What to buy next? Chaos theory, Corona virus edition.

As most of you share the same affliction that I do it was time to change up cars. For the past few years I've always had 2-3 lying around but for the past 2.5 years my daily has been the rock like reliability of my 2015 Chevy Volt. I decided to do what my friends and I call "Chaos Theory" which is when you sell your daily and have no replacement. I put the Volt up for approximately 2 months then a nice couple drove up from Florida yesterday to pick it up. I didn't take too bad of a beating. I always knew that these cars would only sell to a very specific set of people. 

Now my only car I have, besides the wife's Touareg, is my 2008 salvage title Corvette Z06. The car is pretty reliable, but I'm worried about the engine as the last oil report said it had a lot of copper. Also the state is giving me hell over the registration. So, I can drive it, but I don't really have to as there is no foreseable path to me having to commute again anytime soon. When I do I should at least have two weeks notice. 

So the parameters

Budget ~$13k. Some cars will be less obviously.

High priority on reliability. Doesn't need to be a corolla, but won't be gutted track car. 

I want 4 doors, sunroof, and a path to apple carplay. Manual is also a must, but with certain exceptions. 

Current contenders

Mk6 GTI - Pros: sporty, practical, I have lots of special VAG tools. Decent gas mileage. I can tinker with it. Relatively easy to find. Cons: Boy racer image. Not the prettiest car (my opinion)

E91 BMW Wagon - Pros: scratches my itch for fancy. Higher quality interior. RWD. I've had one before. Not very common. Cons: Not very common. Only unicorns are manual. I can swap a manual in, but that doesn't jive with my reliable "normal" car thing. BMW plastic.

MK6 TDI Jetta Sportwagen - Pros: I've had several of these and my wife misses hers. I would only consider a red or blue one with manual. They are plenty out there and cheap. Cons: I'm kinda over the pain in the ass factor of the diesel. In theory I could lower it, put some wheels on it, and tune it, but I'm worried I'd get bored. 

This is my current thought process, but I want to get the hive mind's input. What about civic Si, F30 Bmw's, E46 wagon, BRZ's? They all have their pros and cons and we have a lot of time to consider them. I'm also not opposed to making a trip for the exact thing I want. I'm in no hurry thus I want to get the specific color, motor, trans package I want In and attempt to not want something different in 6 months. 

Accord Sport 6MT 

IS250 6MT 

TSX 6MT

ILX 6MT

WRX

Legacy spec B 

MS3 (has no sunroof) 

corolla hatch MT 

Fit MT

Why not a non-TDI Jetta Sportwagon? Seems like it would tick off a lot of boxes without the hassle of diesel. I mean, the E91 will be a more fun car to drive if you can find one, but the Jetta should be a good bit easier. Since you've got the time, dig for the E91, and if you can't find one, grab a Sportwagon.

02Pilot said:

Why not a non-TDI Jetta Sportwagon? 

I was going to say Alltrack lowered onto some GTI suspension bits and a mild tune.

I like the BMW wagons too, but I grew frustrated trying to find the three-pedal needle in a haystack.

What size, and levels or sportiness or efficiency with regards to fuel or utility or needed? 

I could say an Element or a Fit right now and either would be on the mark. 

In reply to captdownshift (Forum Supporter) :

I'm leaning towards sportier more luxurious vehicles. Something that is fun to drive with nice features and traditional "sporty" design architecture. 

For instance; Element would be out because I'm not looking for that kind of pragmatism. Fit would be out because it really isn't a sport car even though slow car fast. I love Honda's just not this time. 

mr2s2000elise said:

Accord Sport 6MT 

- Too pedestrian. Not what I'm looking for. 

IS250 6MT 

- I thought about these. I don't know much about them, but haven't heard good things about the manual ones. 

TSX 6MT

- I am looking into TL type S's.

ILX 6MT

- Didn't know that was a thing. Thanks. I'll look into it. 

WRX

- Subaru and I have always been like oil and water. No particular reason really. I've always liked bug eye wagons, but finding one of those that would be suitable for daily driving might be hard. I'd then have a 20 year old subaru as my main form of transportation. They get terrible fuel mileage for what they are as well. 

Legacy spec B 

- See above

MS3 (has no sunroof) 

- Also thought about these. I'm looking at this as well. Doesn't really seem "nice" to me, but I have no experience to be honest.

corolla hatch MT 

- Too new. Depreciation murder

Fit MT

- Not what I'm looking for. See previous post

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm not trying to shoot anyone down, just more thinking out loud.

To further confuse things I have a rental car for a work road trip right now. 2019 Golf Sportwagen. The baaaase S with the 1.4t and 8 speed. On paper it seems terrible. In real life I got 46 MPG from NC to PA without even trying and the car will effortlessly get up to speed and pass everything on the interstate. Even with only 147 hp. It's also nice because it's new which I understand. 

Not exactly a looker though in it's base form.

02Pilot said:

Why not a non-TDI Jetta Sportwagon? Seems like it would tick off a lot of boxes without the hassle of diesel. I mean, the E91 will be a more fun car to drive if you can find one, but the Jetta should be a good bit easier. Since you've got the time, dig for the E91, and if you can't find one, grab a Sportwagon.

Problem is the MK6's that weren't TDI's came with the awful 5cyl. And they were usually poverty spec with cloth seats and a 5 speed, not a 6.

Golf sportwagens you could get the 1.8TSI which is a pretty good engine, but a manual GSW with a 1.8t is at the top of my budget, and I'd be in a situation where a 5 year manual wagon is going to hit me pretty hard on depreciation. Despite all of that they are now on the list after driving one today.

In 2009 they had a unicorn year of JSW with the 2.0t TSI. Basically a GTi wagon. However, again. They are hard to find. Unless I fly and drive to the center of Corona'ville.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2009-Volkswagen-Jettasportwagen-SEL-6Spd-Sunroof-2-0T-SEL/264700960509

Mini Cooper S ?

In reply to Nofive_0 :

Personally, I like cloth interiors and limited options, so I'm not necessarily going to gravitate to the same cars you might be interested in. Point taken on the engine and trans options, however.

FWIW, the car you linked to is hours away from the major outbreaks in NY, so don't let the plague dissuade you. Just don't drive there through NYC.

https://louisville.craigslist.org/cto/d/louisville-2007-vw-passat-4motion-blue/7121795696.html

Not a stick shift but otherwise one of the most absurd cars going.  Fast, stable, sounds good, ridiculous brakes, safe, plenty of space, and quicker than a lot of actual race cars at an autocross.

Not perfect and not flawless but the B6 Passat is (as far as I can tell) the high water mark for German engineering/manufacturing.  It crushes road trips as confidently as my Phaeton and is as lively as my Allroad.  I've owned mine for 8 years now, that's the longest I've owned any car in my life.

In reply to Nofive_0 :

Why would you sell an economical car like a Volt?  An inkling of future issues?  Fear about battery life. Pending maintenance ?  
I ask because  its's a car I'm seriously considering as I approach retirement.  My wife wants a Model X Tesla. But on retirement income that just isn't going to happen. 
 

Acura's seem to sit nicely in the reliable-sporty-luxurious Venn diagram. I think that's a good suggestion. 
VWs too but I think it's a different kind of luxury. German cars have an inherent quality that's more felt in closing the door than feeling the leather. Though sometimes in the leather too. 

M56 the power of north of 400hp/400lb ft will make you not miss rowing gears. 

Or swedish T6 with a manual. The idea of going German is going to fall short on lack of headache causing factor. At any pricepoint with Germans you can pick 2 of the 3, luxury, performance, or not wanting to stab your eyes out due to repair and maintenance. 

So for arguments sake. Let's say I've narrowed it down to these two. 

2015 GTI - All I would ever want to do is put a carplay stereo in this, an APR tune, and some suspension bits/possibly wheels and tires. The APR tune gets you about 325hp/tq which is plenty for this car and would should still be fairly reliable. I think these are a bit overpriced for what they are at this point in time. Red isn't my favorite. I'd prefer blue or black, but the leather and nice options might allow me to overlook this. 

https://www.championcarcompany.com/inventory/volkswagen/golf%20gti/023550/

2013 328i - To me this seems to be the less enthusiast, but more serious option. Maintenance, parts, and reliability would be worse. The n20 is known for being unreliable. Adding car play would be a hassle/expensive. a tune for these nets impressive gains as well. They get pretty similar fuel mileage. I'd want to add the M-tech bumpers as the stock ones are horrendous. But that's adding money and aftermarketness to a nice stock car. 

https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?listingId=549416246&zip=28208&referrer=%2Fcars-for-sale%2Fsearchresults.xhtml%3Fzip%3D28208%26city%3DCharlotte%26startYear%3D2012%26incremental%3Dall%26seriesCodeList%3D3_SERIES%26makeCodeList%3DBMW%26transmissionCodes%3DMAN%26listingTypes%3DUSED%26sortBy%3Drelevance%26location%3D%255Bobject%2BObject%255D%26maxPrice%3D14000%26state%3DNC%26firstRecord%3D0%26marketExtension%3Dinclude%26searchRadius%3D300%26isNewSearch%3Dtrue&listingTypes=USED&startYear=2012&numRecords=25&maxPrice=14000&firstRecord=0&makeCodeList=BMW&searchRadius=300&makeCode1=BMW&modelCode1=328I&clickType=listing

Can't get the link for the BMW to come up, but first year of a new model plus modern BMW turbo? No. Just no.