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I will admit Im a woman and dont know too much about cars, aside from research I did/read. All the car abbreviations on here throw me off! I did read over and over jeep was the best car for snow. But like I said its friends who have warned me to stay away from the brand from personal experience. Im looking for something that at least resembles jeep. Dont want a truck or anything that looks like a soccor mom mini van...yuck. I like the big tires and being high off the ground with jeep. Looking at living in CO and want the plow right over that snow. As for Subaru .... they may drive well, but I dont like the look at all. IMO they look nothing like a jeep. Very unattractive vehicles. Maybe men would disagree. Someone told me to get a range rover but I believe those cost much more than Jeep?? I do like to road trip a lot so I want a car that do that and be my only car and handle snow.
Let's see, you don't know much about cars and you are wanting a certain style that says you are not a soccer mom.
And you don't like Subarus. Ironically, I too live in Colorado and don't like Subarus either, although my reason is that I just cannot find a comfortable seat in a Subaru.
You didn't mention your budget. A Porsche Macan would likely project your desired image although it's not cheap.
As for Jeep, I'd research their reliability. I think Consumer Reports ranks them at the bottom. However, the Wrangler has the best re-sale value of nearly all vehicles.
If your objective is to be able to go up rocky forest roads in Colorado, the Wrangler would indeed be the best vehicle. I'd suggest you rent one first. You could visit Ouray and rent the Jeep to tour Yankee Boy Basin. By early July you'll find a meadow with about 1M Columbines in bloom.
While I have had my problems with newer Subarus, specifically the CVT transmissions, I have never had any problems getting stuck in the snow. In fact, with my older 2002 Outback I actively tried to get it stuck one winter storm by driving into the highest snow piles I could find. The Subaru won.
I think Consumer Reports is entirely honest, but I don't really like their weighting/evaluation method for reliability or durability over the long haul. For example, the Town Car had an unbeatable engine/transmission combination, used by Limo services, and standard in the full size Ford. But CR never gave Ford or Lincoln much credit.
This thread is a good example of what CR misses:
This is from Steelerett24, post no. 10:
"My 2008 SRX Cadillac has 48,000 original miles on it. Vehicle was started while in driveway to warm up and within 3 minutes of running, the timing jumped and caused the rod to go thru the block. GM won't honor warranty because it's past the 5 yr / 50,000 miles warranty period....of course....dealer called and said it'll be over $12,000.00 to fix with a new motor....(yes,that's correct, 12 thousand dollars)....has anyone else had this problem or heard of same issue happening? I think it's totally ridiculous that this has happened with only 48,000 miles on this car!!"
Research on the internet will uncover problems never discussed by CR.
I think Consumer Reports is entirely honest, but I don't really like their weighting/evaluation method for reliability or durability over the long haul. For example, the Town Car had an unbeatable engine/transmission combination, used by Limo services, and standard in the full size Ford. But CR never gave Ford or Lincoln much credit.
This thread is a good example of what CR misses:
....
We live in a different age than in days of yore. Cars cost something on the order of 2x as much as they did in the days of carbs and points. They last at least twice as long. It's easy (too easy) for an engine or transmission repair to total the car, a situation far less common in the past. Paint and body repair has become impossibly expensive and is essentially left to the insurance companies.
I suppose that it's the evolution of cars from simple mechanical devices to life forms. There are reasonable upper limits to sewing machine maintenance and repair, not so much for a dog.
The thing about CR is most of their data is pulled from actual owners who complete questionnaires about real life experience. Cars that rank extremely high or low usually do so for good reason. People who own Jeeps typically love them for what they are, but there's no denying the quality and reliability issues that go along with that. Spoken as a previous Wrangler owner who spent way too much time under the hood.
Wranglers are very expensive. Four door models have become grocery getters, so they are even more expensive. The good news is that, in spite of them not being especially reliable vehicles, they are so popular that they hold their value. See if you can rent one for a weekend and experience it before you buy. You either love them, or hate them. It seems that they have no middle ground. You can easily spend in the 40's for a Sahara four door. Worth it? Depends.
Chrysler has owned Jeep for years so that is about all you need to know about them.....they are junk.
Subaru's are just dorky as hell. Suck it up and get a Silverado or Tahoe. If you want the most reliable, get a 2000 though 2006 model. They are tough as nails and last forever.
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