as we say in french, i am ''preaching for my parish"...my girlfriend has
been working for a vw dealer for 20 years and selling cars for 15... so
beside my old vws we always had a new car in front of the house. for the
past two years, we had several   n. beetles and still have one...these are
fun cars ( i think i do not have to explain more), we put kayaks or bicycles
on it or  just drive for the fun...and we enjoy it.

 we had always put narrower snow and ice  tires for our winters, but with
this car, the garage  has put on  large 16" winter tires and it is still
marvelous to drive in the snow, and we did have quite a bit already this
year! if you were in quebec city, you could rent one for 23.$ (15.$us) per
day, and really try it, i still think it is the way to go...
good luck in your new year decisions!
pierre a. lachance
lac beauport, quebec
www.geocities.com/lachancepa/