Wagons 2010--> Learn me Volvo, BMW, or whatever else ya got

The wife's 2008 Jeep Patriot is at 180,000 miles and blossoming rust. The clock is ticking. We've been very happy with the little mall-rated Jeep and may do another but aren't sold on the necessity of having a SUV type vehicle (it was our first). We ran Subarus for years but they got expensive, ugly and dumbed-down. Looking around at car wagons...there isn't much from which to choose. As Mrs ddavidv does not take great care cosmetically of her vehicles I don't want to spend more than $10k on one. 100,000 miles or thereabouts would be a nice buy-in spot for depreciation to work for us. We need a wagon-like vehicle with a near-vertical back glass for dog transporting. Available manual transmission is a bonus but honestly not something that matters much anymore for a DD.

Volvo V-something-XC-maybe:  I know nothing about Volvos other than they come from Sweden and cost a fortune to fix when they get wrecked. Need expert input on these and what models to look for. AWD isn't terribly essential.

VW Jetta/Passat:  I have a good friend who works for VW so will get most info I need from him. I'm frankly pretty terrified of them though and am of the belief VW/Audi hasn't made a decent reliable car since about 1990.

BMW:  she'd like the bragging rights to say she drives a Bimmer. I generally like BMWs but...German = fear. See above, VW/Audi.

Mercedes:  uh, no. Juice ain't worth the squeeze.

I wish Mazda still made the 6 in a wagon.

No one should say Saab. Not interested in taking in orphans.

Let's keep it to cars please. If I throw up my hands and continue on the SUV or crossover route that will be another discussion...if I don't just pick up another Patriot.

Hyundai Elantra Touring:

https://harrisburg.craigslist.org/ctd/d/2011-hyundai-elantra-touring/6371295678.html

They made them up until 11 or 12 I believe. Can be had in manual transmission.

I know it's more of a hatchback per say but Honda Fit. Tons of room for how small they look and the back glass is nearly vertical iirc correctly. 

I have owned three successive BMW 5 series wagons over the past 15 years. All purchased used with under a hundred thousand miles and under $10,000. I've accumulated a total of probably five hundred thousand miles on them with little or no trouble. The ride is very sporting and Sedan like and unless you look in the rearview mirror you don't realize you're driving a wagon. I don't know about the current 5 series models but I don't think you can go wrong finding a well-maintained 5 series wagon. I would avoid four-wheel drive due to complexity

dxman92 said:

Hyundai Elantra Touring:

 

https://harrisburg.craigslist.org/ctd/d/2011-hyundai-elantra-touring/6371295678.html

 

They made them up until 11 or 12 I believe. Can be had in manual transmission.

I know it's more of a hatchback per say but Honda Fit. Tons of room for how small they look and the back glass is nearly vertical iirc correctly. 

Cargo area on the Hyundai is too small for 2-3 50 lb dogs. Seat needs to stay up for various reasons.

I'll pretend you didn't mention the Fit.

Dunno about newer ones but these are great cars and easy to maintain

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=1180073

My son has a e46 BMW 323i wagon that we installed an N54 engine & 6 speed into.  It's been a good useful car.

I have a buddy with a S54 swapped one its his favorite car.

New to Volvo's, just bought a S60 2.5T AWD.  Same basic platform as a XC, from what I gather.  So far, comfortable, a fair amount of zip when the turbo spools up, 19 MPG combined.  Can't say long term, but according to service records, no major repairs other than the timing belt, which is PM.  The only thing I see, is front suspensions need attention.  Parts aren't that expensive, then again what is cheap these days.  Looked at the XC's, nice, fair amount of room.   But I have a Navigator, so didn't need another wagon.   2008 with 120,000 miles.

Acura TSX Wagon (nmna):

https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?listingId=464069085&zip=19446&referrer=%2Fcars-for-sale%2Fsearchresults.xhtml%3Fzip%3D19446%26doorCodes%3D4%26startYear%3D1981%26sortBy%3DderivedpriceDESC%26maxPrice%3D11000%26vehicleStyleCodes%3DWAGON%26incremental%3Dall%26firstRecord%3D0%26endYear%3D2018%26modelCodeList%3DTSX%26makeCodeList%3DACURA%26searchRadius%3D0&startYear=1981&numRecords=25&maxPrice=11000&vehicleStyleCodes=WAGON&firstRecord=0&endYear=2018&modelCodeList=TSX&makeCodeList=ACURA&searchRadius=0&makeCode1=ACURA&modelCode1=TSX

This is bordering on appliance but Prius V?:

https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?listingId=461236378&zip=19446&referrer=%2Fcars-for-sale%2Fsearchresults.xhtml%3Fzip%3D19446%26startYear%3D1981%26sortBy%3DderivedpriceDESC%26maxPrice%3D11000%26incremental%3Dall%26firstRecord%3D0%26endYear%3D2018%26modelCodeList%3DPRIUSV%26makeCodeList%3DTOYOTA%26searchRadius%3D0&startYear=1981&numRecords=25&maxPrice=11000&firstRecord=0&endYear=2018&modelCodeList=PRIUSV&makeCodeList=TOYOTA&searchRadius=0&makeCode1=TOYOTA&modelCode1=PRIUSV

I had no idea the TSX wagon existed. Probably rare as hens' teeth but thank you for that.

No hybrids of any kind. Wife and I both make fun of Prius drivers.

My wife has a Mazda3 wagon in manual, I too wish we got the 6 wagon in a manual.  

I have nothing else to add, but I'll be watching this thread. 

ddavidv said:

dxman92 said:

Hyundai Elantra Touring:

 

https://harrisburg.craigslist.org/ctd/d/2011-hyundai-elantra-touring/6371295678.html

 

They made them up until 11 or 12 I believe. Can be had in manual transmission.

I know it's more of a hatchback per say but Honda Fit. Tons of room for how small they look and the back glass is nearly vertical iirc correctly. 

Cargo area on the Hyundai is too small for 2-3 50 lb dogs. Seat needs to stay up for various reasons.

I'll pretend you didn't mention the Fit.

The Hyundai Elantra has cargo room to shame a lot of 5 passenger SUV's (including the Patriot) and most of the wagon's. Go look at the numbers. That thing is HUGE inside.

If you really need bigger than the Elantra, you can forget all the wagons that you mentionned. You are in Tahoe/Trailblazer/Explorer/etc... land.

https://grandrapids.craigslist.org/cto/d/2012-mazda5/6369319177.html

This is my mom's car, GRM price $9500.

akylekoz said:

https://grandrapids.craigslist.org/cto/d/2012-mazda5/6369319177.html

This is my mom's car, GRM price $9500.

We were looking for a similar formula as the OP years ago and this is where we landed.  It is essentially a large Mazda3 with sliding doors.  It has the most playful handling of anything in the same segment of cargo capacity imho (because Maz3 suspension).  However, it also uses the same 2.3/2.5 (year dependent) lump which isn't particularly powerful when attached to that chassis.  We managed to find a 5-speed though, which kind of made up for the deficit.  I find that it scoots along acceptably if I don't mind winding her out.

Forgive me if I'm preaching to the choir here, I know these are fairly well known amongst this group.

Subaru seems like a glaring omission.  Any reason you've left the Outback or Forrester off the list?

The Acura TSX wagon is gorgeous, but with the rarity comes the price tag.

Personally, I love the 5-series wagons. I have an E61 right now with almost 152k on the clock and it moves along just fine. Sadly BMW stopped the 5-series wagons from coming to the states after that..

If you're wanting a newer BMW wagon, I'd suggest an E91 as they still look great, should still offer decent room, and come NA so they'll be a tad bit more reliable.

I have an E91 and it is good and all, but not very large in the hatch area. My 50lb dog is a little cramped back there. 

He won't be able to find an E61 2010+ in his budget unless if has a ton of miles and nobody wants an N54 with a ton of miles on it.

What's wrong with hybrids?  Don't like 50 mpg, bullet proof reliability and ultra low maintenance?

a lot of the VW wagens of that era have disappeared due to dieselgate, especially the manuals. I would say get a '15 or newer just to have the 1.8t vs the 2.5na. The base models come in stick and are used or CPO still but in the mid teens can also be had new. We loved our '09 SAAB wagon but they are all gone now as well. It's really Subaru's, Volvo's, BMWs and Hyundai's but you will might have a hard time getting to that price point unless you go older and good luck finding a manual used. CRV's are supposed to be nice.   

I second the TSX wagon. Extremely handsome vehicle. They're fairly common on the West Coast. Come and visit - drive back.

As a former Allroad owner and current B6 Passat owner, I have to agree with you.

Which sucks because either one will positively rail anything else mentioned, it's just sad that maintenance on the Allroad was catastrophic (the Passat is just scary).  

What about the CTS wagon? I know nothing about them, but it's an option.

Hyundai cargo bay:

I stand corrected. I was going off a memory of someone I know having owned one but judged it from the outside.  The older ones, though, are just too ugly. In a Mercury Sable kind of way.

I don't like hybrids. I think they are dumb. If someone likes them, good for them. I don't like the added complexity and the stigma of self-righteous tree-hugging a good portion of the owners have. The balance seem to buy them because they dig on the technical wizardry. A small portion actually strive to get the highest mpg possible. But let's not derail the thread. If you like 'em, fine. I don't.

I dropped Subarus for two reasons:  one, the price of used ones around here is just too astronomical. We bought our Jeep with 80k miles on it for what we would have paid for a 150k mile Subaru. The styling of the SH Forester made us wrinkle our noses. Wife inexplicably never liked Legacy wagons. The styling continues to go downhill toward Hondota blandness instead of lovably quirky like our old ones.

Mazda 5 looks like a baby minivan. They are clever cars but we just don't dig them.

This has been helpful. I'll look at the Acura. With some wheels it doesn't look too bad though I would have to do something about that gawdawful chrome happy face on the front.

Hyundais are half the price. I'm sure they are half the car too but probably still more reliable than a European car.

BMWs...love them but...rwd and likely requiring more careful attention than what I typically pay to the spousal vehicle.

VW Jetta, maybe?  Stories of bad oil pumps and worn cams are turning me off.

Kind of surprised at the lack of Volvo responses. I like them despite being puzzled by the V70/S60/XC whatever nomenclature.

I have a 2008 S60 2.5T AWD.  Only had it a short while, but I like it.  Has a little zip, once the turbo spools up, doing 65-70 before you know it.  The inside is pleasant, and the seats are very comfortable, and supportive.  Front suspension seems a little suspect, but time will tell.   Nomenclature for Volvos, from what I understand is V= wagons. S= sedans, X= cross over style, C=convertibles.  Some are 5 cylinder, some are 6.  Check the specific vehicle you want to look at. Don't know about towing with the sedan, don't plan on it since I have a truck also, but would assume it can be done with the larger platforms.  Good luck.

ddavidv said:

 

BMWs...love them but...rwd and likely requiring more careful attention than what I typically pay to the spousal vehicle.

It's actually pretty difficult to find a BMW wagon with RWD, the vast majority are X-drive.

A $10k BWM or Volvo wagon is going to need some work during your ownership.  They are expensive new and depreciate less than their sedan counterparts. 

The state of the wagon market is pretty sad these days.  Anything good is uber expensive.  All the more affordable ones have morphed into cute-utes.