It’s a toss-up between either of these. 

Cheap-ish AWD SUV? Sign America up! A lot of baby boomers/retirees are buying these, at least what I see.

The XM reminds me of:

Put more than 1,000 miles on my ST this year. Working on two cruises with friends this summer. Hope I can make it happen as I still do adore this car every time I drive it. 

Looks like an Australian Galant.

I worked in the service department of a Mercedes dealer when these first came out. They were all brand new/slightly used.

Never had the chance to drive anything other than US versions. Sounds like everyone else got the better version. 

What’s different?

There was nothing fun about it to me. I’ve driven a handful of these and I know it is an economy car, but:

I’d rather have an actual go-kart. 

It will always and forever be one of these.

I flew on one of these about 15 years ago from Columbus to Detroit. I was shocked to see a commercial airplane still using propellers.

Or just more reasonably priced wagons period. Only reasonable one under $30k would be the Outback. 

Why recommend a Crosstrek when he’d be more comfortable in an Outback like in the lede photo? It can’t come in a hybrid, but it’s rated for better MPGs than his current Toyota, handle some rough stuff and be reliable for the future high miles. 

True. However the king of outdated platforms still goes to the Challenger/Charger. 

Man, I absolutely loved my 05 Mazda3.

The Passat died when they redesigned it for 2012. Should’ve been called something else. 

I didn’t know they already had some of his other planes. I didn’t see anything on the museum’s website either. 

Learned something new today. I’ve only seen two, and they were both RHDs from Japan.