I find that most people that claim to need a 4WD in snow don’t know how to drive in it to begin with.
BostonBarrister wrote:
If you live anywhere with snow, the 4WD is a must (even though I don’t trust anyone else on the road when it snows, I at least trust that I’m not going to slide off or get stuck if I’m not driving like an idiot).
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I suppose it’s a must in snow in areas in which they aren’t very efficient at getting it plowed, i.e. Virginia. During the last big snow here, a lot of neighborhood streets weren’t plowed until late the next day – some people couldn’t even get to work.
Also very useful if you demand to drive during a blizzard, in which case the snow will be piling up faster than it is plowed even on busier streets – I’ve always found that 4WD gave me much better traction in those situations (though in the truck I need to weigh down the rear of the bed – I’ve found a pair of big KBs do the trick nicely).
While it is better to have a 4WD it is not essential.
I drove a little RWD dakota throughout most of high school growing up, sometimes I would plow through 2 feet of snow to get home after being out.
The roads always had snow and ice on them, even when it wasn’t snowing, and no one around the area thniks much about it. Now I live a city and everyone here is scared to drive when it snows and can’t drive for shit in it.
[quote]BostonBarrister wrote:
I suppose it’s a must in snow in areas in which they aren’t very efficient at getting it plowed, i.e. Virginia. During the last big snow here, a lot of neighborhood streets weren’t plowed until late the next day – some people couldn’t even get to work.
Also very useful if you demand to drive during a blizzard, in which case the snow will be piling up faster than it is plowed even on busier streets – I’ve always found that 4WD gave me much better traction in those situations (though in the truck I need to weigh down the rear of the bed – I’ve found a pair of big KBs do the trick nicely).[/quote]
My mom has a 2002-2003 or so explorer and she likes it… her only problem with it is she owes more than its worth! You could probably pick one up cheap. She doesn’t like the milage but it’s probably better than most SUV’s.
I settled on a '98 Expedition. I got it for a great price, $7,000.[/quote]
Let us know how it turns out. My wife drives a 2002 Escape, and it’s been fine so far.
I drive a '92 Explorer and have never had a major problem with it in almost 8 years. I have heard nightmare stories about them though, so it’s likely a crap chute. I try to buy lower milage vehicles for the year, and how they treated the previous owner, and how the owner treated the vehicle means alot, I think. I tend to think that when someone advertises ‘new motor, new transmission, new this, new that’… it means that the thing has major components crapping out, all the time. A vehicle that is serviced regularly, and doesn’t have a history of big dollar parts being needed often, may tend to continue on that way.