Not wanting to drive my new SL this winter, we've decided to change our "stable" a little. I'm going to sell (give away...?) my aged Toyota Camry, and drive my wife's Honda Accord this winter.

So, my wife gets a new car. We thought about a C-Class, but she's a little scared of the rear-wheel-drive on the snow. So, I thought here's our chance to get an AWD car. Here's our short list: (Mercedes! Where's the C240 4-matic!?)

1. Subaru WRX. Expensive for an Impreza ($37,000), but seems tough and lots of fun. The AWD combined with snow grips would make a good winter combo.

2. Audi A4 1.8T. Good value ($41,000) and AWD, but I am leery of Audi quality and reliability. Opinions?

3. BMW 325ix. Expensive due to option packaging ($46,000), but really nice exterior. Heard bad things about BMW's AWD system from way back, wonder if this one is better?

Help!

__________________
My car: 2003 SL500 - Silver/Black, delivery July 11, 2002.

Me: Daniel McKeon, retired anthropologist/school teacher. Also silver on top...delivery November 13, 1939.

Other cars at our home:
1991 Toyota Camry - 350,000 kilometers, still a good car.
1994 Honda Accord - 150,000 kilometers, my wife's "Little Honda..."