The Small Wagen - or, a new car for Dad.

Back in 1999, Dad and I took a Legacy GT for a test drive when looking for a replacement for his Passat wagon. There's been a Subaru wagon in his driveway ever since.  A 2005 followed the 1999, and when it was time for a new car a couple of years ago Dad went back for another. But the Legacy wagon was no more. The Outback had grown cartoonishly large and the Impreza five door just didn't work for him. A used V60 wagon was considered, but he hates keeping black cars clean so my sister bought it. He brought home a Legacy sedan instead, in "Tungsten" which is a fancy way of saying beige.

He never really liked it. He and my mom missed wagons. The color was so boring that you forgot where you'd parked the car when you were still looking at it. When Mom mentioned that the Legacy just felt too big, he jumped at the chance to replace it.

Turns out, there's a significant difference between a crossover and a wagon in terms of packaging. I'd never realized how much. Dad's using a walker now, and his folding walker just won't fit in the cargo area of most crossovers without the vehicle itself getting large. Mom's not tall so she didn't want a jacked up car that's hard to climb in and out of, and their garage is not oversize - one of the reasons they wanted something smaller than the Legacy. This left us with an interesting set of parameters. Things like the CX-5 are just too big and too hard to see out of. The Impreza five door had too high a cowl for Mom to see over and didn't fit the walker. Turns out this is a pretty narrow selection of cars.

So we eventually ended up at the VW dealership. A couple of years ago, Dad refused to look at VW because he was pissed about their corporate misbehavior with the diesel scandal. Seriously pissed. I guess they've paid their dues with some execs behind bars, because it turns out the Golf Sportwagen is exactly what the doctor ordered. Almost exactly the same size as their 1991 Passat wagon. AWD, like the Subarus. And it comes in Tornado Red, just like our old Passat.

We brought some Canadian Tire hubcaps with us to the dealership when we picked up the car, because Dad can't stand the look of cars running around on black wheels during the winter. Those are 16" snows taking the place of the 18" summers for the next few months, BTW. I also added a rear bumper scratch cover to protect that vulnerable surface from cargo, and a full set of Weathertech floor and cargo mats protect the interior from the elements.

Driving impressions - we drove a few variants of the Sportwagen. A "comfortline", which has 17" wheels. The "highline", which has 18s. The Alltrak, which is the outback version that sits 20mm taller and has "offroad" suspension. All had quite well-judged  damping, I was impressed. Much better than the Subarus and light years better than the BMW X1 I was stuck with two years ago as a loaner.

Handling wasn't really tested because, well, it's winter and it's not my car 

The driver assists are fun to play with. It's got some sort of parallel parking assist that I need to play with but isn't important. Radar all around the vehicle which means it basically has a stroke when it pulls into the garage, but it's well implemented and quite useful. A rear camera that's out of the elements when not being used - quite useful in Canada in the winter. Radar cruise which is really effective. Most importantly for Mom and her stiff neck, blind spot monitoring and side traffic warnings - which proved to be an extra cost option on everything we looked at.

We really like ours. One of the few cars my wife and I both agree on. Looks good in red. I think your dad will enjoy.

I like the look of these; there was one in the parking lot when I arrived at work today.

It was a good opportunity for me to revisit my usual gripe: no more Japanese wagons for us here. Since I have to buy my cars well used, I've never felt like risking ownership of a European car.

In red, it will never disappear in a parking lot! There’s a blue/green color that looks great but we couldn’t find one with the option of the driver assist (ie, blind spot). VW did a good job of managing their inventory, there are very few ‘18s left and the ‘19s won’t be here for months. The cupboard is bare. 

My father is on his third Jetta/Golf wagon: the first one went back to VW as part of the diesel fiasco, the second was crushed by trees blown down in a storm, so now he's on #3, an Alltrack he bought just about a year ago. I just happened to have occasion to drive it a little a couple days ago, and I tend to concur with Keith's assessments of the suspension. I haven't done anything on dirt with it, but I'm curious as to how well it will handle it. He bought the top-of-the-line model with too much shiny for my tastes, but it seems that (unbeknownst to him I'm sure) this and only this trim level got different front seats. VW's hard, flat seats are one of the main reasons I find their modern cars uncomfortable over long distances, but these seem more supportive and usefully adjustable, and actually have some semi-effective bolstering to boot.

Nice car 

proper colour 

didnt know they they still made hubcaps 

As long as there are steel wheels, there will be hubcaps.

My original post rambled, but the main point of it was: I had been viewing crossovers as tall station wagons, but they're not. There's a fundamental difference in design. I'm trying to put my finger on it, but it has to do with the length of that rear load bay. A crossover with a load bay of that size would be a monster. Perhaps it's driven by cubic volume instead of square footage  - if you go tall, you don't need the acreage. But that didn't meet our needs. I'm a wagon guy, pretty much always have been, but it's not until we went looking for this car that I realized that they really are a dying breed and that crossovers are not a direct replacement. Pity, driving this car feels very right to me. I like the size, it's right in my sweet spot of utility and footprint.

Driving the DSG is interesting. The Legacy was a CVT and a pretty well implemented one - even if it did have "shift paddles" behind the wheel in this least sporty of vehicles. The DSG is very clearly not a CVT but is also not an auto. You can drive it like an auto, but the shifts aren't slurred. It's very smooth but you can hear the engine note change with gear changes. It also has manual transmission levels of engine braking, which is welcome but also require a bit more familiarization for smooth city driving. It's got a manual override but no paddles, but it will never be used as a MT substitute. Given that the Legacy was the first auto in my parents' garage in 30 years, I suspect the DSG behavior will feel very familiar and they won't know why.

Pilot, your father's Alltrack is the exact same as this "highline" wagon plus some ride height and a bumper restyle. The seats feel exactly the same. I haven't taken them on a cross-country trip yet, but to me they're nicely shapes and comfortable. I don't remember noticing the seats in the lower "trimline".

Yeah, definitely agree on the CUV's. They basically replace a sedan. They're not as good as a wagon or a minivan; the few exceptions to that are really minivans that are trying really hard not to be minivans (Lookin at you, Ford-just put the damn sliding doors on the Flex and I'd have bought one)

You’ve pegged the cargo differences between a wagon and a CUV.  It’s pretty much a length vs height thing.  They’ve both got their uses, but I’ve been noticing with a lot of the newer small CUVs, they are losing more height to sloping hatches.

I’ve looked at the Golf Wagon myself, and like them.  Wish they’d make a GTI version

My ex- bought a Sportwagen back in July.  I was actually shocked she bought another VW, but she wanted a wagon with a manual transmission and options are limited.  It is also AWD, which she didn't really want, but again - limited options.  It is that nice blue-green color with a nice brown interior.  She bought it to be her winter car so as not to abuse her '03 MCS or '16 ND.

^^

With so many cool rides, should she be an EX?

That's the color. Peacock Blue or Peacock Green, I forget which. Really classy looking. I think Dad has some regret that we couldn't find one, but the family history with the Tornado Red and the fact that you'll never lose it in the parking lot makes for a good tradeoff.

We did the little SUV thing for awhile but grew tired of it. Went shopping wagons this time. Not much to choose from. Don't like Volvos. Can't afford BMWs. Mercedes reliability is terrifying. Acura quit making them.

We got a 2010 Jetta Sportwagen. 2.5 bomb proof engine. VW's generally lackluster reliability (think 2.0T) and Dieselgate fiasco have resale values at an all-time low. I could have bought two of these VW's for the price of one high mileage Subaru.

I've been battling oil leaks since we got it but can see success on the horizon. World's dumbest oil filter housing coupled with the oh-yes-it-is-rebuildable vacuum pump. So much nicer driving a car than a CUV or little SUV and has more cargo room and amazing fuel mileage.

What’s the warrant like? 5 year?

Thanks for the thoughtful write up. I too have been struggling with the lack of wagons out there, CUVs just aren’t the same. We can’t be the only ones who care. My wife and I have no idea what to get anymore. What I want is basically the size of a Mazda 6 wagon but no one really makes it except a couple expensive companies 

CyberEric said:

What’s the warrant like? 5 year?

6/72 on my father's Alltrack, which I think is the standard on all VWs at the moment.

When I bought the GTI, I was tempted to go with the Sportwagen or Alltrack - if only they were offered with the 2.0 and a manual. Otherwise I assume they're pretty similar to the GTI otherwise. If I actually needed the additional cargo space I probably would have done it anyhow. 

02Pilot said:

CyberEric said:

What’s the warrant like? 5 year?

6/72 on my father's Alltrack, which I think is the standard on all VWs at the moment.

yep, they're making up for dieselgate. This huge warranty is THE reason I got over my lifelong distrust of VW reliability and bought one new. With the old warranty I would not own a GTI right now. 

Dad’s local dealership actually offers their own free lifetime powertrain warranty for the original owner, as long as they (or one of the other dealerships in the very large countrywide group) get to do the oil changes. Good deal, that.

The VW Canada warranty isn’t 6/72, it’s 5 years/100k km on Powertrain and 4/80 bumper to bumper. Dad did spring for an extended warranty that takes it to 8 years because he just doesn’t want Mom to have to deal with sensor problems when he’s gone.

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Your Dad is cool.

mr2s2000elise said:

^^

With so many cool rides, should she be an EX?

She also has a '73 Volvo 1800ES and a '79 Spitfire. And she's quite attractive. We tried for 11 years. Sometimes things just don't work. She has a very strong personality and somewhat rigid opinions, which can be a double-edged sword at times. I probably wouldn't be back into cars the way I am if it wasn't for her. All of my cars save the minivan are the result of her influence.

I've seen a lot of good press on these wagons & the lifted outback types too.  I assume its only us and automotive journalists who are buying them, because they appear to be very fairly priced as well.

My wife loves her sportwagen 4motion.  She was torn between the FWD and the alltrack, but the 4motion won out due to the shorter ride height.  I will be leaving my BMW for the same thing but with a few fun bits added to make me smile.  

Nitroracer said:

I've seen a lot of good press on these wagons & the lifted outback types too.  I assume its only us and automotive journalists who are buying them, because they appear to be very fairly priced as well.

They sell like crazy in Canada, based on the numbers I saw just driving around. Far less common in our little Colorado town. 

I've seen a fair few roaming around the NY suburbs. In the wagon counting they seem to outnumber Volvos but they're still outnumbered by Subarus by a considerable margin.