Wagons the dying breed, loss of two market entries

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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. At least Dodge introduced one not sure how its going for them in the Magnum.
 
wagons are very usefull, versatile, etc. but they are associated with the family truckster from that one movie...

people dont want to think of themselves as a family with 2 screaming kids in the back traveling cross country.
 
The only wagons I ever really liked were the old Chevy Nomads and basically all Volvo wagons.

The Dodge Magnum isn't bad either, but I don't think I would buy one.
 
Probably we have yet to overcome our obsession with SUVs. Surely they were dropped simply due to lack of sales. Just like manual transmissions get dropped from American market models, even though some really like them. It took Honda how many years to bring a manual transmission to the Accord V6 sedan? And now I seem to have read they will drop it. Nissan dropped the manual transmission from the Maxima already. IF they drop it on the G35 too, we can just give up on getting a gutsy engine with a MT anymore.
 
I forgot to put a wink on that last pessimistic statement of mine above.
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I can't see how it matters about dropping the regular Legacy Wagon. They've made the Outback wagons so impressive, who cares? The new Outbacks are really tempting.
 
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Wagons here are called SUV's.




Yeah, that's true, but I'm pretty disppointed with how susceptible the American public has proven to be to automaker advertising progaganda. They've convinced millions of buyers that they "need" an SUV, when in fact, a Taurus wagon or Accord wagon would fully meet the needs of 95% of those driving Explorers and Trailblazers. I'm curious to see how far north gas will have to go before the "manly SUV" bubble bursts.
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I'm so over the SUV craze. I really grow tired of 115 lb women driving this HUMONGOUS SUV or full size truck that they don't have control over. Most of them have no need to drive these things and endangering our lives. My first family car was a 92 Ford Escort Wagon...it did well on gas and it was very reliable. Ford did away with them.

I wouldn't mind having a truck, but for most people, it's just not practical and it's not needed. Some never even use their bed or they pick something up from Home Depot once a year and are insistent that they need a truck.
 
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Wagons here are called SUV's.




...and minivans.

EIA http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/international/gas1.html reported a gasoline price of $7.33/gallon in the UK (home of Land Rover) and $7.01/gallon in Germany (home of the maker of the ML and GL series) for the most recent week.

In the US it was $3.24/gallon. I think gasoline would at least have to become more expensive than French bottled water before it begins to put a dent in truck-frame SUV sales.
 
Part of my inner-essence whispers I should have bought the long wheelbase Chrysler or Dodge minivan. I could live in it when the upcoming financial collapse arrives.

But, the long-bed pick-up with a shell/topper provides plenty of sleeping and storage room and greater towing abilty if a travel trailer becomes the mobile shanty.

Other than a different-shaped nose isn't a minivan and a station wagon very similar?

The opinions expressed in this post do not belong to anyone. The statements within are meaningless and are applied here for no particular reason.

Feel free to immediately forget all thou hast read.

Alamo the remember.
 
I love my Volvo 740 wagon with 352,000 miles on her.
2.3 liter turbo I4 5 speed. Volvo still sells a lot of wagons. Although the AWD's do defeat the better gas mileage philosophy.
 
I'm still a little torn on whether or not the Mazda3 "hatch" is a wagon or not. I like using the "W" word on the Mazda3 forums to get the 'hatch' crowd hot under the collar. :)

The demise of the traditional wagon is largely due to current SUVs being nothing more than wagons with a suspension lift. For whatever reason, sitting higher in a wagon has become cool.
 
Are wagons REALLY a "dying breed"? Marketing people love to change names and make you believe you are getting something completely different and new in order to raise prices.

I have a Honda CRV because Subaru wagon and other models were too expensive. Is CRV a SUV or a wagon with a 4 wheel drive and high ground clearance? I and most other Honda CRV and Toyota RAV owners don't goo off roads, so they are not really SUVs. They ARE wagons, just rebranded.

Same goes for new names like XUVs or whatever next they think of. Even some vans are really wagons.

I think wagons increased in size and engine power, while rebranded to new names, are still here. As gasoline price keeps going up SUVs, XUVs and vans will downsize. Next thing you know we are back to the future - wagons.

Anyway I wouldn't get stuck on labels too much. Consider what you need and ignore all the labels.

P.S.: Mazda5 has an extra row of seats for yet more screaming kids
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Yep, I got my CR-V specifically for a the tad higher ground clearance and the on-road worthy AWD system. That and the cavernous storage area. I wasn't concerned with the BAJA races. I purposely avoided "normal" 4wd vehicles. I was much more in the market for wagon features than SUV. My second choice was a Subaru Forester which, no matter what Subaru and Consumer Reports say, is a station wagon. I think if MOST average folks were given a wagon or hatch to drive for a bit, they'd never go back to a sedan.
 
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Wagons here are called SUV's.




Actually, it's more like Crossovers (car-based SUVs). An SUV to me is built on a truck platform. A Crossover looks like an SUV, but is a unibody platform. I'm thinking about vehicles like the Ford Edge, Saturn Outlook, Honda CRV, etc.

Saturn is coming out with the Astra in a 3 and 5 door format. The 5 door is basically a small wagon and is getting very good reviews so far.
 
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I can't see how it matters about dropping the regular Legacy Wagon. They've made the Outback wagons so impressive, who cares? The new Outbacks are really tempting.




Outback = jacked up legacy with lessor handling(its the exact car with suspension modifications and differing trim). Outbacks handle okay however a Legacy is another realm with its low center of gravity.

I guess I just love great handling wagons with a fun to drive factor.
 
I forgot to add another decent and inexpensive decent handling wagon was dropped in the last year....Ford Focus Wagon
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Automotive fashion exhibits what's best about the great, unwashed masses in the US; instead of a wagon or sedan get a SUV that is taller so that rolls easier, weighs more so that it gets worse mileage, has a 'heavy duty' suspension that might have big arms hanging down providing less clearance than a Taurus, and these days often seems to be lowered with low profile street tires on fancy wheels (some with spinners) so that you can look good while doing 360s across the highway before rolling. But it's a bargain as it usually doesn't twice as much as a wagon or sedan.
 
Oh I know it's the same car. But it's sorta like the situation with the WRX. Who buys a "base" Impreza? Same with the Legacy wagon.....Hey, at least they have that Forester Sports XT. That's a seriously mean lookin' Scoobie wagon!
 
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