“I’ve never owned a first-gen Forester. But it may be time to change that.”

I always felt that the first gen highlander shared a very similar design language to the forester, the ‘flared fenders’ and overall boxiness tug at the same heart strings for me...

My German is rusty.

As are most of my other things. 

??? I never knew this. I had a ‘98 ZJ with quadra drive and a 318. I put 250K on it before it rusted too much for the wife to be comfortable with it. The thing never died and only needed the bands adjusted around 215K

My wife’s made it a year before the droning CVT and weak ass 2.5l got to get. Replaced with Lexus GX

The problem exists between the driver’s seat and the steering wheel.  Go crazy and splurge on a car that has a functioning HVAC system.

I would have gone with “Lease a Veloster N(ot)“

At least you tried for a bit of alliteration on the “LOL Lousy Lease” wording. Points for that.

Thing is, I think I’m more worried about saving the manuals than the wagons. And at this price the 2.0t Accord Sport 6-speed seems like an much better value. Yes, Yes, Golf Alltrack but.....meh. Just never been a VW guy and I think the 2.0t Honda will crush the Alltrack most times.

I had weird overcharging issues after I dunked it, one of the few weakness of the 4.0 is the low alternator placement.

Well, more power to you. If you’re cross shopping an Outback/Alltrack this is definitely a viable alternative, but don’t expect this to be an American wagon version of a luxury/sport sedan like a 330i or an Audi Allroad alternative.

These two should get together.

Now that they’re potentially pretty cheap, will they snap these up? I can hear people formulating their “Ugh, if only this were available with a 6-speed manual” excuses.

p.s. also just followed the link regarding the minivan - that’s awesome. You, sir, are a hero! 

Where’d you take that photo?  That looks to be somewhere on I20/59 north of Tuscaloosa.  They’re still doing some roadwork in that area heading towards Birmingham.

This is my finest ever contribution to Jalopnik.

Im thinking this is the Mazda6 reply to the VW Alltrack. Nice simple, torquey 2.5. No turbo trouble or plumbing. Dont forget the ski pass through. Time for Mazda to step up and take a bullet for the Jalop team. Pretty sure I'd bucks up and buy new. Could they do it for plus minus $25k?

There’s a reason the Gathering of the Juggalos used to occur pretty much where KY, IL, and IN meet.

Holy Shit, I’m a moron. I even emailed the guy confirming Indiana. Sorry about that. I don’t know what the hell happened. Maybe I really do need to check for exhaust leaks.

Ha. Merrillville, baby. It’s the future.  Plus the center of the midwestern porn trade.