John Welsh said:In reply to sevenracer :
I'll admit, I'm very curious what causes a person to move from Florida to Duluth, MN? Escaping the oppressive heat to get to the oppressive cold?
Does it help if I told you it wasn't directly FL to Duluth but in the middle had a 1 yr stint in Kwajalein ? Yeah, didn't think so 
She stayed in FL way longer than she intended, caring for her mom, so now she's engaging in some career adventurism. Not sure Duluth is a forever home, but it's good for now.
There is a Subaru dealership in Duluth, so there's that.
I think I'd buy a Mazda and drive the two hours to Minny when needed before buying a Subaru. Maybe I am overly biased. :) I also like the Twin Cities, so it'd be a good excuse to go. My dad has a 2015 Mazda 3 that he bought new, and he goes the the dealership maybe once a year. He got the extended warranty and the car has needed nothing except oil changes and one set of tires. Same drivetrain as all the utes you'd be looking at.
I have had too many issues with Subarus to feel confident buying one. But hey, I haven't dealt with a 2.0, just the 2.5, so maybe that fixes everything, but I don't like flat fours and the driving experience is far behind any Mazda. I want to like them, I really do as they check a lot of boxes. The Crosstrek in particular gets a better AWD system than some other models IIRC.
Rented a Corolla Cross recently for a weekend trip, and it was not my favorite. My wife has a 2016 Forester and even that vehicle was more comfortable than the Corolla. Hard plastics abound and it wasn't super inspiring in the curves (not that it's built for that).
But, as with anything, probably worth finding a Carmax or other non-brand specific dealer and taking a few for a drive if that's possible. To me seating position and visibility are key, but personal height absolutely plays into that.
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