OT: sportwagen

[Likes2ridefar]

Had that exact cx5 color in signature trim for a rental not too long ago. I thought it was a nice car, and very comparable at first glance to my loaded X3. Less power -a lot less, a clunky shifter (ruined forever with the joystick beemer), and smaller touchscreen display, but aside from that I’d be hard pressed to complain for a car that is much cheaper. Clearly a smarter buy compared to my X3 that cost nearly twenty K more brand new than the signature.

[Blue Jays]

Originally Posted by CDollarsign

"...Let’s hope it doesn’t have too much lineage to the old A6 based allroad.
I had a 2004 2.7T allroad and it was a complete nightmare..."

My understanding is that this fresh new A6 Allroad vehicle has not yet arrived at Audi dealerships just yet. Very curious!
My desire is to stick with a wagon, yet given our nation's deteriorating roadways, a SUV with light-duty truck tires is alluring.
That is the reason that I am cross-comparing nice wagons with a SUV as a potential bicycle-hauler.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by Blue Jays

My understanding is that this fresh new A6 Allroad vehicle has not yet arrived at Audi dealerships just yet. Very curious!
My desire is to stick with a wagon, yet given our nation's deteriorating roadways, a SUV with light-duty truck tires is alluring.
That is the reason that I am cross-comparing nice wagons with a SUV as a potential bicycle-hauler.

Remember that small SUVs certainly have a higher cargo area, but a lot of them are lots shorter..My daughter-in-laws Honda CRV had a tiny cargo area..my VW JSW/GSW were both deeper.
Small 4 door truck..seems 'almost' perfect except due to demand, they are BIG BUXX.

[Blue Jays]

/\/\/\

Very good points you have made above, oldpotatoe.
I have noticed some of the smaller SUV models do indeed have a "truncated box" cargo area just as you described.
In comparison, the nicer high-end wagons often have longer cargo and seats that tend to fold flatter for nicer loading.

[CDollarsign]

I am considering moving from my A4 wagon to the previous generation Q5 (2017) and the boot is considerably smaller, albeit taller. I would much rather work with more length than height...

[likebikes]

anyone considering selling a sportwagen in the 6-12-18-24 month timeframe? i’m willing to fly out…

must be manual transmission, no preference on diesel or gas engine.

[batman1425]

Originally Posted by likebikes

anyone considering selling a sportwagen in the 6-12-18-24 month timeframe? i’m willing to fly out…

must be manual transmission, no preference on diesel or gas engine.

I'd consider selling mine but it is an auto. '16, SEL, all the bells and whistles, gas engine, CPO warranty for another 6mo, just under 70k mi.

[likebikes]

Originally Posted by likebikes

anyone considering selling a sportwagen in the 6-12-18-24 month timeframe? i’m willing to fly out…

must be manual transmission, no preference on diesel or gas engine.

^

a year later bump?

[thwart]

Originally Posted by likebikes

^

a year later bump?

We’ve had a deposit down on the new VW Buzz since the Spring… that vehicle may replace my 6 spd MT 4-motion Sportwagen, 2017 model year. Or possibly my wife’s 2012 Toyota Prius V (also a discontinued model… there may be a message here).

[old fat man]

Originally Posted by likebikes

anyone considering selling a sportwagen in the 6-12-18-24 month timeframe? i’m willing to fly out…

must be manual transmission, no preference on diesel or gas engine.

I traded in my leased 2019 alltrack SE MT early towards my wife's Atlas. Got good money for the alltrack but now that I'm faced with replacing our older Honda pilot, I sorely miss the alltrack. They're very rare on used market and going for quite a bit more than what I traded it in for.

I'm looking at used RDX or Outbacks as a possible Pilot replacement. Not interested in the automatic VWs. Not worth the likely long term maintenance costs above 100k miles compared to Acura or Subaru

[.RJ]

Good luck if you're shopping - https://bringatrailer.com/listing/20...lf-alltrack-6/

While this is certainly top of the market with the low miles and extra wheels, they are going to be hard to find cheap - this is the end of the road for 3 pedal wagons or reasonably priced wagons. I have a 2019 SEL 6MT that I'm holding onto as long as I can.

[avalonracing]

Originally Posted by .RJ

Good luck if you're shopping - https://bringatrailer.com/listing/20...lf-alltrack-6/

While this is certainly top of the market with the low miles and extra wheels, they are going to be hard to find cheap - this is the end of the road for 3 pedal wagons or reasonably priced wagons. I have a 2019 SEL 6MT that I'm holding onto as long as I can.

$38,000 for that with 20K miles.
They were selling these loaded for under $30K when the dealers were clearing them out. I was so close to buying one but I really wanted the extra "go" of the GTI. In retrospect, I probably should have got the 6-Speed wagon because we'll never see another.

[tv_vt]

Originally Posted by .RJ

Good luck if you're shopping - https://bringatrailer.com/listing/20...lf-alltrack-6/

While this is certainly top of the market with the low miles and extra wheels, they are going to be hard to find cheap - this is the end of the road for 3 pedal wagons or reasonably priced wagons. I have a 2019 SEL 6MT that I'm holding onto as long as I can.

Have you checked Cargurus for cars in your area? I'd start looking there. You can fliter for distance from your zip code and also for transmission options.

[C40_guy]

Originally Posted by avalonracing

In retrospect, I probably should have got the 6-Speed wagon because we'll never see another.

Could have said the same about this in 1980...thankfully.

[benb]

Originally Posted by Blue Jays

/\/\/\

Very good points you have made above, oldpotatoe.
I have noticed some of the smaller SUV models do indeed have a "truncated box" cargo area just as you described.
In comparison, the nicer high-end wagons often have longer cargo and seats that tend to fold flatter for nicer loading.

This seems to be a big thing. I notice this looking at lots of new vehicles in comparison to my Outback. The Outback's rear cargo area is 12"-16" longer than a lot of these new SUVs that outweigh it by 750-1000lbs.

I am not sure what's going on, whether it's styling or something else.

I think shortening the cargo area might improve the departure angle. But that makes very little sense because a lot of SUVs these days are down to 5-6" of ground clearance and have tire/wheel setups that are totally inappropriate for any off road use, so what's the point.

It may be the shortened cargo area is for moving the wheels out to the corners to improve handling and sacrifice the cargo area for extra passenger room. Hard to say there though as well, cause station wagon designs like the Outback always seem to have more rear leg room anyway. I really think the Outback remains a jacked up wagon more than an SUV, they just market it as an SUV.

The Crosstrek has the chopped cargo area, it's a lot smaller to begin with but it seems like they may have kept the cargo floor short to get both the departure angle and the rear seat room up, since it actually does have decent ground clearance and tire/wheel setup.