Yes to the Kia, Yes to the Mazda, just yes in general. Wagons represent!
Yes to the Kia, Yes to the Mazda, just yes in general. Wagons represent!
I will just add to the wagon love. A company actually built this one...
The main reasons that American wagons (for the most part) went away was that they tended to be large (Crown Vic, Caprice, etc.) and have V8s that delivered poor mileage that hurt the OEMs in their CAFE ratings. Since trucks have different CAFE standards than cars, it benefited the OEMs to replace wagons with SUVs. And let's face it, most consumers loved it.
Soccer moms still love SUV/crossovers. No getting away from that.
You say to a 40-something woman who is car shopping "well, what about a wagon?" and she'll say "ickckk". They still have a big stigma, even though the new crop of wagons is way more sporty and attractive than the average SUV/crossover.
In reply to gamby:
Once they get older and the kids are out of the house, they'll realize that they need to downsize.
More and more people are waking up to how big and ungainly SUV's are, which is why the crossovers were born. Eventually they'll morph back into regular wagons because people are stupid and like to repeat history and trends.
/hipster on
I liked wagons before they were cool.
/hipster off
I sometimes miss my Dodge Magnum RT. It was huge inside (and outside for that matter). It handled well for a tank and made nice noises. What I didn't like was the Diamler era build quality and the M-B chassis electronics.
Wagons were always cool, people just saw something shiny with the SUV's and mini-vans and jumped ship because that's what the neighbors were doing with that new '91 Deep Jewel Green Explorer down the block.
Unfortunately now, people want wagons...but don't want them to look like wagons.
Can we just make it so that hatchbacks in general make a comeback? Seems like that is trending.
Hyundai was onto something with the Elantra Touring. Shame they gave it the axe 
Looks like Mercedes is trying to sway the soccer moms to get AMG Wagons. 
http://youtu.be/xwLSkLIKAKk
Do manufacturers need to crash certify wagons seperately? Yes they may only sell a half dozen of them, but those people that buy them LOVE them and make great ambassadors of the brand. So don't stock any of them, but let me order one. Unless you have to spend the money to certify them, then I totally understand.
Allroad------> check
Passat wagon-------> check
Yeah, I like them. Sadly the company that sells the most wagons (Subaru) seems to be marketing them exclusively to 60 yo women (look at the owner/driver of any new Outback)
Anyone who thinks this is an inferior car is clearly either a communist or a philistine. Wagons=king. GROCERYLIFE!
So wagons aren't cool? How did this happen?
Kia Sportspace...too bad it won't get to 'merica. Looks almost as hot as that 240sx bunny...
Edit: I now see others have beaten me to the punch, guess I'll just take the KO and keep dreaming about it...
When I got my 9-3 combi, I was the butt of a lot of mommy jokes in the office. Now they either think nothing of it now, or want one.
When I got it, my wife hated it. Now she wants to take it over.
The best though was when we drove to Detroit to meet some friends for a ski trip. We were supposed to take their Jeep Liberty. Our stuff didn't fit in it. It fit in my wagon. Huh!? My little wagon has more room than their SUV.
The downside now is that I end up driving everywhere and do a lot of hauling of stuff for people.
I am now trying to decide if I want to find another one for my wife or get something else for myself. This will be a what car thread when I figure out what I might want.
Enyar wrote: Can we just make it so that hatchbacks in general make a comeback? Seems like that is trending.
/Comstock on
A wagon is not nor has never been a hatchback.
/Comstock off
When I had my car washed on Monday night the guy who was drying it off wanted to know all about it; dude, it's 1 degree out here... I'd say wagonish vehicles are on the rebound.
asoduk wrote: When I got my 9-3 combi, I was the butt of a lot of mommy jokes in the office. Now they either think nothing of it now, or want one. When I got it, my wife hated it. Now she wants to take it over. The best though was when we drove to Detroit to meet some friends for a ski trip. We were supposed to take their Jeep Liberty. Our stuff didn't fit in it. It fit in my wagon. Huh!? My little wagon has more room than their SUV. The downside now is that I end up driving everywhere and do a lot of hauling of stuff for people. I am now trying to decide if I want to find another one for my wife or get something else for myself. This will be a what car thread when I figure out what I might want.
Funny, same thing happened to me. My wife has overtaken my 9-5 now that I've been debugging the Civic beater, and refuses to give it back.
I wish that jag would sell this here..... so that when it hits the bottom of its depreciation curve in 6 or 7 years I could buy one. Lol.
In all seriousness, I'll bet that if jag brought a batch of these over here and marketed them correctly, they could sell everyone at MSRP.
Jaguar would sell dozens of them!
Seriously, people still hate wagons. I tell my twenty and thirty something coworkers I like station wagon and I get the "eww" face immediately. It's the same gut reaction as the minivan hate.
SUVs are somehow considered cool. Don't see that changing any time soon.
bastomatic wrote: Jaguar would sell dozens of them! Seriously, people still hate wagons. I tell my twenty and thirty something coworkers I like station wagon and I get the "eww" face immediately. It's the same gut reaction as the minivan hate. SUVs are somehow considered cool. Don't see that changing any time soon.
'Murika
But seriously. Wagons have always been cool (with the small exception of USDM in the late 70's and 80's), it's just that the majority of car buyers have no idea what "cool" or even "the perfect motherberkeleying vehicle" is. Hot hatch when you're young, blistering fast wagon when you have kids.
(seriously, you can haul ass and "haul ass"? how does it get any better than that?)
In reply to Hungary Bill:
Is this kind of like what you had in mind?
I can't tow my travel trailer with a wagon, so I have a Suburban, which carries more than sport wagons ever thought of. Most wagons and SUVs (and CUVs) aren't bought because they are cool anyhow. they are bought because they have a job to do, and frankly, the better ingress/egress and often ground clearance of an SUV/CUV makes it the more practical choice than a sport wagon or even a standard station wagon of the same basic size.
The only wagons that are "cool" are really fast sportwagons, old diesel Mercedes wagons (though why on that one escapes me) and classic American wagons (primarily woodies):
Though I'm warming up to that Kia, which is just a pretty car all around.
MrJoshua wrote: The wife's WRX wagon gets quite a few compliments.
I miss that car almost every day!
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