OT: sportwagen

[Mzilliox]

was just in Buenos Aires for a bit, it looked like 2/3rds of the cars were wagons, i was envious. so many rad looking wagons everywhere. what is it about us that doesn't like wagons? its the most practical car for the average family by miles it would seem. gas aint cheap anymore. so what the heck gives?

[jb_11]

Actually, gas is pretty cheap right now.

[gemship]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

No VW JSW TDIs had all wheel drive...

That's good to know. It's funny anything I own I get pretty geeky about but when it comes to car shopping I'm a bit late to the game. About four months ago when I replaced my truck with my current wheels, the Outback I just had it in my mind that Subaru pretty much checked all the boxes at least for me with that car model in the used market place so that's what I got. However I just can't stop looking at used cars. I'm giving this one fours years at least and then I maybe in the market for something else. Nice to know VW makes something similar.

[R3awak3n]

Originally Posted by Mzilliox

was just in Buenos Aires for a bit, it looked like 2/3rds of the cars were wagons, i was envious. so many rad looking wagons everywhere. what is it about us that doesn't like wagons? its the most practical car for the average family by miles it would seem. gas aint cheap anymore. so what the heck gives?

I ask myself that everytime I see a giant SUV or a pickup that looks like it has never been used for what it is meant to be.

I just had an argument with a friend that wants a gigantic SUV and his excuse was I want to keep my family protected. I just rolled my eyes.

[velofinds]

America is exceptional, didn't you all know?

[thirdgenbird]

Originally Posted by velofinds

The wheels in question are the 18" Karthoum from VW's parts catalog. I had the smoked (gunmetal) version on my old car; they also came in silver.

I want a pair of these in silver (and have an extra set of 16in steel wheels)

Originally Posted by Mzilliox

was just in Buenos Aires for a bit, it looked like 2/3rds of the cars were wagons, i was envious. so many rad looking wagons everywhere. what is it about us that doesn't like wagons? its the most practical car for the average family by miles it would seem. gas aint cheap anymore. so what the heck gives?

My wife and I are expecting our first kid. It’s normal for people to ask me if/when we are selling our Golf and Sportwagen for family cars.

[likebikes]

it's funny, station wagons were THE family car until the early 90s or so?

and pretty much the definition of an "uncool car".

still love wagons.

[Morgul Bismark]

Pretty excited for the new Volvo V60 and V60 Cross Country.

I could see picking up a V60 CC T5 in a couple years. While I'd like the power of the new T6, the twin-charge (turbo & supercharger together) make me really leery about long term ownership.

[likebikes]

i grew up in new england in the 90s.

pretty much every family had a volvo 7/940, or an 850 with the 3rd row seat option that folded up from the cargo floor. just hope you didn't get in a rear end accident with kids in the back.

[AngryScientist]

Originally Posted by likebikes

i grew up in new england in the 90s.

pretty much every family had a volvo 7/940, or an 850 with the 3rd row seat option that folded up from the cargo floor. just hope you didn't get in a rear end accident with kids in the back.

haha, we had both a buick and an oldsmobile wagon with that exact same set-up. if i recall correctly, the rearmost passengers were sitting directly on the gas tank. we all made it out alive though!

[DRZRM]

All those pics of wagons with a third row. The family drove up to Chicago (two kids, getting big at 8 & 10) last week, and rather than putting the miles on our car and listening to them fight in the back seat, we grabbed a university fleet car with a third row. It was a big Ford Explorer. Each kid got his own row, did Legos, had books and toys, almost no fighting and almost no complaints for either 8.5 hour leg.

We own a Jetta sportwagen and a Subaru Outback, both are fine, but they feel a bit cramped for longer road trips. Both the wife and kids were like "We should get an SUV." Just out of curiosity, are there any large wagons still being made with a third row? I think there is a Mercedes, but we don't want to spend that kind of coin.

[charliedid]

[QUOTE=AngryScientist;2482218]haha, we had both a buick and an oldsmobile wagon with that exact same set-up. if i recall correctly, the rearmost passengers were sitting directly on the gas tank. we all made it out alive though!


Yep so did we. Drove all across the county on family vacations year round. Brought the dog too!

Great cars for our dad to help with the two paper routes my sister and I did.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by R3awak3n

I ask myself that everytime I see a giant SUV or a pickup that looks like it has never been used for what it is meant to be.

I just had an argument with a friend that wants a gigantic SUV and his excuse was I want to keep my family protected. I just rolled my eyes.

And a LOT of these are 2WD!!
Wagons, like the Volvo, BMW, Audi, VW are great cars but marketing has driven 'demand' towards all these 'upright' wagons, called SUVs, of various sizes. Daughter in Law has had 3..a Kia(junque), a Honda CRV(nice but small area behind back seats) and now Pilot..which is YUGE but really nice auto but BIG..and tall. She commented the other day when driving with wife in our VW GSW, how nice it seemed, size wise..like a mid size car but with lotsa rom in back, behind the rear seats.

[GScot]

All of this Sportwagen talk is interesting. We had a TDI that was a great car but turned it in after the diesel shenanigans. We replaced it with something fun and fast that we intend to keep but now that refurb TDIs are available we may pick one up as my wife has a bit of a commute now and a wagon would be handy again too.

[BikeNY]

Originally Posted by DRZRM

All those pics of wagons with a third row. The family drove up to Chicago (two kids, getting big at 8 & 10) last week, and rather than putting the miles on our car and listening to them fight in the back seat, we grabbed a university fleet car with a third row. It was a big Ford Explorer. Each kid got his own row, did Legos, had books and toys, almost no fighting and almost no complaints for either 8.5 hour leg.

We own a Jetta sportwagen and a Subaru Outback, both are fine, but they feel a bit cramped for longer road trips. Both the wife and kids were like "We should get an SUV." Just out of curiosity, are there any large wagons still being made with a third row? I think there is a Mercedes, but we don't want to spend that kind of coin.

Now you've gone and spoiled them with all that room on that trip, bad move!

I don't think any of the new wagons have a third row, or at least a usable third row. Personally, I think the nicest wagon out there right now is the Volvo V90, and that new V60 looks really nice as well.

The way I see it, if you need (or want) that much room, a big SUV or minivan is the only was to get it. There aren't a lot of big wagons out there, and even the biggest ones are still way smaller than the biggest SUV, and they are from luxury companies, so pricey.

Personally, if I wanted a vehicle with that much room, I would opt for a minivan. Tons of room, much easier to access the third row, and better fuel economy.

We did a family trip this past summer to Montana and spent 4 long days in a rental Chrysler Pacifica touring Yellowstone and the Tetons. My wife and I, my father in law, my son(20) and my 2 daughters(17 & 13), and we were perfectly comfortable, easy in and out, and so many cup holders! My kids actually started calling it the Ferrari of minivans! That might have something to do with my driving though...

As others have mentioned, I think it makes sense to just rent a big vehicle for those rare long trips, and keep your day to day car of a reasonable size. Even with 3 kids, our biggest vehicle is a VW Tiguan, which is surprisingly roomy in the second row. If it's not all 5 of us traveling, we take my VW GSW TDI and enjoy 50mpg and no fill ups for 500-600 miles.