Hi! I’m looking to buy a car within the next month or two, and am pretty much a noob when it comes to cars, but am trying to learn and educate myself more on the topic. I recently moved to Wisconsin, and am leaning towards some kind of mid sized SUV (although would be open to sedans as well) that would be adequate for the winter weather here. One of my biggest concerns amongst my research has been rust, as I live in the rust belt. Are they certain rust-prone cars that I should avoid? What cars tend to not rust, or is it really dependent on my own preventative measures like a fluid film undercoating? I also am debating between CVTs and Automatic transmissions (is it a good idea to get one of the more reliable CVTs, or just avoid them all together?). Also, I am leaning towards the CPO route. Is that the way to go?
Budget: about 25K
My top choices and concerns about each one:
2023 or newer: Mazda CX5 (concerned about rust, heard that paint is thin/poor quality and leads to rust)
2023 or newer: Mazda CX30 (same concerns as CX5, also overall size is a concern)
2020 or newer: Subaru Crosstrek (rust concerns, CVT)
2019 or newer: Honda CR-V (CVTs, Honda tax worth it?)
2019 or newer: Toyota RAV4 (rust buckets?, subpar interior, driving comfort?, Toyota tax worth reliability?)
2019 or newer: Honda HR-V (CVTs)
2019 or newer: Toyota Corolla Cross (rust, CVTs)
2019 or newer: Toyota Corolla (AWD enough for winter?, rust, CVTs)
Please feel free to recommend me an option that isn’t listed, in addition to any feedback on my existing concerns. Thank you!