10 Best Values in All-Wheel-Drive Vehicles

When you have to drive on the white stuff—or, worse, a wintry mix—you want to feel confident that you can get where you're going.

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When you have to drive on the white stuff—or, worse, a wintry mix—you want to feel confident that you can get where you're going. All-wheel drive or four-wheel drive can give you that assurance. With power directed to all four wheels at the same time, vehicles with these systems provide better traction than two-wheel-drive vehicles.

All-wheel-drive systems may be full-time or part-time. With part-time systems, power is sent to one set of wheels, and the other set is automatically powered when needed for traction. Four-wheel-drive systems are primarily designed for off-road use and may have selectable drive modes for different types of terrain.

NEW: See our AWD picks for 2016

In preparation for colder weather, we recommend 10 2015 vehicles equipped with all-wheel drive that offer a shovelful of value—as measured by our annual rankings. We reward resale value, fuel economy, safety and more, so these vehicles are well rounded. All of our picks were either Best in Class or Best New Model winners for the 2014 model year. Six of the 10 were awarded Top Safety Picks by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Take a look to see our top picks in order from smallest to largest.

Jessica L. Anderson
Associate Editor, Kiplinger's Personal Finance
Anderson has been with Kiplinger since January 2004, when she joined the staff as a reporter. Since then, she's covered the gamut of personal finance issues—from mortgages and credit to spending wisely—and she heads up Kiplinger's annual automotive rankings. She holds a BA in journalism and mass communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She was the 2012 president of the Washington Automotive Press Association and serves on its board of directors. In 2014, she was selected for the North American Car and Truck Of the Year jury. The awards, presented at the Detroit Auto Show, have come to be regarded as the most prestigious of their kind in the U.S. because they involve no commercial tie-ins. The jury is composed of nationally recognized journalists from across the U.S. and Canada, who are selected on the basis of audience reach, experience, expertise, product knowledge, and reputation in the automotive community.