Big Recent Wagons - What to Know?

pheller said:

2010+ Jetta Wagon seems like a good bet. 

What's the deal with 2010+ Audi TDI Wagons? This would be the A3. They look smaller than the Jetta. 

How does Diesel compare nationwide in pricing via gas? I always thought it was more expensive. 

Volvo's look nice. How's the headroom? It can be difficult to get a kid into a carseat if there isn't much greenhouse. 

I live in NC. Diesel is 10% more. 

A3 is just a Golf. Mostly the same everything else. Considerably less cargo space than the wagon.

Wife nixed the older Benz.

Wants something with less miles and more reliability. Preferably something CPO or with a warranty, which I think is a waste.

The TSX and Jetta Wagon are up there in terms of options. 

In reply to dxman92 :

Another vote for the Prius V-ours has been great. We added a canvas cargo liner and it hauls everything from bikes to construction materials. 45mpg is pretty cool.

We tried the TSX wagon-there wasn't much cargo room back there. Same for the CX-5.

Stay away from the Daimler Chrysler years of the E350 wagon. Build quality and reliability were not a strong point.  There were timing gears that would eat themselves causing motors to catastrophically fail around the 100k mark. This affected both the 3.5 v6 and the 5.0 v8 cars. Ultimately there was a recall if you were under a specified millage. Then there is rust. 
 

2012 and newer MB are very good cars but you budget of 10k will not get you a good one.  I drove a 2014 e350 the other day and they are darn nice cars. This one had just under 100k on it but you would never had known it. You can also get the 4matic optioned cars.  I would love an E550 4matic wagon. That would be a really nice car to have. In fact while I love my Merc I should have held out and got one of those as it would have been much more practical a car while having everything my CLS does in terms of driving feel and performance and it would fly even further under the radar.  

In reply to pheller :

If you are concerned about reliability, lately Mercedes Benz have not been as quality built as in the past. Friends who used to buy new Mercedes have stopped. 
     I'm hearing mixed reviews about Audi and VW as well.   Remarkably most are bringing back Suburbans and Caddy's. 
    That and the Volvo's are really loved.  

frenchyd said:

In reply to pheller :

If you are concerned about reliability, lately Mercedes Benz have not been as quality built as in the past. Friends who used to buy new Mercedes have stopped. 
     I'm hearing mixed reviews about Audi and VW as well.   Remarkably most are bringing back Suburbans and Caddy's. 
    That and the Volvo's are really loved.  

Keep preaching this as it will keep the strong depreciation factor at play.  This was absolutely true for the cars in the 2000s. The reality is post 2012 they are very good cars BUT you have to be very proactive about maintenance. Let you pads ware to the backer plates and a cheep pad swap turns in to a 2-3k job.  Most of the 2012 and newer cats are turbos and they take really well to much more frequent oil changes than the mfgr recommends.  The other thing that they need is a good inspection of the suspension at least 2x a year.  Trans cooling lines need inspection and replacement around 100k. 
 

The last thing is to get a 4matic. The AWD system was out sourced to a heavy truck manufacturer and is way over built compared to the regular 2WD drive lines.  Unfortunately these car are purchased these days by people that want to have the care and feeding of a Toyota. This just does not work well with Merc's and lead to people complaining abou them.  The other problem people will purchase a 3-4 year old one instead of a new Camry with a warranty.  As a friend put it these are the people that have a steak apatite on a bologna budget.  Getting a car cheep does not change the service costs and these people tend not to take the best care of a car and then complain about its quality and the cost of maintaining it. 
 

I am ok with this as it keeps the resale value of some really amazing cars low for the Mercedes enthusiasts. 

Duke said:+3 for the Volvo V90 wagon, except they brought about 12 into the US and the people that managed to find them will never part with them.

 

Count me as 1 of those 12 and you are correct, it's not for sale. 
2018 Osmium Gray Metallic, non CC  

If any encouragement, there are aftermarket front/rear sway bars available for the Prius V.. 

How'd we forget about these?  Super cream puff with only 49k miles asking $4.4k

If space/size is your top priority, the Mazda 5 and Kia Rondo are both essentially wagons. They are built on car platforms, get in the mid-20's for MPG, the Mazda is the sportier option, the Kia can seat 7 properly configured. 

If you are looking for something sportier:

Perhaps not in your price range, but damn are they cool. How about a twin-turbo V6 and lots of tech?

I think they are very cool, they are in your price range, but my understanding is that they are a reliability nightmare and expensive to keep running. YMMV.

One other option that may be in your price range with some haggling:

And by haggling, I mean stolen at gunpoint.

CrustyRedXpress said:

In reply to dxman92 :

Another vote for the Prius V-ours has been great. 

We tried the TSX wagon-there wasn't much cargo room back there. 

3 cubic feet cargo space diff, between the two right? My grandpa drives the Prius V. Perfect for him. He loves it. Its a great car. 

  The TSX wagon and the Prius V isn't in the same class, however. 

 The suspension/drive on the TSX wagon is fantastic, compared to the soul crashing Prius V. (my humble opinion)

That said, if any one wants a 1 owner, 81k mile, Camry Wagon, V6. 3rd row. I will put mine up for sale shortly. Dual rear wipers. 

Probably could find a nice Mazda 5 in the $10-$15k range.

In reply to pinchvalve (Forum Supporter) :

Well, hell, if we're going there...

In reply to volvoclearinghouse :

Needs more cladding and ride height to be an Outback competitor:

Not a wagon per se bu I love mine and 10K gets you a lower mile early cars,  decent v6, AWD if you want it and you can pull some weight. 

I was about to jump in and say Rondo!, but someone beat me to it.  But i will second it.  Bought one a couple months ago and it's turning out to be super handy.  About the same length in the back as a 98 outback but with a lot more height.  And, with the V6 it's got plenty of power with about the same or better mileage than the Subaru 2.2.

pheller said:

How does Diesel compare nationwide in pricing via gas? I always thought it was more expensive.

Diesel used to be WAY cheaper than gas. Then Americans started actually likeing diesel for DD, and the price went to above gas. And has stayed above gas.

wearymicrobe said:

Not a wagon per se bu I love mine and 10K gets you a lower mile early cars,  decent v6, AWD if you want it and you can pull some weight. 

Why would anyone consider a flex not a wagon? Its pretty much the definition of station wagon. A lot of the others are not, but the term is used so loosly these days.

Granted the Flex is a station wagon built on the explorer fwd suv chassis, but still.

03Panther said:

wearymicrobe said:

Not a wagon per se bu I love mine and 10K gets you a lower mile early cars,  decent v6, AWD if you want it and you can pull some weight. 

Why would anyone consider a flex not a wagon? Its pretty much the definition of station wagon. A lot of the others are not, but the term is used so loosly these days.

Granted the Flex is a station wagon built on the explorer fwd suv chassis, but still.

Which is/was also the Taurus sedan chassis.

The Flex is the wagon of this sedan and the Explorer is the suv of this sedan... 

Or, this Taurus, which can be had in awd, is a suv disguised as a sedan? 

Sidewayze said:

I was about to jump in and say Rondo!, but someone beat me to it.  But i will second it.  Bought one a couple months ago and it's turning out to be super handy.  About the same length in the back as a 98 outback but with a lot more height.  And, with the V6 it's got plenty of power with about the same or better mileage than the Subaru 2.2.

I still have a stock Rondo radio if you need it for any reason. 
 

or maybe it's from the Sedona. I can't recall 

I parked next to a Volvo V50 at Home Depot earlier, that's a good looking wagon. 57k mile one in your budget, in Phoenix

https://www.goldiesmotors.com/vehicle-details/2008-volvo-v50-2-4i-wagon-14e6f9d1c2534c659c0dd7793f508525

In reply to John Welsh :

Not being a fan of newer vehicles, (or the taurus from any year) I did not know the taurus had grown that big. Only knew about the Flex, cause I've been a hard core wagon guy, all the way back to when a wagon was about the most uncool thing you could drive! That was before the mini van had been "invented" and soccer mom suv's  were not built for soccer moms.

We've had a Mazda 5 for a few years, road tripped it to NC this summer. I was pleased with it. 
 

It got 31 MPG from the best tank with four of us and a lot of weight.  What really surprised me was that it easily pulled the climb up the long steep grade on I40 at Old Fort at 55 with the cruise control on. The speed limit for trucks on the downhill side is 35, with several truck runoff ramps. 

 

Regal wagons are cheap and seem to be decent vehicles.

Maybe long in the tooth but the last of the Saab Wagons would be fun - keeping an orphan running might have a few issues though.