I need a car when I move upstate New York where it snows a lot in winter with lots of winding country roads that go up and down. I’m looking for a small car with good mileage. Stick is OK too. What do you recommend?
What’s your budget? New or used?
2-3 year old Hyundai Sonata and four real winter tires.
Most important in my opinion would be a set of four winter tyres.
Remember 4WD or AWD will help you get through the snow, but it will not help you stop or stay on the road.
If money is not a problem I would look for one of the cars with traction control.
Where in Upstate NY…I have cousins that live 20 miles apart and have a difference of 100"/yr in snow. The lake effect snow from Ontario and Erie can be very localized.
So if you live lets say Utica…then any decent fwd vehicle with all season tires would be fine…Move 50 miles east into Syracuse…and I recommend getting 4 winter/snow tires…From there if you move 20 miles NW to Oswego…A 4wd/awd vehicle would be very helpful.
NY snowfall varies, as Mike says, ‘all over the map’:
“Where in Upstate NY…”
Exactly. Upstate NY is anything but NYC and Long Island. That’s several thousand square miles of NY.