Thanks for all the advice and for the congrats, it is appreciated. I now have some interesting food for thought. I really want to stay away from FWD because where I live( rural Canada) we can sometimes be two or three days without a snowplow, and when it comes it often blocks the driveway, not enough to stop my truck but usually trouble for the Jetta even wth good Nokians all the way around. One thing I find about the car with very good winter tires is that on ice or packed snow it holds the road better than the truck. So now that I have more info I may consider an AWD minivan, but an new Sienna is $62,000 Cdn after tax-that is way out of my league. Could look at a Dodge but really really don't like the high depreciation. Please keep the info coming I really appreciate having different trains of thought to help me make the best decision.
Take care,
Mike M.