Minus the history of really bad car buying choices, I’m in a similar budget/mindset as the OP. The Infiniti and Lexus sound exactly like what I am looking for.

As a total noob to both Infiniti and Lexus what specific years are we talking here?

Do either run into any major maintenance or reliability issues?

If these live…

What Volvos are typically land mines in terms of maintenance and reliability? Any particular engine or trans problematic? I want to look into Volvo wagons soon. Don’t know a damn thing about them though.

I really WANT to buy one of these because AWD, TT Ecoboost, and “wagonish” body style seem to tick all of the “anti-SUV” boxes I’m looking for but the more I research the more these scare me.

Can anyone reassure me that the Power Transfer Unit (AWD transfer case) fluid and overheating problems and the water pump and…

Care to give me a bit of an education on these?

I want to get back into a wagon so my main competitors right now would be VW 4-motion sportwagen/Alltrack, Buick TourX, or a Volvo Wagon. I’m probably not in a good position to drop close to 40K or more on a new V60 as much as I would like to though. So a V70 or XC70…

Yeah the MK4 was a great car! It was actually a pretty rare VR6 /5 spd combo (only came for 2 years with the 12v VR6 being offered) and I loved it. Perfect combo of fun and utility. I was sad to see it go but it pretty much shit the bed in my last 2 months of ownership and I was fed up.

Thank you so much for your…

Former MK4 Jetta wagon owner here and I want to get back into a wagon again.

How has your driving experience been with the Alltrack and its AWD?

Are you in a snowy climate?

If so how does it perform in the snow?

Does it “kick ass and take names” and turn into a hooning machine in a snow filled parking lot spitting…

THIS! Bust out a screw driver Kristen and answer the question all of us car enthusiast wagon dorks that hate crossovers are dying to know.

My great grandpa was the king of being stubborn about this though. I was told that on a trip to my Aunt’s house 2.5 hrs. away he would often pass up 3-5 stations or more if it was more expensive then gas back home. And that he would damn near run the car on fumes to make sure he “won” if he had to!

Depends.

I find that now I’m pumping 87 in my current daily driver I’m less likely to get pissed off and go elsewhere. When I drove a car that needed premium and the 91 or 93 Octane price was anywhere from $0.30 to $0.70 a gallon more, I got pissed off and I would get back in the car and go elsewhere.

I do however…

No kidding! Came here to say that Honda and Toyota are gross offenders of this trend. “People think our cars are boring. What should we do?” “I know, put some more fake air ducts on it, it’ll look FAST!”

Not a mechanic here but I would assume it’s more like getting stuck with X number of warranty repair jobs that are offering too few hours to complete them and not getting paid for the extra time to complete the task. So lets say the book time for a warranty job is 2.5 hrs. which isn’t giving them a realistic amount of…

Agreed. As much as it sucks and I’d like to see some of that stuff as having value, it’s just overwhelming now. I just picture myself being an adult (presumably middle aged) child of this guy trying to sort it out after the fact. If you really did seprate the good stuff from the crap, you’d be doing it for months and…

Go there and take pics of this stuff and get it up on TDIclub, etc man. Maybe somebody else that appreciates it will take some of it home and it won’t get scrapped.

^^^^^^
THIS. My Stepdad passed a couple years ago unexpectedly after a 3 month battle with a Stage 4 brain tumor and my Mom was left in a house she isn’t really attached to that they owed too much money on. On top of that, they had a large pole barn on part of their property that they built later and he pretty much got…

That was my favorite part! LOL

Of course! Never saw this ad before but love it.

Yeah I think I’ve kind of seeing a “shift” in who is going to shows now as well. I used to direct traffic and collect specatator parking fees at a decent sized (400 or so car) show in Wisconsin. I used to see 2 people per car with a passenger that wanted to check out the show or didn’t finish their car in time. Now…

If you want a whole car I would start looking on copart.com That’s basically a salvage yard vehicle auction site.

I literally just said the same thing in reply to another comment a min. ago then I scrolled down and saw yours. LOL

Pacer Pizza Co.? You’re onto something there. It would make a hell of an interesting delivery car fleet for a business.