To stay on-topic, my commute this morning was uneventful. The usual 2 mile eBike commute. HOWEVER, I fully charged the Vektron S10 last night in anticipation of taking it on the club ride I'm leading tonight because I'm going to haul my cordless shop vac on the rack to vacuum up some broken glass at one intersection we ride through. It's a miracle that no one has flatted here, with all the auto glass around.
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Congrats Tom on the teaching position you've been working so hard for these last several years.
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Tundra Man, re. the AWD thing, I have some recent experience:

• Prior to a couple years ago, I'd had nothing but FWD cars with all season tires. Did OK except for the OEM tires on my '98 Civic, which were super-hard Firestones I was trying to wear out.
• A couple years ago, I bought a Subaru WRX, (AWD) which came on summer tires. I was obligated to either buy all seasons for the winter or for all season, or winter tires. I bought a set of spare tire wheels (cheap stamped steel ones) and a set of winter tires. Oh my goodness was that car a treat to drive in the snow! Having the winter tires mounted on separate wheels meant I could change them at home, and after a couple years, the wheels would pay for themselves in the form of saved cost having the shop swap tires twice a year. The summer tires were better in warmer weather than all seasons, but not as much better as winters are in the winter.
• Due to the really stiff ride and lack of cargo flexibility, I traded the WRX in on my current CR-V (AWD). It came on all seasons and I've been through a winter on them. They're nowhere NEAR as good as winter tires in the snow and cold rain.

The thing most people don't think about AWD until they get it is that it helps a LOT in acceleration in slick conditions, and a little in cornering, but not at all in braking. Since braking & cornering are the safety issues, it makes more sense to go to winter tires on FWD than all seasons with AWD. (if you can only have one)

It sounds like you have the opportunity to get AWD, but a set of winter tires on a cheap 2nd set of wheels will make all the difference for her. The only thing to watch for is that then, she will have the best tires on the road, so may want to be careful with braking, so as not to be rear-ended by The Other Guy! Only brake as hard as she needs to.

Brand-wise, Nissan has been decided 2nd tier in recent years. They used to be very reliable except that they rusted out easily. Stick with the other big Japanese brands: Toyota, Honda, Mazda or Subaru. Since you're buying used, maybe eliminate Subaru, as they tend to get head gasket problems at around 140k miles. Mazda are a bit "nicer" than Toyota and Honda, since they don't have a luxury brand to fall back on for the high end stuff; they have to split the difference with one brand. I test drove a bunch of these in the last couple years. Here's my quick analyses:

• 2024 Honda CR-V: Nice build, lots of space. The base 1.6L turbo engine is wimpy. I spent a bunch more for the hybrid. 2023 is the new model. A road or gravel bike will fit in the back with both wheels on and just a slight turn of the front wheel.
• 2025 Honda HR-V: Nice build, less space. The base 2 L engine is kind of wimpy. My wife bought one a couple months ago to replace her Subaru Crosstrek Sport, which was totaled in a crash. Handles really well. I think 2023 was the new model that is roomier.
• 2022 Subaru Crosstrek Sport: Great car for the 60k miles we had it. The Sport model has a 2.5 L engine which is powerful. Much quicker than my CR-V Sport, but not WRX level. A bit more roomy than the HR-V and a softer ride, but it didn't handle as well. Very reliable. Super-easy oil changes, with the oil filter right on the top. These are big sellers in the north of USA and in Canada, so there are a lot of good winter options: battery heater, oil pan heater.
• 2025 Toyota Corolla Cross: We test drove the conventional one, but wanted a hybrid. You can't really get the hybrids now unless you're willing to grab your ankles, as they have no competition in compact crossovers at the moment. This would've been our #1 choice. Interior is a bit more boring and handling wasn't as good as the HR-V. Nothing wrong with it, it just didn't feel as modern.
• 2025 Mazda CX-50: Not a very good ride, but it's not on account of being sporty, but having torsion beam rear suspension. I really wanted the Turbo version of this, but the far superior fuel economy, better ride and comparable handling on the CR-V Sport won me over.
• 2025 Mazda CX-5: A really nice car. No weaknesses. Starting to feel a bit old. Smaller than the CR-V, bigger than the HR-V. I almost bought the Turbo version of this. But again the CR-V Sport handles just as well, has more room and is much more fuel efficient. (I get 48 mpg around the suburbs in mine)
• 2025 Mazda CX-30: Really nice. My wife almost went with this instead of the HR-V. It's notably quicker, even with the base engine, Tight handling and just a bit "nicer". It's unapologetically small inside though, it's a jacked-up subcompact hatchback. You'd definitely need to take the front wheel off a bike to get it in the back.
• We didn't get to Nissan. Don't trust Mitsubishi; they don't have a great reputation.