We just bought a 07 Chrysler Aspen. It has every feature we wanted and we are thrilled, the only catch is that it is rwd. We would have loved to have the 4wd but couldnt find one with the quad seating, leather, NAV, etc and low miles. The dealer said we would be ok in the snow in the Kansas City area. Does anyone have suggestions or has anyone had any problems?

I am a paranoid parent so I just want to take every precaution with my child in the snow.

Thank you for your help.

 

We just had a 12 inch snow last week (indiana) i have the all wheel drive went thru some big snow drifts i dont think a rear wheel drive would have made it. All wheel drive no problem,really glad i have the 4x4 now.

 

I would give it a go with nothing done to the Aspen, and see how it handles it. If you are finding yourself constantly sliding around, or having difficulty on flat ground, then I would suggest a couple of sand bags (any kind of weight) over the rear wheels. The weight will improve traction severely. If it has traction control, your one step ahead, it really does make a difference.

 

I didn't know the 07 models never came equipped with the all wheel drive. I thought they all were.

 

RWD in the snow isn't usually very pretty, hence the reason FWD cars became so popular. Drive it carefully and see how it goes. Make sure you have appropriate tires installed for the snow. If all else fails, go back to the same dealer and try to make a deal on an AWD trade-in.

We skipped the dealer search and found an AWD loaded 2008 (every available option) the next state over with 18k miles on Ebay. It was worth the trouble to get exactly what we wanted, and we still purchased from a Chrysler dealer.

 

all you people have to move to the sunshine state no snow to deal with just sand

 

Although this is an old thread and I am new on here I can only say I drove vehicles with rear 2WD for many years and with decent snow tires they can go very well, but you need to learn how to drive in snow with them. When the snow gets too deep for snow tires just add chains. the only thing that will beat that set up is a true 4WD with Limited slip rear end and chains on all four. When you stick that set up be ready to call a BIG TOW Truck because you will be stuck beyond belief!!!!!

 

My Aspen did fine last year, and we had lots of snow (for KC). I have very good AT tires with the snowflake symbol. I added 3 sandbags to the rear-most cargo area (behind 3rd seat). We got around fine. Sure, 4x4 would have been better, but I had no choice. I did notice that Chrysler's ESP seems to be a little more forgiving/lenient (allows more slippage) than Ford's. I also had a 2wd V8 Sport Trac a few years ago. In it, you couldn't spin the tires if you wanted to. The Aspen allows some slippage before ESP kicks in.

I agree with DAD. I grew up in ND for the first 23 years of my life. In my early years, we never had 4x4. We got by fine with 2wd half-tons, with sand bags in back and posi in the rear. We could follow our neighbor's Suburban wherever he went. He would often get "wet", and our Fords would keep on plowing.