subaru’s.
I’d recommend a Subaru with a 4 cylinder. Be careful of some of the older used ones, as they had headgasket issues. New is the way to go if possible. They’re probably the best AWD around for a mainstream sedan. But don’t expect it to protect you from everything. My sister has an 04 Outback and an 05 Explorer 4WD (they live on top of a hill in the rockies with plenty of snow to contend with), and there is no comparison - the 4WD gets them up and down the hill relatively easily when the AWD fails…
“Boulder and fwd police cars?”
It’s really flat in Boulder. The biggest hills are the on/off ramps. If you drive just outside city limits on the west side, the Rockies shoot up immediately. But that’s someone else’s problem.
There are a number of people at work with BMW 3-series cars, and they have few problems with them. I suggest that you drive a BMW 328i x-Drive an Acura TSX, and any of the less expensive cars you like. The 2008 and newer Accords are full size cars, and that turned a lot of buyers off. So much so that Honda is bringing out a new, smaller Accord in 2013. You might want to avoid it unless you like boats.
I too was going to suggest the BMW 328xi or 328 x-drive (nomenclature changed over the years). The x stands for all wheel drive. Since the OP’s Dodge Ram has a manual trans, she might enjoy a sports sedan with a manual, and manual 3s can be found relatively easily on the used market. Being stick also holds the resale price down since only so many people know how to drive them. A lightly used one can probably be found in her price range, possibly even with a BMW certified warranty.
Oh, and, 4-door, MANUAL, Ram 4x4? That’s one rare truck.
JT. " It’s really flat in Boulder"
…Boulder may be flat, but every acceleration is like climbing a hill, and vehicles used for pursuit have traditionally been rwd or now awd. Check the cars now used in Boulder. Fwd for anything other then low demands at normal driving speeds and acceleration is useless. You will be hard pressed to find a police department anywhere who prefers them for normal police work. And, if any snow is involved, acceleration at any time is compromised with any system, fwd being the worse, awd being the best…and a well prepared rwd being quite functional.
consider the toyota RAV4 ( I drive one). it has a 4WD version, is a small SUV with a very powerful V6 (289HP). you’ll be able to move your kids and have fun. it’ll be very reliable. an oh, it gets 28 mpg on the freeway.
Yes, skipk; the RAV4 now has a lot of interior space and is a very tough machine. It does not look like a minivan so Frankien won’t suffer from the “soccer mom complex”. Gas mileage for these small SUVs is very good. The RAV4 is not “sexy” but it conveys a sporty image in Colorado, especially with a ski rack on top!
I can’t think of a worse car to own in Colorado than a rear drive 2WD BMW with its very limited ground clearance and front engine.