Back in the fall of 2010, my dad and I had one thing in mind as we browsed the used car lots of northern Indiana in search for a vehicle properly equipped to brave Iowa winters: four-wheel drive.

As the oldest of four and perhaps not the most sensible driver, he’d saved me from effectively stranding myself with everything from late-night flat tires to ill-advised winter donuts in subdivision cul-de-sacs.

He’d heard horror stories of Iowa winters and even experienced an April snow on my parents’ wedding day in northwest Iowa 24 years ago, so he realized the importance of this feature on whatever car I’d soon head west in.