Best winter car I've had here in Nebraska is a 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee. I have the one with the hemi and I added the factory skid plates option so the thing is built like a tank. Has lots of airbags, and will go through anything. I gave it to my son for a few years for his first car, and now that we got him a Mazda for college my daughter is driving it.
 
I still "borrow" it once a year when my son and I go deer hunting. We put a rack in the hitch to haul our deer and we drive this through the mud and the cornfields with no issues.
 
It makes me feel a bit more secure knowing she's driving a tank that will climb through any snow or mud thrown at it. If we have to go out as a family in bad weather, we take that old Jeep...

Cars must be much cheaper in the USA than they are in Canada. I can't afford anything by Subaru and not much by any other company. $35k for a pretty basic Ford Escape. Forget the imports, they're right out of my league.
 
My retirement income is about what I was making in the late 70's. It won't be long until I can't afford to drive. If I quit my cash flow would be much better but I'm too young to quit being mobile. I'm on the hunt for a small SUV just for visibility. I have until the end of this year to find one. Right now the Escape is at the top of my list.

SteveStrummerUK

craigb
 

 
My favorite Top Gear episode.  Throughout the whole program there's cut-aways to a Relient sliding on its side!  LMAO!

I'd agree, wonderful stuff mate!
 
Coincidentally... in the scene on the cricket pitch, the 'man in the white coat' is legendary umpire Harold 'Dickie' Bird, a wonderful man I've met when he signed my copy of his autobiography and his book of cricketing memoirs 
 

The guy wrote a sequel to his autobiography!  Brilliant!
 
I wonder what you put in it, what's happened since you finished the first book?  Stuff that didn't make it in the first time?

craigb
 

 
My favorite Top Gear episode.  Throughout the whole program there's cut-aways to a Relient sliding on its side!  LMAO!

    WHOA.... after seeing that I'm walking from now on .
    
 
Kenny

Subaru...Subaru...Subaru!!!

Outback or Forestor. I drive an Imprezza Sport Limited and have no troubles in even the worst snow and slush conditions...black ice is still no sane drivers territory. All wheel drive...all wheel grip. Drink the Kool Aid...it tastes good!!!

Yeah no contest, get a Subaru.

depends on the normal terrain you drive on, does it justify a 4x4 etc?
 
the thing with having a discovery etc.. no 3rd party parts as a friend discovered and they weren't cheap.
 
a friend had a "karioke" as I call em.. again , not the cheapest car to run here. think tyres were £250 a time.
 I'd really look into the parts cost before buying also.
 
UK cars are different from the US ones, due to the terrain, although locally there is a humvee, which looks even bigger on the roads here.
 

Today I got stuck 30 miles from home just when a blizzard started.  It took two hours and I did some slow sliding down one hill, but I finally made it home and I'm NOT going anywhere for a while.

Decided against studded tires, I see.
 
One more thing about winter driving... always carry emergency gear in the trunk.
1. Chains
2. Flares
3. Warm clothes
4. Bottled water
5. Spare tire
6. Jack
7. Tow strap
8. Shovel
9. etc