25F, just got my license! I moved to Detroit recently and realized surviving here without a car is impossible!!
I’m torn:
- Option 1: Buy a $6-7k cheap used car (FWD), get used to driving for ~6 months, then sell and upgrade. Cheaper insurance, but idk how safe FWD is in Michigan snow for a newbie like me. Plus, the used car market is terrible right now. I don’t want to spend $15k on a 2017 Honda Accord with 112k miles on it!!
- Option 2: Go all in on a ~$26k new/ almost new AWD (thinking 2025 Corolla/Camry). Safer for winter (which is coming fast – it’s already September!), but $$$ insurance + new driver nerves (what if I scratch it ;-; I probably won’t, but yk the feeling…).
Do I play it safe with a cheap starter car or invest in something decent now? Helppp ;-;
Help me pick my first car: Cheap used or New AWD for Michigan Winter?
byu/kiwimoe inFrugal
Posted by kiwimoe
15 Comments
You do not need AWD in Detroit. You will be fine with a FWD vehicle. I drove FWD in Michigan basically my whole life.
Buy a cheap car, and just get good tires.
I grew up in Michigan, the winters are no joke. But car payments and insurance is so high for new cars, its insane.
Get the cheap FWD and buy a set of new, brand name winter tires and brake pads. What keeps you on the road is tires and brakes, not AWD.
Drive the cheap car into the ground.
I’ve seen a few young people way overspend on cars and really put themselves behind. Do you own a house? A new vehicle will greatly inhibit saving if not.
Awd isn’t all wheel stop. I would buy anything front wheel drive (your awd options are limited and Subaru has a ton of issues that should be carefully researched and considered. Each model is different and unless you want to turn into a car person I would simply avoid them) and a 2nd set of winter tires. Wagons are my favorite. Old Ford (early 2000s) station wagon, a Saturn, or a Toyota.
I don’t know how the car insurance is where you’re from, but it’s terrible here.
I’d go the safe route, but I would bring someone that knows about cars to inspect the vehicle before buying it. Don’t want to buy a lemon. Ask for the maintenance record and Carfax (not everything is reported)
This goes both for the cheap and expensive options, if they won’t let you inspect it or let you use a OBD scanner (this looks for codes/faults in the car, but not all is shown here) or let you take it to a mechanic for a pre-purchase inspection don’t touch it. It’s better to know the vehicle is able to last you than being the person that drives the car out the lots, and your dashboard becomes a Christmas tree.
Also, it depends on the vehicle you’re buying:
Toyota and Honda are generally perfect and will last 500k+ with proper maintenance
Watch out for Land Rover, Nissan (specifically anything with a CVT transmission almost guaranteed to fail.
Also, I suggest you look up consumer protection rights if you’re buying from a dealership in case issues pop up later. (I’m from Washington, and dealerships have to fix any safety issues in the car 90 days after the sale date)
For the maintenance record, it should show oil changes every 3-5k miles
Transmission oil/fluid changes every 58k-65k miles depending on the model, this info should be available online
I also suggest you look up expected failures on a vehicle before buying it in forums, they will generally give you an idea when you should expect a part in the vehicle to fail. This way, you can change out the part before it fails and not stress.
Best of luck!
Look at what everyone else is driving. There are probably a lot of FWD vehicles on the road. You don’t need AWD. FWD with good winter tires will perform better than AWD with all season tires.
Cheap car and good tires and new battery. Wash it regularly in winter because the salt on Michigan roads will eat your car away over time
Get a used AWD. SOLVED.
IF you get a new car, make sure to absolutely fry the stop gap insurance!
My three adult children all learned to drive in snow as adults; one was in their 30s. None have had AWD, only FWD, and they’re all in the Northeast now.
Old car and buy nice winter or all season tires. AWD and 4 whee drive is over weighted when it comes to snow in my opinion. Good traction and driving slow and cautious is 90% of the battle. People convince themselves AWD is a must and talk themselves into a new car. I drove an old beat up sedan for 10 years in Michigan winters
I’m a little different- buy a new car and keep it forever- you will know it’s service history and every detail of that car in 10-12 years when it’s time to finally get a new one.
Grew up in the Midwest and my dad always warned me “4WD doesn’t make it stop any better”.
I had a front wheel drive 2013 ford fusion before my current car. When I got it 2 years old it had the factory tires on it and was scary in the snow. I replaced the tires the last winter I drove it and it is amazing how much better all season that had a good snow rating were compared to the original tires (performance oriented “all season”). I was no longer afraid to drive in the snow and my husband has never had any issues with that car in snow either in the 4 years since it’s been his daily driver.
Be careful on Michigan roads, they don’t plow well. I might even say go snow tires. Most of my experience winter driving around detroit was crappy rental cars that were almost definitely front wheel drive and I still made it around okay.