Take another look at the Subarus. Someone gave me one last Fall and I drove it through the Maine winter. I wouldn't have bought one before that but I liked it so much I sold the first one and bought another. I drove it back to the gulf coast for Mardi Gras.

Avoid the 2.5 engine between '96 and '99 unless it has had a proven headgasket replacement. Avoid an automatic with mismatched tires, wrecks the AWD. All of the engines after '96 are interference engines.

I consider cars driven on salted roads to be sacrificial and disposable.