Help needed choosing winter beater
 

Made a huge mistake selling my e90 bmw 325xi at the end of last winter and now im looking again.
I do live in canada so snow is a factor and fun is too. I don't wanna get a car i don't need so budget is 5k. I don't want a car older than 2006 nornor a rust bucket

Im currently considering :

1) 2006 bmw 330xi
2) 2007 audi a3 3.2 Quattro
3 ) 2007 mini cooper (not an S but so fun and tossable )

My winter car is a Suzuki SX4. Cheap and goes like a tank in snow. I use it to tow small sailboats to the lake in summer. It feels like a toy after driving my boxster

I was actually looking at a vitara years ago. How is it getting parts for them since they went out of business?

They are still produced and sold globally. I have a dealership near me still selling parts. I haven't needed anything yet. Most parts stores have basic replacements too.

I drive my Forester like a hooligan in the snow. Decent on fuel and easy to repair.

Subaru! I got a legacy for $400 with 100k two years back. My wife and I have put 80,000 trouble free miles on it since. Beaters are great. I joke with my wife that if it breaks down that I'm leaving it where it is with the keys in it.

Whatyear legacy did you get for $400!! Then again your car connections are extreme lol

Do you even get winter in Texas lol

1999. Yes the all wheel drive is a little useless down here. It was nice to have at the beach though

My winter / dog transport is a 99 Outback. We have had three other Subarus. ('10 Impreza, '04 Forester & a '16 Impreza my wife currently drives) They have been pretty good to us.

My only gripe with this one is that it is auto (Free from a family member). All others have been/are 5spd.

https://i.imgur.com/oLUXU3Vl.jpg

Those are not winter beaters.The rig I drive to abuse is a 96 Dakota V8 4wd. 251000 and runs and drives like it's barely broke in. I've even had it in the snow, pretty wonderful handling.

Thread dead. Bought a B7 A4 Avant Quattro. Sadly the snow is gone lol

good luck. gf has a 2002 c5 a6 allroad w the 2.7t. 10x more work than my boxster. full of 15 yr old electronic geewhizzery and doodads. prepare to spend a good part of your spare time chasing failed cold solder joints, and the rest chasing oil leaks. and no time left for the boxster. i mean, how can the electronics in three of the four door latches fail!?!?!

All road was a badass car when new. The turbocharged 6 and the air suspension is something I wouldn’t wanna get involved with.

Few years ago I had a b6 a4 1.8t. Bought it with a noisy cam chain tensioner and ended up swapping motors. Oil leaked and leaked. I said never again until today.....

yeah, the air suspension is a bear. doesn't like the cold (car is slammed to the ground every morning) but hey, neither do the injector o-rings. saved myself a world of hurt by buying a compressor rebuild kit - 1000% improvement. and quattro is good (especially w a new set of studded tires). and the air suspension is great when working. 15 year old car, and is met w admiring soccer moms everywhere it goes. and, while full of problems, parts costs are closer to vw than porsche (like you said - got a problem? just swap engines).

What do u drive in the winter? No way u got the boxster and snow tires!!

nissan titan. frontier before that, and frontier before that.

Titan is a beast. I can't deal with the V8 gas. The utility of that truck is awesome

yeah, you know when i was running my old v6 frontier, it was getting the same fuel economy as my work truck - a much younger ford v8. modern v8's are greatly improved from the old days. the problem is, the titan is not really a modern v8, and doesn't have a modern transmission, so fuel economy is not best in class for sure. really, what i liked the most about it is that it was at the end of a 15 year production run, so all bugs had been worked out and i have a reliable truck that won't strand me out in the middle of nowhere (which is where i happen to spend most of my time).

Easy. This

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1516947361.jpg

With these

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1516947455.jpg

Not my winter DD but could be and does see winter action with my snow tires.

Since in Canada, i would consider the JDM route. Anything older than 15 years is an option. Not all JDMs are RHD, especially if you pick German.

OR

Jeep TJ

I remember why I said never again with these Audi's.....

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/3...923/aMlAWg.jpg

She looked so pretty and the utility was great. Low km and lower price. But there had to be a catch....

Few electrical gremlins.....

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/3...923/MAJF9K.jpg

Looks like a have some clogged drains and a project for the winter... FML

Here's mine:

http://colinbaker.net/images/924-7-1024.jpg

'87 924S (essentially a 944 in a 924 body), with a limited-slip differential and set of Blizzaks. I actually look forward to driving it in the snow - it slides quite a bit when turning corners (at least at normal condition speeds) but you never feel like you're losing control. I've yet to run into any roads or conditions that it can't handle with ease. Super fun.

Too bad they let the styling elves get in to the drugs! I know, not nice among present company, but that's one butt ugly car!:dance:

First porsche car I loved was the 944. The 924 was like the stepchild

This is really awesome.