Wagons the dying breed, loss of two market entries

[JHZR2]

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Subaru has dropped the entire Subaru Legacy line in the wagon form. My wife has a 2005 Legacy GT wagon with 5 speed manual which only lasted one year. The next two years it was offered in automatic only. Subaru however retains the Outback (jacked up Legacy) in wagon form.

Another cool relatively affordable entry dropped is the Mazda6 in wagon form.

I absolutely love wagons and the choices are turning Euro only.

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Saw the same thing... wife is looking for a wagon, and would have loved a regular Legacy wagon. Now, there is really next to no difference between the base model 'outback' wagons in 2008 and what was the 'legacy' wagon line in 2007, from what Ive seen... and it turned out that less than 5% of legacies were wagons, and less than 5% of outbacks were sedans (another line that got dropped, the 'outback' sedan).

It really is a shame - what we want is a subaru wagon with MT and a sunroof. You cant get MT in the versions of the car that offer sunroofs, unless you get the turbo model, so you have to take an MPG penalty.

Too bad the Jetta diesel wagon isnt out yet... that would let us have an economical MT, diesel wagon that would fit our needs...

JMH

 

[UncleS2]

Maybe I'm just strange- but I've always liked station wagons. Way back when, Dad bought a brand new, 1959 model Opel Rekord Caravan station wagon from the Buick dealership in Texarkana. Blue, w/roof rack, partial white top, blue & white interior, 3-on-the-tree, & a big 1.5 Liter I-4 with no sign of an oil filter, rated at ~50 hp.

Link to a pic I found- that little blue wagon is *exactly* what our Opel wagon was: http://www.opel-p1.nl/folder 1960/1960 rek 4.jpg

That's the family car I remember most from about age 6 to 11 or 12. Gas station attendants would walk around it, looking sideways, & finally ask, "Whut kinda car *is* that?" :

Later on, in early high school, for about 6 months I owned a Studebaker Lark V-8- station wagon. Used almost as much oil as gas, but helped keep down the mosquito population.

Later still, at about age 20 or 21, bought a new ford Pinto station wagon- that one didn't work out so well.

If I were to look for another car tomorrow- too bad they don't make a Crown Vic/Grand Marquis wagon these days. I'd seriously consider a good used Taurus/Sable wagon- and the Dodge Magnum has always looked interesting to me. Needs more glass though. A good Subaru wagon? They're fairly rare here, but I'd buy a good deal on one in a minute!

And as a final note- I've never bought into the "SUV" terminology. Always thought of & referred to them as 4-wheel-drive Station Wagons.

 

[artificialist]

This thread is making me think of something mom told me back in the day when she bought her 1985 Nissan Maxima. That generation of Maxima was the last to be offered as a wagon in the USA. Anyway, mom requested a sedan, and their were too many unsold wagons on the lot. The dealer said he could get mom a wagon for the same price as a sedan, and mom said "NO!" Mom hated wagons because that is what the parents drove.

I had a neighbor across the street with a wagon Maxima built between 1985-1988. We all had the same problem with those piles of junk. A/C problems, dead alternators, batteries that couldn't take the scorching underhood heat, and of course, CV axles. That wasn't enough to make up for the fact that the engine didn't leak oil or coolant, and neither did the automatic transaxle.

Still, I loved the Maxima because of the 1980s computer gimmickry in the interior. 7 band equalizer, stainless radio and A/C panels, and a wireframe grid on the instrument cluster. When that car died, so did a piece of me.

 

[Jett Rink]

A neighbor a few houses down the street has an Audi wagon. I'm not up on their terminology, but I think it is an A4. Let me tell you, this is NOT your old man's station wagon. I have to say that I am really impressed with the interior of the current Audis. They are really putting some money into this while building it. It drives just like a sedan with more usable trunk space.

I challenge anyone driving around in a SUV (because they have to carry kids and groceries??) that never goes offroad, to get behind the wheel of one of these current Audi or Volvo wagons. Try it, you might like it better. These are not, I reapeat not, slow cars...unless you are the kind of guy who ears his paycheck behind a Formula 1 or Nascar machine, and there aren't many of those drivers around.

 

[artificialist]

I know most wagons are NOTHING like the Belvedeers, Crown Vics, and Impalas, but most people simply cannot keep their mind open to them anyway. The scars of forced roadtrips, parental embarrassment, and so on simply run too deep!

The other thing about SUVs and some vans is that so many people like to sit up high, and don't care if they have to give up corner carving to get it. Most drivers have never brought their car to extreme cornering anyway. Those who do, frequently feel that just replacing the cheap factory tires with some mid to high grade tires is enough to get handling where they feel good.

Maybe I could just say one thing that ties everything together. In most people's brains, emotion rules over logic the majority of the time. That is why there are so many inefficient vehicles on our roads.