I am looking for a used car. I need to occasionally haul a canoe a long distance so I would like to have a good roof rack. Most of the time the car will be used to city driving so it would be nice to have good gas mileage. I’m from Minnesota and All Wheel Drive would be great for driving on the ice and snow.
I am willing to get an older car with higher mileage (less than 175k) to save some money. The smaller the car, the better.
Suggestions and recommendations for specific models will be greatly appreciated.
Subaru wagon, Honda CRV, Toyota Rav4, Hyundai Tuscon or Santa Fe
Awd drive cars with higher mileage have a little more potential for problems then the same car in 2wd. There are lots of awd cars that are more reliable then other makes in two wheel drive…but. Going as high as 175k miles and expecting reliability in any car, used that you haven’t maintained yourself is unrealistic. Plan to spend more and look at something well under 100k and look at CR recommendations for awd cars. “Two tone” has mention a good selection to start with. Don’t expect miracles.
Thanks, I appreciate the advice.
I’d go for a subaru impreza.
Toyota Matrix and it’s twin Pontiac Vibe were available with AWD. Don’t worry about Pontiac being out of business. Much of the car is Matrix (Corolla) parts anyway. How much are you willing to spend? We can narrow down the years to concentrate on if you provide this information.
A good wagon would be a Subaru Outback or Forester. Both have fairly long and flat roofs for easier mounting of a canoe. An older model can probably still get an average of 25-28 mpg with the 2.5 H4. Being a Subaru, they’ll last and have AWD.