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Old 04-26-2007, 08:38 PM
 
Location: Central Florida
27 posts, read 157,872 times
Reputation: 37

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Having lived in Wisconsin and Indiana for 55 years, I feel I can add my 2 cents in here as well. Additionally, I spent 35 years in the automobile/truck manufacturing industry. The majority of the posters are correct. FWD will be more than equal to the task of delivering you to work. AWD and 4WD will cost 15 - 25% more in fuel costs plus the $3 to 5k extra for the availability of the option. Not beginning to mention the possibility of added maintenance costs. Many AWD & 4WD drivers tend to be a little more aggressive in the snow than their skills. Just take your time, and be cautious. The thought about a year old model is a good one as well. Perhaps even two years old.
One other word of advice. Do not purchase the first model year of any vehicle. New models tend to have the highest failure rates. Good luck!
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Old 04-27-2007, 06:27 PM
 
Location: Indy
667 posts, read 2,879,741 times
Reputation: 454
Personally in the Indy area if you actually need 4wd, you can't drive. Sorry.

Up until about 2 years ago I always had a rear wheel drive car. During winter normally you would have maybe a total of 2 weeks where the roads aren't perfectly clear. On those days you just need to slow down and pay attention. Only time I had problems is when they shut down the roads Oh, I might also add that my job at the time was a dispatcher so I had to make it to work. I will say I always laughed when I passed a 4wd that was in the ditch because the driver relied on the 4wd instead of their driving skills.

For your situation, I would just buy a cheap FWD and not sweat it.
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Old 04-27-2007, 08:44 PM
 
Location: New Haven, IN
95 posts, read 454,211 times
Reputation: 43
Quote:
Originally Posted by txlonghornguy View Post
I'm sorry but AWD vehicles are simply better! Audi Quattro is UNSTOPPABLE in the snow--so much control, it's amazing...and they're fun to drive.

But they are quite expensive. I'd look at an A4.
Sure, you could get off red lights faster, go through slightly taller snow drifts and have slightly less chance of getting stuck. But common sense says don't go through snow drifts.

I helped push a WRX (full time AWD) out of a snow drift last year. I love that car so it was fun.

FWD is more than adequate for Indiana winters, as long as you're not out before the plows.
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Old 10-10-2007, 02:33 PM
 
Location: the Great Lakes states
801 posts, read 2,554,866 times
Reputation: 557
Quote:
FWD is more than adequate for Indiana winters, as long as you're not out before the plows.
That's the thing... the plows don't get out very early in Indiana. If you're needing to commute before the sun comes up, it gets a little hairy. In NW Indiana I was very happy to have a 4WD Explorer, because you just never know, especially on the county roads and sometimes the state highways with the blowing and drifting.

When I was living in Muncie is when I really could have used 4WD. I had a RWD Thunderbird and it was a bad winter my first year there... the T-bird spent a few weeks sitting in the Ball State parking lot under a big snowdrift. Other stories from that winter involved it getting very stuck in a fraternity parking lot at the end of an alley... it took 5 people pushing it to get it out... and another adventure was a nice 360 degree spin in the middle of Riverside Avenue. So... as far as a RWD car in Indiana... I wouldn't do that again.
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Old 10-14-2007, 12:38 PM
 
86 posts, read 257,795 times
Reputation: 32
FWD is good,the right tires helps a lot,my family is big on awd subarus!when its slippery and people are stuck we keep going,fun to drive around people stuck with their big gas hogging awd trucks.ive noticed more subarus in places like the pacific north west and colorado,must be a reason!oh yeah,slow down!
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Old 10-14-2007, 04:36 PM
 
Location: Tippecanoe County, Indiana
26,373 posts, read 46,209,981 times
Reputation: 19454
AWD is wise if you live in the Michiana snowbelt.(South Bend averages over 70 inches of of snow every winter). Otherwise FWD should work fine in most areas of the state.
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Old 10-14-2007, 08:17 PM
 
618 posts, read 1,606,522 times
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We've always had AWD cars. They don't have particularly good traction, for the snow we get up north. But then again, we try and stay in when the weather gets pretty bad.
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Old 10-15-2007, 07:48 AM
 
26 posts, read 171,750 times
Reputation: 22
I currently reside in Chicago and have an AWD wagon. Its great when the weather is truly awful, but then again I run Nokian 4-season tires. The only part of Indiana you NEED AWD is perhaps the region (NW Indiana), and somehow people in Chesterton still seem to get around those six weeks they see serious lake-effect snow.

AWD is completely oversold in the US, especially since most people are running all-season highway tires on their SUVs.

I lived 30 years in central and southern Indiana. You don't need AWD down there. FWD with decent tires is fine.
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Old 10-15-2007, 03:27 PM
 
Location: Tippecanoe County, Indiana
26,373 posts, read 46,209,981 times
Reputation: 19454
Quote:
Originally Posted by goldpolkadots View Post
We've always had AWD cars. They don't have particularly good traction, for the snow we get up north. But then again, we try and stay in when the weather gets pretty bad.
AWD cars should have very good traction in winter with snow tires.
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Old 10-15-2007, 04:19 PM
 
618 posts, read 1,606,522 times
Reputation: 312
Quote:
Originally Posted by Plains10 View Post
AWD cars should have very good traction in winter with snow tires.
They do have good traction for the most part, but we live in the country so our roads are never well kept for the snow
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