My girlfriend moved to Denver and wants an AWD vehicle to play

>>16315192

Oh and I know there's a sticky, but its been there for years and things had to have changed by now.

>>16315192
Get an xj

>>16315213

why? Those are so old at this point that reliability will be an issue. Am I wrong?

>>16315229
If you can find one that isn't abused, it'll be fine.

>>16315235

hmmm... maybe keep the mazda and get a cheap XJ.

what would you recommend for model year, trim level, engine, etc

Subaru can't be beat in the winter time in my opinion. Look at the Forester or Forester XT if she wants a little more get up and go. The newer ones with the CVT are kinda shitty, and older gens in stick are unicorns (Here in Ontario, Canada anyways.). Best thing is that they hold their value like no other. Impreza hatchback/wagon is a great choice too.

>>16315261

that's what i tried to tell her, but she claims to hate subarus. So that's a tough sell.

I think mainly she wants more lift, and more space to bring her pitbull with her.

>>16315229
Not him, but 97-2001 models are still around in large numbers in good condition. Pre-'97 should be avoided as 'enthusiast-only'. Yes, it's old at this point. But the revamp models are the youngest of the bunch by a bit and not all that old yet.

Yes, there's a list of stuff to check, and a list of stuff to do. Rust being the primary. The second being installing a headlight relay harness. Okay, I don't actually know about that on the Chrysler models, but on the older Renix XJs the wiring was shite thin and routed through the dashboard and posed a fire hazard. A rather real one. At any rate, they're perfectly fine, dead-ass simple, parts are cheap.

The upside of all of this is that XJs are still $1-4k all damn day, and $4k is gonna get you something in pristine condition with a few, usually good, modifications and good tires. Also probably a small, smart lift. The axles on the '97-01 are also decent, the Chrysler 8.8 being a MUCH needed improvement over the old Dana 35 rear end that would likely give out when offroading.

I don't like WJs that much. The ZJ styling was better in my opinion, but there's too much electrical stuff to go wrong in a WJ and too much of a tendency for it to do so. In an XJ it's at least easy to get to.

t. MJ owner.

>>16315287
Change the front badge with an audi logo or something

>>16315261
I've got a CrossTrek. They're a little on the small side, but for a girl looking for something decent off road, I would recommend it. Only problem is I don't know if you'd find one for 10K yet, it's not a very old model

>>16315192
get the fuck out of my state you carpet bagging pieces of shit REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

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I liked my WJ. The electrical issues do happen, for me it was window regulators. I replaced all 4 within the 30k miles I drove it. It ran and drove well and I was a teenager and I beat the hell out of it but it took all of it except that one part where I was pissed off and drifted it into a ditch and rolled it over. It protected me well though. 9/10 would buy again