Stupid car/STL related question

Pil

Hi everybody,  I've posted a couple of times on this board regarding our move to STL (possibly in August/September timeframe)...  Long story short, I was going to wait until we moved and buy a another car over there, but my current car (VW New Beetle) has been giving me a lot of problems (this year, and historically) so we finally decided to sell it.  At this point I would buy a car that we can drive from San Diego to St. Louis and use to commute to work for a few months (at least) until we buy and move into our house...  Any way... My point (and reason for my question) is this: pretty much my only requirement for the car is that it is a 4 door, and the reason I'm thinking about only keeping it for a few months is because my DH thinks I'll need a 4 wheel drive and a bigger car/SUV for the snow over there, just in case I get into an accident or something.  Are the few (I think) days of snow in STL really a concern when buying a car?  We're also planning on starting a family soon, so the baby's safety is also a concern here...  Thanks for your input

angelasept06

It depends on where you plan to live.  If you are going to be in the city or the suburbs, then no, you will not need 4wd or an SUV.  St. Louis typically clears the streets pretty well. We had more snow this year than we've had in a long time and the longest I was ever stuck at home was a day.  However, if you plan to live outside the city in a more rural area and will still have to make it to work, you will probably want an SUV with 4wd.  The county roads don't get cleared nearly as soon as the rest.  I just bought a new SUV and didn't get 4wd and I've lived here with the snow all of my life  

toni1127

The first 20 years of my life I lived in a very rural area outside STL, we got by on sedans. I now live in STL county and the snow is cleared in less than 12 hours, so I would say that the snow here should not be a concern when buying a car. And typically, the snow we get here doesn't stick around long, and there rarely are days when it snows several days in a row for accumulations to get too bad.

Temp6313048411121614

Personally, I wouldn't waste the money on a 4WD car here.  We only get a few days of snow usually so I don't think it's worth it.  You'd save money by calling into work 1 day instead of buying 4WD if it came down to it.

DG1

Ditto the PP.  I have a regular 4-door sedan (1998 honda accord) and get by just fine in the winters.  The only reason you would need more would be if you lived in a rural area or on a serious hill (also pretty much only found in rural areas). 

 

You'd lose a ton of money if you bought & sold a car in such a short timeframe. So not worth it.  Either wait until you get here or buy something you'll keep for a long time. 

Pil

Thanks a bunch girls!!!  This helped me a lot (specially convincing DH ).  We're actually planning on moving to St. Charles or St. Peters (I've never been there, but we'll be going in May or June), I've always lived in California like weather, I've driven in the snow and around ice but not too often (only on business trips). 

I have to confess I'm getting really excited about it!!!  My house (I inhereted from my mom) got an offer today so I'm going to review the paper work tomorrow and make my decision, when it sells, we'll have enough money for the down payment and a bit more!  And I'm starting to look for a job out there!  Can't wait to start looking at the houses in person!

Angelina1003

i agree with above posters. and i have to add i love your dig pic!! i have a 100lb chocolate lab! he would totally find himself in that situation!!

Pil

Too funny!!!  Our chocolate lab is almost 5 yrs. old and only about 50 Lbs...  Marley on the other hand is a little bit older than 1 yr (born Xmas day 2006) and she's about 80 Lbs... Soooo unfair for Mia!!! LOL

glassslipper68

I got a honda crv and it works very well..I don't work right now but we didn't have very much snow on the avg these past few years to warrant having to buy a 4 wd.

Disneygeek77

Actually what I think is funny is that when it does snow here a lot of the cars that I see on the side of the road are SUVs.  Even though they have 4wd they still go too fast. 

Pil

LOL That's funny :-)  I'm sure I'll drive like an old lady for a few years while I get used to driving in the snow... 

geochic3

I live in St. Peters and my Accord does great in the snow!  I really worry about some of the other drivers more than how my car handles.  Like pp said, some people just don't know how to slow down!