That’s what we call a win/win situation.  

We passed a law against it - too many Californians and texans with bald tires blocking the highways, now it’s AWD/4WD or you carry chains (or risk your car getting impounded - I didn’t even drive my Vette with snow tires if there was risk of snow, didn’t want to fetch my car from the pokey after some unknown number of…

Awesome.  Can I get it without the extra weight of the wagon junk?  

Had the GTI in the past. Was planning on making a swap this spring and the Si won, but house issues delayed that (daily is a BMW, this would have been a “fun car” to add to the stable for 3 or so years). Seriously, first Honda since the S2k that I had an absolute blast driving - it likes being “fun” more than the GTI…

And then they got rid of that with the Torsion beam. ‘Tis gone, my friend.

You’ll love the SI. 

Every time I’ve looked at the Mazda 3, this was the result.  First time - Bought a new 04 SVT Focus instead.  Second time, bought a pickup (07 Frontier) new.  Third time, in 2014, bought a used G37.  Didn’t bother this time - I’ve outgrown Mazda, and their “nice” isn’t nice enough - nor does it have the balls to back…

Just wait for the lease incentives.  :)  

Decent engines combined with AWD. On the 5-series, I can get a Turbo 4 cylinder, turbo-6, turbo-8, or absurd turbo-8, all with AWD or RWD.

Leases.  

Cadillac/Volvo dealer, which is an odd mix. They’re supposed to be good, and they were quite polite and nice, but not willing to make any moves on a car they were SURE would sell just fine (it didn’t; sat there almost a year).

It is both terrible and wonderful at the same time. January convertible weather is hilariously fun, but this year was, well, miserable. I’ve run snow tires on a Corvette - it just wasn’t worth it, in the end, and outside a true toy, I don’t bother with summers anymore. And I make sure that the daily is AWD so I can…

ATS.  Tack on the pinstriping, nitrogen tires, and the “we just had it at the car show, it had a lot of interest!” refusal to discount, and the loaded coupe was 55k and they weren’t budging.  It did have every option except the V6, and was AWD too.  

It’s not peace of mind, it’s legality - we made it illegal here unless you have chains, because too many Texans didn’t bother getting winter tires (literally). Now it’s AWD/4WD or stay home. :(

I live outside of Denver on the side of a mountain. Last year we had 10 snows of 12" or more. Aside from that, this is Colorado - RWD+Snow tires is not legal at times in the winter (unless you have chains) - it’s called the Positive Traction Law, and it’s due to the number of folks that said “I’ll get winter tires”,…

Malibu called; it wants its shifter back.  

Being another choice in a crowded field, especially when you don’t have the options that your direct competitors do, is not a good place to be.  That’s phoning it in, although I do see your point.

The only sports-SUV thing I’d really consider is the Porsche family - the Cayenne is gravity defying, and I suspect the Macan is even better. I’ve done the top-end RR Sport, and it ... was a really freaking fast Range Rover. Trying to corner felt ~WRONG~ somehow - like trying to do the same in my Wrangler, which…

Hmm. So I haven’t driven the Accord since the mid-2000s V6/6-speed manual days, and I haven’t driven the non-V ATS since... 2014?

I own a car for 3-4 years. Long term reliability is not anywhere on my list of concerns :)