i only read the 1st post so far but thought I'd chime in.
Aunt bought a manual TDI Sportwagen last fall ('10 model). I took it for a drive. That car is the BOMB! Loved it. It's not fast but it's quick...know what I mean? Mountains of torque down low where ya's need it. Get one.
I would but I don't do new cars
nocones wrote: It's fine for shorter trips but we took it on a 3 hour trip and it just wore on you. Decide for yourself but if you look at one make sure to spend ample time at highway speeds when you test drive it.
Wider tires and wheels may be the cure. My $200 CL wheels and free take-off tires are over twice as wide as the pizza-cutter stockers.
The free tires are too tall and rub a bit on hard turns (only backing up. Weird.) but its rock steady at 90 for extended periods. Still revs too much, stays mostly in 4th and kills the mileage, but highway trips are a breeze if you crank the stereo and ignore the economy gauge 
we've driven our 08 sport for up to 8 hours at a time and i never felt uncomfortable or fatigued. but then again, i've driven a miata for 8 hours straight and with the top down and felt the same way. guess i'm just more tolerant than you guys. i've also owned a long list of hondas, mostly Si's, so i'm used to the higher revs. my daily is a 91 Si.. 236k.. yeah. it's rattly.. and buzzy... i'd trade it for a fit though..
edit; also, another plus for the Fit. with the back seats folded down i've fit 18 wheels and tires in the back with room for more and a front seat passenger...
that's very unfortunate the forte-5 door doesn't come with a stick.
I'm 1.5 years into a Koup. One of the reasons i went with it is because you can fit a real adult in the back. head room gets a little bit tight but you aren't eating your knees. I get about 28mpg in all city driving. we got closer to 35mpg on a trip over thanskgiving. this is the 2.0 m/t model. if the trunk is larger enough for you, it may be worth driving.
The depreciation!
Oh my word 
In reply to 7pilot:
Any particular car, or just in general on new cars? We'd been looking at used, but in one of those weird moments where all the stuff on the news about a down economy increasing the demand for used cars and reducing the demand for new cars... The depreciation at this point doesn't seem to make it worth it for a late model used car. New is a little more expensive, but it seems like a small enough jump to be worth it for the original warranty, new-car smell, etc...
In reply to ransom:
I hadn't heard they were discontinuing the wagon, but I haven't paid much attention to the newer cars either. It wouldn't surprise me. I've gotten the impression that VW is trying to push wagon buyers towards their SUV offerings, which are more profitable. From what I gather, the wagon is the last of the more Euro-oriented cars being sold here, vs. the current Jetta which was designed with the US market in mind.
For some reason, VW seems to be trying to compete with Toyota in the US and have been a sliding down a track towards lowest-common-denominator cars for a few years now, which has alienated many of their older owners like myself. They've de-contented the cars so much that while I currently own a TDi, if something were to happen to it, I doubt I would even look at a VW right now.
Ian F wrote: In reply to ransom: I hadn't heard they were discontinuing the wagon, but I haven't paid much attention to the newer cars either.
I feel I should reiterate that I heard this rumor from exactly one person, and have no reason to believe he's tapped directly into the Powers That Be Volkswagen...
Ian F wrote: For some reason, VW seems to be trying to compete with Toyota in the US and have been a sliding down a track towards lowest-common-denominator cars for a few years now, which has alienated many of their older owners like myself. They've de-contented the cars so much that while I currently own a TDi, if something were to happen to it, I doubt I would even look at a VW right now.
I gotta say, the Sportwagen has pretty much blown everything else we've looked at out of the water (WRX notwithstanding). If I didn't have VW reliability fear multiplied by high-pressure pump concerns and added to the difficulty of finding a nicely optioned manual, it'd probably be in the driveway right now. To be fair, the Sportwagen is also $8-10k more expensive that the other cars we've looked at (again excluding the WRX). I've only driven a "well-used" A4 TDI, but the '12 seemed like a much, much nicer car.
I've been out looking for a car to replace the G35 (haven't decided on cheap or new yet though), and was recently at the VW dealer in town. I didn't drive any of the TDI's, but the most troubling thing I saw was that there were at least two of the new VW's with a burnt out tail light. If you can't have all the brake lights working while they are new on the lot, what else is lurking?
Also drove a new WRX and the Impreza Sport. Loved the WRX, the Sport, not so much. Seats were good, and it looked nice, but was underpowered and not very inspiring. The WRX cured all of that. Very nice car.
Also drove a slightly used (19k miles) 4-door Civic SI and although I was sure i would't like it, it ended up being one of my favorites, especially for 12k less than the WRX.
racerdave600 wrote: I've been out looking for a car to replace the G35 (haven't decided on cheap or new yet though), and was recently at the VW dealer in town. I didn't drive any of the TDI's, but the most troubling thing I saw was that there were at least two of the new VW's with a burnt out tail light. If you can't have all the brake lights working while they are new on the lot, what else is lurking? Also drove a new WRX and the Impreza Sport. Loved the WRX, the Sport, not so much. Seats were good, and it looked nice, but was underpowered and not very inspiring. The WRX cured all of that. Very nice car. Also drove a slightly used (19k miles) 4-door Civic SI and although I was sure i would't like it, it ended up being one of my favorites, especially for 12k less than the WRX.
I will trade you my spare Yugo straight up for the G35. 
racerdave600 wrote: Also drove a slightly used (19k miles) 4-door Civic SI and although I was sure i would't like it, it ended up being one of my favorites, especially for 12k less than the WRX.
I was stoked they made a four-door, but... that's still a door short of what I need.
I won't claim to be an expert on what the American market wants vs what this noisy, car-crazy corner of it wants, but I know that my girlfriend and several other non-car-types are sold on the five-door hatch thing at this point. They just make so much sense if you actually want to use your car to move a combination of people and things... Whatever I get, I need to make a version of my friend's Prius keg holder 
Wish I knew whether that was a bulb issue or a contact/wiring issue on the lights. The former would still be damn sloppy for not checking them, but the latter is just terrifying.
racerdave600 wrote: I didn't drive any of the TDI's, but the most troubling thing I saw was that there were at least two of the new VW's with a burnt out tail light.
I don't know whether its statisically significant, but on my drive to work in the morning, if I see a car with a burnt out tail light, odds are pretty good its a VW.
I wonder whether it has to do with trying to sell a German car for a Korean price...
racerdave600 wrote: I've been out looking for a car to replace the G35 (haven't decided on cheap or new yet though), and was recently at the VW dealer in town. I didn't drive any of the TDI's, but the most troubling thing I saw was that there were at least two of the new VW's with a burnt out tail light. If you can't have all the brake lights working while they are new on the lot, what else is lurking?
Rented a Tiguan for work. Left at 5am in the dark and no high-beams. Transmission and throttle logic were funky. Throttle tip-in was too agressive. Steering was numb...the steering in the Mitsu Endeavor I got this week was much better. In general, the ergonomics were funky. The interior looked nice, but there were several bits that seemed very cheap.
I'm still scared of VW products.
In reply to ransom:
Part of my complaints are limited options and packaged options. I couldn't order a duplicate of my car if I wanted to. I just went on the VW website and the build options are a joke.
Maybe it's because my car is exactly what I wanted and ordered, but when I get into a newer Jetta at the auto shows, I'm not impressed (although very little impresses me at the auto show anymore).
Hopefully, my car will last until I retire or change to a job where I'm not driving 100+ miles a day... 267K and counting...
93EXCivic wrote:racerdave600 wrote: I've been out looking for a car to replace the G35 (haven't decided on cheap or new yet though), and was recently at the VW dealer in town. I didn't drive any of the TDI's, but the most troubling thing I saw was that there were at least two of the new VW's with a burnt out tail light. If you can't have all the brake lights working while they are new on the lot, what else is lurking? Also drove a new WRX and the Impreza Sport. Loved the WRX, the Sport, not so much. Seats were good, and it looked nice, but was underpowered and not very inspiring. The WRX cured all of that. Very nice car. Also drove a slightly used (19k miles) 4-door Civic SI and although I was sure i would't like it, it ended up being one of my favorites, especially for 12k less than the WRX.I will trade you my spare Yugo straight up for the G35.
The Yugo is looking pretty good, don't tempt me!
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