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solid quality, substantial feeling, efficient, good handling, wagon or hatchback. Comfortable and safe on long trips. Understated as opposed to techy/tacky.

The Right Car for Me | TrueDelta

Member6303

I enjoy driving and am used to my comfortable, substantially built vw. It would be nice to have a practical, solid and well designed wagon that performs well enough to give confidence to the driver on the road, without worry of expensive reliability issues on long trips. I need four wheel disc brakes, independent suspension, reliable non-turbo engine and bulletproof manual transmission, preferably six speed. Prefer an understated car that delivers a little more than expected and rewards maintenance / respect with worry free ownership for many years. Fair parts prices and straight forward service would be nice but I won't kid myself too much! Cheers.

Priorities: Reliability & durability / Safety & braking / Handling / Materials & workmanship / Warranty, maintenance cost

Preferred Bodystyle(s): Hatch / Wagon

Car Needs: Daily commuter / Family transporter / Errands about town / Long trips / Client-facing

Need minimum of 4 seats

Will consider both new and used cars
Maximum mileage: 100000
Maximum age: 5 years

Maximum price: US $ 12000

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Response from mkaresh

1:13 pm January 25, 2015

Given how much you like your current VW, a VW Jetta Sportwagen seems the most obvious choice. The gas 2.5-liter version has been reliable.

After that, probably a Subaru Outback, but one of these will probably be harder to find within your price range.

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Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen
Subaru Outback

Response from mwcten

5:08 pm January 29, 2015

The Mazda 3 hatch may be one to look at. MPG is a bit sub-par, but power is decent, as the hatches in your price range are only available with the 2.5l engine. They even have 4-wheel disks and 6spd. Not sure about the suspension.

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Mazda Mazda3

Response from mkaresh

3:22 pm January 30, 2015

My concern with any but the most recent Mazdas (and possibly some of these as well) in Canada would be rust. VWs have far better rustproofing.

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