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Modern day AWD comes in different types. 1. Full time AWD: vehicle stays on AWD mode all the time and vehicle will have a center differential which will alter the power going to the front and rear wheels to allow the vehicle to steer without an issue. 2. On demand AWD: the vehicle stays primarily as 2WD(most FWD) and the vehicle automatically kicks in the AWD system when it detects loss of grip on the primary 2 wheels 3. Part time AWD: This is similar to the on demand system, only difference is that the user has to press a button to turn on the AWD system. This could be called as 4WD as well.

AWD - function use as a safety feature in my opinion and it's works really well, Safety come last in the list for most of the SL motorist. Last time when i was at SL few said to me about the seat belt law and they were pissed about that, they only follow that because of the law not because of the safety. How much your life worth? most of you struggle to think of a number. So don't worry about the extra liter of fuel that you burn for safety. Any money you spending for safety is an investment. regards JC

If so while the engine is running on idle (750 RPM) at engine working temperature pull out the PCV while it is still attached to the hose and check if RSO/RSC PWM comes to its values shown in datasheet. Be careful when you pull out the PCV because the rubber grommet may have become hard unless it has been replaced recently.

There you go....to sum everything up....you have all the facts...for the slightly higher price tag and slightly lower fuel efficiency you get quite a few benefits in terms of safety, driveability and utility. At the end of the day it all depends on you and what you intend to do with the car. If you are only going to be using it to go to the local super market on weekends, then the practicality of the AWD variant would be questionable. As for resell-ability....we have never had problems selling off our AWDs. As long as the prices (after depreciation) are reasonable then it will sell. Only time we got hit by a huge and utter loss was when the duty structure changed. So you have a greater risk of losing money because of the duty structure changes than because the car was AWD.

Whether a car, especially of the vintage you are looking at, will make you sink in garage costs is dependent on how the car has been maintained by previous owners more than the reliability ratings of the car when it was new. So get it checked properly by the agents and/or a reputed 3rd party car check place rather than just going for a car just because it looks shiny. The "Fit" and a few other Hondas of that era are known to develop CVT issues (CVT issues can develop in others cars as well and no reason to demonize the car for it...). So look in to transmission issues and any maintenance done on it. Apart from that the engine variants have been generally solid (again..provided it had been taken care of....) Also, please remember that the Fit Aria was assembled in Thailand and exported to Japan. A lot of car salesmen and owners feel they can raise the price considerably higher than that of the City by claiming that it is manufactured in Japan (which its not....)..

No...really hard on most crossovers unless its on loose gravel. Even then it will only be for a fraction of a second.

I have to disagree. AWD and 4WD (4X4) are different things. A lot of people think they're the same thing. I use an AWD car and I am not a 4X4 enthusiast, but I really enjoy the stability of my car on twisty roads, bad weather and snow (and even on a daily basis on feeways etc.). Let me clarify: All wheel drive is when a car uses limited slip differentials or electronic clutches to split torque to each wheel as required. This means the car will remain remarkably stable as the wheels with the most grip receive the highest torque. 4WD is just a temporary setting that is switched on to lock front and rear differentials to create an equal torque split between the front and rear wheels. Having said that, there are AWD vehicles on which you can lock the diff., but not all AWD cars are 4X4. I assume you're referring to Mazda's iActiv AWD system. There is a difference between the 2WD Cx-5 and the iActiv AWD version. You're just not going to notice it in city traffic. But if you're driven on a slippery road or if any of the wheels lose traction, the AWD system will definitely show it's colours. In your case (and I suppose the local context where we don't drive on snow or in the desert) , it's more of a safety feature where the car will be more stable than it's 2WD counterpart. As for maintenance, I doubt it will be that significant as members have stated above. The differential oil does require changing, but the interval is like 50,000km or so (please don't quote me on this), so it's not going to be frequent. I don't think fuel consumption will be drastically higher either as the iActiv system, like their SkyActiv system is meant to be very efficient. At least that's that they say.

AWD is not just to get you out when you are stuck in mud or help you when the road is full of snow. AWD systems are setup so that it activates on a stand-still start, loose grip on cornering, etc....so yes AWD can be useful even when there is no snow. Been having AWD cars for the better part of the last 2 decades....for me..yes it was "worth" it even in SL. My family travels quite a lot out of Colombo (and I have worked in areas that are quite sh****y) and the AWD has been quite useful. Apart from that...the AWD vehicles have stronger suspension components than sedans, etc...so whilst our Corollas and Fits and Civics went through several suspension component swaps the AWDs lasted a bit more. Sri Lankans automatically think heavier cars are a lot worst on fuel consumption than lighter cars. Its really not too far off. Have plenty of friends who have the 2WD variants of the AWD vehicles I have had and there fuel consumption over long periods of time is highly negligible (and yes...they have all had times where they wished their 2WD variants were AWD).