Which German wagon, what says the Hive?

In reply to STM317:

Well I kinda like them, but Mrs. Aspen thought they were ugly. I guess she is not feeling the Art and Science vibe. Also they are in fact smaller inside than a BMW and don't hold a dog very well. They seem to be even more rare than BMW wagons too.

How about a Subaru Legacy or Impreza/WRX wagon/hatch? Fast, sporty, snow is not an issue, reliable, and inexpensive relative to your other choices a couple years used. I mean, the WRX hatch is not as big inside as a real wagon, but it's a cavern compared to a mini, lol.

What other wagons do you guys have in Canada that we may not have in the US? That could also give us some other options to suggest to you

In reply to Aspen:

That is the E63 AMG

I have seen the E55 AMG wagon in the $20s, sedans as low as the mid teens.

In reply to irish44j:

Already have a 1997 WRX/STi Wagon, Legacy wagon discountinued in 2009 only fugly Outbacks now.

Other wagons - Audi A4 Allroad (jacked up and even more unreliable than a VW at least in my mind it is), Benz E350, Hyundai Elantra Touring (just no). MINI countryman might work, but it is also really small and I think only seats 4, don't know if power seats are an option. Then its all CUVs, hatches or SUVs. (forgot some Volvos here, but the V60 is small and expensive and the XC70 is not my thing, V50 is fugly to me)

I want something newer than 2011, bigger than the CT200h that Mrs. Aspen drives, handles well, must have power driver seat. The power seat requirement is bad as it forces the selection of top of the line VW Golf making it more $$$ than I wish to spend. Unfortunately Mrs. Aspen cannot adjust the seat manually in the Golf due to a bad shoulder.

Ford Flex? Does it have to be German?

What about a regular gas Jetta Wagon?

I had to make this a list because I was getting confused by the various choices.

1. new 2015 Golf Sportwagen TSi $39k

2. used 2011 BMW 328ix Touring. $27k

2a. with 80,000km, 18"s, and a small warranty

2b. with 50k km, 17"s, and a $6k accident repair in its history

Right off the bat $12k difference in price pays for a lot of repairs.

How many km/miles per year are you going to put on the car?

AYFKM? A frigging Golf is nearly 40 grand?!

RealMiniParker wrote: AYFKM? A frigging Golf is nearly 40 grand?!

Canadian dollars, you know, the funny stuff with all the colours. Used to be on par with USD when oil was $100/brl, now about 1/3 less. So yeah a fully decked out Golf wagen with ALL the option, PDI and Ontario sales taxes approaches $40k.

In reply to Harvey:

Thanks for the summary. Drive about 15K miles per year. The Golf will save at least $1000/year in fuel and will have no repair costs for the first 4 years. The BMW will depreciate less, but is a wild card for repairs and it will need tires and brakes at some point.

Definitely leaning towards BMW 2a. at this point. I hope it is a cream puff and not a nightmare.

I am really not looking for other suggestions at this point. I obsessively think about all car options constantly anyway. I have narrowed down the car universe to the 3 choices above based on my own perhaps wierd criteria. Just looking to the Hive for validation that a 4 year old non-turbo BMW 3 series is a decent choice.

15k miles a year is kinda mid-range on mileage, not low, but not excessively high. NA-I6 BMWs aren't a terrible choice for used and the 3 series is the least problematic overall.

I don't think it is likely you will make up a $12k difference in price via the warranty work and fuel savings. Even if say you drive both cars for four years and 60k miles you're looking at going out of the VW bumper to bumper warranty at 3yrs 36k miles (basically somewhere in year three you will be past that mileage) and the powertrain is done at 5yrs 60k miles, but you will hit 60k miles in your fourth year of ownership. So you have some insurance that major issues will be covered for four years, but unless something really catastrophic goes you won't make up $8k ($12k - $4k in fuel costs).

15k miles per year is the upper limit of regular miles by book standards. (12k to 15k is the accepted normal driving range per year)

RealMiniParker wrote: AYFKM? A frigging Golf is nearly 40 grand?!

Gotta pay for that recall

Aspen wrote:

RealMiniParker wrote: AYFKM? A frigging Golf is nearly 40 grand?!

Canadian dollars, you know, the funny stuff with all the colours. Used to be on par with USD when oil was $100/brl, now about 1/3 less. So yeah a fully decked out Golf wagen with ALL the option, PDI and Ontario sales taxes approaches $40k.

Ah, that makes sense.

Flight Service wrote:

RealMiniParker wrote: AYFKM? A frigging Golf is nearly 40 grand?!

Gotta pay for that recall

Bwahahahaha!