Posting for a relative of mine, and looking for ideas I haven't thought of.
Here's what we're looking for, none of these are negotiable, and there is no trade-in to consider.
AWD
Four doors
Wagon/SUV/CUV body style. No sedans.
Large-ish back seat. lots of leg room so the kidlets in carseats aren't always kicking the back of the driver seat.
MUST NOT take premium fuel.
MUST be available for a LEASE with $0 down and max monthly payment of $600, prefer under $500 (on 24 or 36 month lease). Seems like that means max cash price of around $35,000
Annual KM of under 20,000.
Subaru Forester and Ford Escape are current strong contenders.