I didn't realize VW had dropped the Passat wagon, either. Although my 99 Passat is a sedan, my 01 Audi S4 is an Avant (wagon) and I love it. The S4 is my road trip car.

I don't know if this is helpful in your case or not, but the new Passat is not a wagon but it is incredibly spacious.

I like wagons. Looking to replace an aging Volvo V70. No more Volvos in our driveway since build quality went south and Chinese ownership took over. A Passat TDI wagon would be perfect.

I like wagons too. Earlier this year - no make that late last year -, I drove a 535d Touring around Bavaria (my review of the 535d touring is online here if interested) and it was great. I love the look too.

You mean mainland Chinese ownership? Red China is trying to steal the name China. That is like optometrist are trying to fool the public into thinking they are real doctors. They now call themselves "optometric physicians". Physicians, my foot. Optometrists do not go to medical school any more than a rug doctor does.

There are actually 2 Chinas plus Singapore, which is 70% Chinese but nothing like mainland China.

I think most car manufacturers are moving away from the traditional station wagons towards the cross (between the station wagon and the mini van).. i.e. Matrix

You're right, and I hate the trend. VW has the Tiguan, which has seriously deficient cargo space compared to my Passat wagon. I don't want a hatchback...I have a lot of stuff to carry around!

Most crossovers are stupid vehicles. They bring the disadvantages of SUVs (trucklike stance, poor MPG) without enough of the advantages of regular wagons. A lot of them pull off the weird trick of being big and ungainly on the outside, small on the inside (cf. the new Dodge Journey, which I just spent 300 miles with courtesy of Avis, and the Ford Explorer). There's almost no choice out there for normal, traditional station wagons, especially now that Volvo has done away with theirs... you can only get a Volvo wagon now with all that Cross-Country plastic crap glued all over it. There's Subarus and the VW Jetta wagon, and then you vault into the luxury zone... like jspira mentioned, there's the BMW 5-series, but it strikes me as expensive for what you get. There's the Cadillac CTS wagon, which I kind of like, but it hasn't been a sales success and probably won't survive the next CTS design refresh.

I know, and I just don't understand why that is. I don't want a truck; I want a car with reasonably decent gas mileage and a healthy amount of cargo space. This should not be so difficult. As I said above, at this point it's basically the Subaru Outback or nothing. I want a little bit of luxury (things like heated seats and a nice stereo) and a nice-looking car, but I would feel ridiculous hauling bags of compost around in a BMW 5-series--not to mention that the maintenance costs on BMWs are too obnoxious to contemplate.

Maybe by the time my Passat really craps out, some new wagons will have come along. I'll keep my fingers crossed. At least Subarus are still there for me. I've owned two Subaru wagons in the past and had good experiences with them.

When they have one that goes 800 miles in 2 hours, I'm totally never flying again.:D

Exactly...

My A4 Avant is a fantastic car, and it can go 500ish miles on a tank (...of premium, unfortunately.), but there's no way in hell I'm enduring a drive of over 3 hours if I can avoid it.

What do people have against the Jetta Sportwagon? I picked one out about a year ago (TDI) and the purchaser (the ex) has been quite happy with it. I think its a step above Subaru in terms of luxury. It comes base with Leather and nearly every option you'd like, besides NAV.

I'm not a fan of the new Passat either, they took all the 'luxury' out of it. Gone are the trunk and hood openers, in is fake wood grain, no LEDs, even in the SEL. Meh.

I've got the new Golf Wagon and I am very impressed with it - it is better than the Passat Wagon we had 10 years ago, and certainly value for money. I have the petrol version, not diesel, but I can say, hand on heart, I have never panicked about my car only have a range of x hundred kilometers! I have no issue with stopping at a gas station, and, if I suspect there may not be a gas station (eg driving in the far north of this province) I am pretty sure I can pop a jerry can in the trunk!

I think its pretty cool. When I drove from NC to Boston (home for school) I would have to plan my stops to make sure there was a 24hr gas station - now thats not as much of a problem anymore, but it would have been great to know I could drive all night and not worry about finding gas - even if I did stop somewhere to take a break.

Let's not forget the astronaut-stalker demographic :p

http://www.denverpost.com/sitemap/ci_5167528

The Orlando police allege that Nowak drove 950 miles from Houston to Orlando wearing adult diapers used in space