Small snow friendly cars?

[cynthiamoon]

** I orig posted this in the "safety" forum, but realized this is probably a better fit**

Currently we are a one car house, and that works for us. I mostly bike or bus and my SO drives the car on a long commute everyday. I haven't had a car in 3 yrs and kinda hate to drive... However, with a LO on the way and my job situation requiring more flexible transportation, we've decided to get a second car.

I'd use his car (sadly, a gas guzzler SUV) and he'd get a small, efficient car (maybe a hybrid?) since he's the one who really packs on the miles. However, we're running into an issue. We live in Denver, and snows/iced roads are very common in the winter, especially on the side streets that don't get plowed. 

Does anyone know of a small, fuel efficient car with 4-wheel drive that would be spacious and safe enough to strap a kiddo into? Our budget is 20-30k, but we start getting nervous closer to 30k. 

We were looking at a Honda Fit or a Prius before thinking of snow, but with today's sprinkle we had a "DOH!" moment. 

[KSLaura]

We have a Honda CRV (all wheel drive) that works pretty well in the snow.

[roadfamily6now]

SUBARU

[Daffodil]

I also have a Honda CRV.  This is the first winter I've had it and we've barely had any snow so far, but I'm assuming it will do well.  The mileage is lower than the Honda Fit, but not all that much lower, and it's in your price range.  If all-wheel drive is important to you, that would be a good one to consider.  But probably you'd be fine with front-wheel drive and good snow tires.  We live in a snowy place, and my DP usually has no trouble getting around in his ancient Honda Civic with studded snow tires.  There are times he can't make it up our driveway without chains (when I can with 4-wheel drive), but we have a really long, steep driveway. 

[honeybee80]

I have a Toyota Matrix and I LOVE it!  It's not 4 wheel drive, but I have studded snow tires that I use in the winter and it handles like it's AWD with those.  I go to the mountains pretty frequently and have never had a problem in the snow.  Gas mileage is pretty good and it can hold a LOT of stuff, too!  I went on a 3 week road trip with my 2 kids and my friend and her son were with us for a week of that and we all fit in the car comfortably and had a Thule box on the roof to hold some stuff that wouldn't fit in the trunk.

[cynthiamoon]

Thanks for all the ideas! This weekend is when we are going to start visiting dealerships and stuff.