Need a wagon soon...

[ben]

Not that you were writing to me, but I responded anyway :)

> The '04 Passat 1.8T 4Motion wagon is definitely in the criteria, but
> very rare.

:(

> What about a '98-present A4 Avant- 1.8T

Nice, cute, fun, until you need to throw a couple of bikes in the
back.  Even skis will be a tight fit!  Maybe I'm spoiled---I can just
fit a twin mattress in the back of Hyatt :)

> or 2.8/3.0 V-6,

I live an even mile above sea level and routinely drive much higher,
and NA engines feel the pressure drop much more than turbos.  But for
you coast dwellers I hear those engines are fine, albeit much more
expensive for little gain.

> Further up in the price range would be an allroad 2.7T 6-speed.

Do they still get 18 miles per gallon???  That's a much, much stronger
statement than voting for Bush.

> Also, BMW 325xit, X5 3.0, X3

I should check out whether these have gotten any more reliable.  They
sure drive well!  Although I believe the AWD is not nearly as nice as
quattro...?

> If it didn't have to be German, the Subaru WRX and Forester 2.5XT are
> interesting choices- the Forester can be completely stealth, hiding a
> whole bunch of STi goodies.

Has Subaru figured out how to build a tranny yet?  A friend of mine
with an '01 (I believe) had to take it in for its 5000-mile oil and
transmission change (actually he only managed to have the tranny
changed once, but the new one needed to be replaced almost immediately
as well).  He finally traded it in for a Legacy with an automatic.  Of
course, Subaru uses a better AWD system in their automatics, for
reasons unknown to me.  If you get a Subaru, make sure you buy the
extended warranty!

I'm feeling awfully negative this morning, aren't I?

-- 
Ben Pearre     1990 200TQA "Hyatt"        http://hebb.mit.edu/~ben