I bought this car because it sits up high, came in standard, and has a full sized spare tire. I was replacing a 1987 Volvo 240 wagon, which was basically a glass box. Not sexy, but very good visibility. This car was the closest I could come to that, and I got AWD. This is not a pretty car, but it has been fairly reliable. I believe I have replaced every sensor that came with the vehicle, but it has been down more than two days only once. I really like the AWD, it has gotten me home, up my hill, through poorly plowed roads more than once.

When I first started driving the car it was hard to get used to the continuous variable transmissions. I was so used to driving vehicles with regular automatic transmissions that I felt that something was wrong with it. After knowing this was normal I actually like it better, you don't feel those shifts in gears and everything feels so smooth. The engine is powerful as well, it is able to take off very fast without hesitation.