During the part of my life when I lived in an intensely snowy climate, I never had a vehicle with four-wheel drive, and never had any issues. Four-wheel drive is a crutch to get you into situations your brakes can't get you out of.
That being said, I would not trade my AWD Mazda 3. I've had to rock it once so far this season the morning after I plunged it into an unplowed slot during the last lake effect storm.
AWD isn't a necessity, but it sure feels like a cheat-code. No bricks, no kitty litter. I haven't had to exit my vehicle in the last years I've been driving it around upstate NY.
The AWD vehicle has a more complex drivetrain, will be more expensive to maintain and probably get worse gas mileage. Friends of mine swear by Subaru but I think they are crazy. If I wanted AWD I think I’d look for a small SUV like a Ford Escape.
Subaru does do a very good job with the symmetrical AWD, letting you feel overconfident and forget that you have awful braking traction.
I took my G37x to just shy of 300,000 miles with no major issues, and it wouldn’t get stuck until the snow was above its bumpers.
I don't think I'd ever get one of the premium brand cars new (e.g. Acura, Lexus, Mercury, etc.) but the premium you pay for a premium brand is a lot less in a used car than a new car. Also an older premium car is going to more technically up to date than an older entry level car.
I usually buy 2 ish maybe 3 years old, with <30,000 miles but I’ll probably go a little higher the next time I purchase.
When I bought the Infiniti though, my desired specs were based on price (I paid $18k when I bought my 2013 Infiniti g37x in 2015).
Having awd, and above 300hp. My unexpected expenses have been wheel bearing replacements. But aside from that nothing major.
My next car purchase is a convertible probably a bmw m6, or a Mercedes amg 63 s.
I can’t get over knowing however that both of those are bad choices in cars to buy.
So instead I’ll probably buy something with less hp, awd, convertible, and higher reliability/cost to own. If it exists.