Owned a 2g Fit before (replaced the BMW E39 touring disaster), also owned an IS300 sedan at one point. Drove a Versa once...hateful little thing! The Vibes/Matrixes are all gone from rust and oil consumption and the Elantras were always rare to begin with.
Loved the Fit aside from the back-breaking seats. The IS300 was thoroughly underwhelming (despite being a rare 5-speed) and returned abysmal fuel economy. I wanted to like it but couldn't; the Sportcross is an interesting idea but they're pretty rare and normally quite beat up when they come around (quite confident I could find a nicer Volvo for less).
I do appreciate the suggestions but I'm not really considering another small hatchback "wagon," I'd like something mid-sized or bigger. Besides SWMBO has a 6-speed Kia Soul so we're already covered on that front in the household. 
The 855R I had was a great car and reliable, thoroughly regret selling it, mostly wondering if there's an alternative I'm missing before I start beating the trees for a simpler T5 or GLT model (I have a fast fun car, I'm not dying for a fast daily).
I had a Saab 9-5 that I rather liked so that's a good suggestion, though I worry about ongoing parts availability as we get further away from their demise.
Saron81 said:
Wildcard: Ford Flex
My father has one and loves it, but we're drastically exceeding the arbitrary $3k-ish budget at that point.
I like 850s, but they are getting OLD at this point, and when I was shopping for one, it was very hard to find a nice one. If you can find one, congrats. I gave up.
I hate the MT in them, and prefer the auto actually. It’s not pleasing to operate in the slightest.
Id be looking for lookin for a Mazda5 or 6 wagon, but I don’t live in the rust belt.
Finding a nice used wagon in that price range in the US is so difficult. Best of luck.
CyberEric said:
Finding a nice used wagon in that price range in the US is so difficult. Best of luck.
Agreed. Even if you're willing to spend more than that it's difficult. I'm not really limited to $3k or specifically seeking out an 850, but really loved the one I had and there are truly not a lot of options in the category. As I look back I'm just like "damn, that was a good car and I was an idiot to sell it."
Probably the closest thing to "ideal" made in the last 10 years is the TSX wagon, and those hold their value shockingly well. The Subaru Legacy (non-Outback) would be a contender if it weren't for the engine issues...almost everything else feels the need to incorporate some sort of cladding/lift/Haldex AWD/etc which I find wholly unnecessary...
You could probably find an early P3 XC70 or V70 for 3k.
As may have been mentioned in passing here, the last Volvo with a useful manual transmission was built in the 80's.
The clutch has no feel, the shifter is vague, and the car is a berkeleying Volvo, which should have an automatic in it.
Found my friend a V70 T5 manual wagon near me. He bought it, flew out here and drove it back. I test drove/checked it out for him. It felt like an old euro car, had that smell, ya know. Wasn't all that impressed with the power, handling or braking on it. Everything still worked tho, which I found impressive. He's got something like 6 of these things now...
I may be slightly biased, but Saab 9-5 wagon? Swedish, safe, DIY-friendly, rated to tow 3500lb, can be converted into a boost-bus if you so desire.
5 speed wagons can be found, but seem to be more rare than Saabs in general.
I do see an occasional TSX wagon around, too. Possibly a better choice for those who didnt grow up drinking whatever koolaid is called in Trollhattan...
If it hasn't yet been mentioned - how about Acura TSX sportwagon? Not all that common in this country, but pretty popular overseas (badged as a Honda, of course).
In reply to irish44j (Forum Supporter) :
I really, really like the TSX wagon (mentioned earlier) but they are holding their value quite a bit from what I can find. Definitely high on the list though.
Thinking about it, I'm guessing the TSX wagon is the last ever Japanese station wagon sold here that doesn't try to do the "soft roader" thing. I have a feeling they'll be pretty sought after some day.
irish44j (Forum Supporter) said:
If it hasn't yet been mentioned - how about Acura TSX sportwagon? Not all that common in this country, but pretty popular overseas (badged as a Honda, of course).
I mentioned mine 2012 in the first reply on this thread, even though it doesn't fall in his $3,000 budget. Love mine. I have had 17 wagons, from good Subarus DL to low chrysler esque quality Outbacks, to Hondas (wagovans and accords), to Toyota (Alltrac tercels, camry, corolla, Cressidas), and the TSX is my 2nd favorite so far. Best was my 93 Accord EX wagon 5MT. 3rd favorite was my 4wd Wagovan. Rare bird it was back then.
Even though I never see another of my wagon, when I go elsewhere, in a 1 mile radius, there are 4 TSX wagons. 3 of them go to the same school! Hah
Love mine, especially alost 600miles a tank. I just tinted mine after purchase. Only Honda I have ever owned, that I haven't modified. Like it just the way it is, in my old age.
Ironically all the cars nobody wants when new (ITR deeply discounted, TSX 10K off, MSM 10k off, s2000 $6K off, FJ cruisers 8K off, NSX 699$ leases, $8k off LC Heritage edition), people clamor for them now. Great for us who bought them new :)
Stop it. TSX wagon?! Nowhere near 3k in my searches. I do live in an expensive part of the country, but from what I have seen you’d be doing well to get one for double that.
$3k won't cut it, but $5k should get you into a WRX, which will be more fun.
I had a Volvo 850 Turbo wagon for a few years. It chewed through front tires at an astounding rate and the maintenance put my mechanic's kid through college. It was big and heavy, though reasonably quick with the turbo. Gas mileage was unimpressive. Hand grenades that will leave you by the side of the road? The transmission (auto) was what did it to me. Junked it and never looked back.
https://louisville.craigslist.org/cto/d/louisville-2007-vw-passat-4motion-blue/7121795696.html
As ever I'm gonna shill for VW but this exact model is my car. I've owned it for 8 years now (longer than any car in my life). It's huge inside, the rear seats have real leg room and folded down you can lay a 6' person in the back. I've torn up the Tail of the Dragon in it, beaten a Cobra at autocross, and last night took it to the drag strip for the first time and broke into the 14's entirely stock. It utterly owns long highways drives and is comfortable with the cruise set at 100 mph. The AWD owns any snow I've thrown it at.
So yeah, a cheapish wagon exists. But it wears a VW badge and that freaks people out so they ignore them.
Mine with 157k miles on it in the driveway right now.
C4 Audi A6 Avant?
Quattro, 5 speed, and rust resistant. Cheap too, cuz the 5 cylinder turbo S4/S6 gets all the glory.
Hey, have you consider the 960 series Volvos? Straight 6 non turbo has a bit of torque and because they arent easy to turbo the turbobrickers dont mess with them. RWD Auto and the about the same size as an 850 and around here usually about half the cost of most Volvo wagons or less.
R56fanatic (Forum Supporter) said:
I had a Volvo 850 Turbo wagon for a few years. It chewed through front tires at an astounding rate and the maintenance put my mechanic's kid through college. It was big and heavy, though reasonably quick with the turbo. Gas mileage was unimpressive. Hand grenades that will leave you by the side of the road? The transmission (auto) was what did it to me. Junked it and never looked back.
which is funny, the standard transmission is stronger than the auto in the 850. A swap is not that hard.
Duke
MegaDork
6/6/20 5:02 p.m.
CyberEric said:
Stop it. TSX wagon?! Nowhere near 3k in my searches. I do live in an expensive part of the country, but from what I have seen you’d be doing well to get one for double that.
Last year I sold my 2004 TSX sedan for double that.
Though he did in fact say that you wouldn't find a TSX wagon for $3k.
Acura wagon near me...
Asking $7,500 w/159k though I would never say this dealership is low or even reasonably priced.
In reply to John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) :
I was considering one of those to replace my Ralliart wagon, but the extra 500 lbs more than negated the 39 more horsepower. I've seen one at an autocross, it looked pretty ponderous.
The better mileage also is tempered by the required premium fuel.
We'll see how my $2000 WRX wagon compares.
We love wagons. We liked our Subarus (after head gasket replacement) but the ugly styling of the current models turned us off. As much as I've wanted to like Volvos there is just something about them neither the wife and I like.
Thanks to horrendously bad resale value we bought a 2010 Jetta Sportwagen a couple years ago. Diesel lovers will find happiness with the oil burners but I'm a gas man. The answer is the 2.5 liter 5 cylinder engine. It's a workhorse, not a sports car engine but also doesn't suffer from the expensive catastrophic failures of the turbo models. I had to replace the stupid plastic oil filter housing (leaked, a lot), rebuild the stupid vacuum pump (leaked, a lot) and the suspect stupid plastic valve cover (oil regurgitation system diaphragms go bad) that may not have been a problem but now it's done. Though I cursed VW's engineers quite a bit during those repairs now that those items are done I've fixed nothing on the car since. Handles well, economy isn't bad, the autotragic trans shifts decent and there's not a spec of rust on it anywhere. It is no show car, lives outside, has a few dings and scratches and is painted a dull gray color that nobody notices. I'd buy another. And I generally badmouth VW/Audi products, so that's saying something.
