mid size wagon that can handle?

I have been itching for a wagon lately. Currently I drive an 04 Silverado SS. Even though I love the truck, I just find it less practical as of late. With one baby seat and one more on the way, its a pain. I've been on the hunt for sporty wagon that can fulfill my needs. Criteria are; must be traditional 3 pedal manual trans, have decent power, AWD or RWD, decent back seat, decent cargo, can be made to handle, DIY friendly, readily available and reasonably priced parts, strong owner support and strong aftermarket. Max budget of $15k. Age is not an issue. Biggest concerns are fun and practicality. I live in michigan so if its not AWD then the budget will have to include a winter beater tow vehicle. I already have a dedicated track car.

The choices I have come up with are; wrx, Forester, A6, A4/S4, e34-e39 5 series, e30-e46 3series, sx4, saab combi, (now for the oldies but goodies) G body malibu, Civic wagovan, datsun 510 wagon, volvo 240 wagon, insert jdm wagon here and the list get bigger everyday. Any other suggestions, comments, criticisms welcome.

WRX is not midsize! You will struggle getting car seats in one. The Forester is not much better, either.

The A6, S4, and A4 will all bleed you dry with their bad quality and high prices. Not to mention the A4/S4 isn't that much bigger in the back than a WRX.

3-series will be small-ish, but the 5-er would be good. Actually, my boss just picked one up (E34 I think) and it's very nicely sized.

SX4 is TINY.

Others to think about:

Legacy Turbo Wagon would fit your turbo AWD love, but it's the unicorn, you will pay $$$ for one.

Volvo has some very nice R Wagons with manuals. V70R Turbo AWD 6-Speed for the win!

The Mazda6 wagon is super sweet, but it's FWD. If you can stomach no wagon the Mazdaspeed6 is superb. Too bad they never made a Mazdaspeed6 wagon

Colt vista wagon?

Available in AWD and they are distant cousins of the DSM's I believe.

They aren't pretty, but thats the only option you didn't specifically mention.

Thanks for the chance to gloat about my new wagon again...

One vote for the G body. I miss my Buick I had. Wagon with fake wood trim, even.

My buddy just picked up a Passat B5 wagon with the W8 and a manual trans...its sick.

Country Squire! Tons of dirt cheap parts/upgrades available, can handle incredibly with only a few upgrades. 5 speed swap is easy. EFI 5.0, HO conversion simple. Downside-bodyparts and size.

Fairmont/Grenada/LTD (fox wagons) Well, they are fox mustang wagons.

Protege 5. It's a mazda. OBX header and VTCS removal wakes them up. Not much required in suspension mods to really have fun.

I second the legacy GT wagon, but in addition to that you can consider the outback wagon. I believe the legacy has a lower ride height and better brakes though. A quick autotrader search reveals 3 manual outback wagons in your area.

The saab turbo Xs always intrigued me but there are literally 6 speed no turbo X wagons in your area

I recently purchased a 2006 Outback XT, yeah, the turbo version. 85% of the power and torque of an STi. Handles remarkably well for 8.5 inches of ground clearance. I want the ground clearance for camping but if you don't, the Legacy wagon is sweet. I don't know if the brakes are different on the non-Outback. Sweet interior, good stereo, good headlights. I like mine a ton already. Oh, mileage ain't great and it takes premium. But awesome safety engineering, since mine carries the car seat.

David

There's no way I'd carry my kids regularly in a 510. Tin can without any modern safety engineering. Fun, but still a tin can.

I agree on the WRX. You will not be happy trying to squeeze 2 car seats in the back of that one.

I'd really look hard at the turbo bricks. The V-70 is a great car, and has plenty of fun-to-drive opportunities. Plus it has the added bonus points for "sleeper value".

I know you said you need AWD, but there have been many generations of people who have driven in snow regions without it. I'd buy a V-70 with some space in the budget, but drive it first in snow before running out to buy a beater.

The Audi A6 is a wonderful car, and I found the "quality" on my wife's car to be exceptionally good. The car gave us 100k miles of trouble-free service and I would buy another new one in a heartbeat.

That said, if you run into a repair that you can't handle yourself, it's going to be expensive. Great cars, just not designed to be easy to service.

I'll vote for the Volvo also. I had a 940 turbo wagon and enjoyed it immensely, but they only came with automatics. Pretty sure the 7-series wagon could be manual. Handled okay for what it was and suspension upgrades are available.

I'd avoid Subaru's like the plague--can't stand 'em--but I understand I'm probably in the minority in that regard.

Not rwd but V6 w/ 5speed in this rare wagon.
http://detroit.craigslist.org/wyn/cto/2697395444.html

familytruckster wrote: Country Squire! Tons of dirt cheap parts/upgrades available, can handle incredibly with only a few upgrades. 5 speed swap is easy. EFI 5.0, HO conversion simple. Downside-bodyparts and size.

Say wha???? You sir have peaked my interest...

I, to would have said G-body, but two things knock it out, Michigan weather and finding all the swap pieces to make it a stick are rare-ish.

I really think that the Mazda wagon just posted is probably your best bet.

If the country squire peaks your interest here are two Michigan examples:
http://detroit.craigslist.org/mcb/cto/2730796498.html
http://annarbor.craigslist.org/cto/2744233055.html

Javelin wrote: V70R Turbo AWD 6-Speed for the win!

This!

thunderzy wrote: The choices I have come up with are; wrx,

The back seat on those is pretty tiny.

e34-e39 5 series

Would probably be my first choice.

e30-e46 3series

Again, not something with much rear seat room. They're about as small inside as a Civic, and the wagon versions are pretty rare in the US.

insert jdm wagon here

Cressida with 7MGTE or 2JZ-GTE swap?

Back seat in an E46 wagon is big enough for adults and we fit two large child seats (rear facing and forward facing) just fine.

I would say it's Legacy-sized (last generation)--certainly bigger than the <06 Impreza.

Ranger50 wrote: Say wha???? You sir have peaked my interest... I, to would have said G-body, but two things knock it out, Michigan weather and finding all the swap pieces to make it a stick are rare-ish.

For a stick G-body, I believe you can use S10 pedals and then just do a hydraulic clutch setup, that way you don't have to try and find the unltra rare mechanical linkage parts.

I used to have a 79 El Camino 4sp, and was stopped at least 5 times by 80's Monte Carlo SS owners wanting the trans setup. Told them they could buy the whole car, but no one bit, too cheap.

I like the Mazda 6 above, but that is a front driver. They are fun to drive though.

I've got a 2005 Legacy GT. It's the only year that the 2.5 Turbo wagon was available with a stick. I used to have a 2003 WRX and this car is better in every way. The back seat is not huge--we have a baby still in a rear facing car seat and I'm not happy sitting in front of her for any period of time--though I'm 6'4". My 5'8" wife is fine in front of it though. I paid less than $13k for it with 69k miles two years ago. Now at 104k miles.

In reply to 81cpcamaro:

Oh really......

jrw1621 wrote: Not rwd but V6 w/ 5speed in this rare wagon. http://detroit.craigslist.org/wyn/cto/2697395444.html

OOH, me want!

As for the Squire handling stuff, Toss some real springs on there and good shocks (street stock circle track stuff) 98-02 steering boxes bolt in with a little fab on the PS lines, 12.5" dual piston front brake upgrades bolt on from 98-02, rear discs bolt right on, It's a 5.0, swapping to HO is all bolt in, with the only mod being to the throttle body linkage, (ECU is plug and play) Lot of people have modded the stock pedals or used a mustang pedal assembly and the cable setup from the stang to put T-5's in.

One of the guys on the vic forums has a stoked BBF town car....

ST_ZX2 wrote: My buddy just picked up a Passat B5 wagon with the W8 and a manual trans...its sick.

I have always thought that would be such a cool car until I read bad things about the W8 (timing belts jumping off the pulleys and destroying engines). Did they ever get the problems with it fixed?

Passats are the same size as A6's, so LOTS of rear seat room. We put 100k miles on my wife's with no problems at all. We've got 80k on her Audi A4 with no problems, 116k on my S4, no problems.

The back seats in the A4/S4 are small though. The 3 series wagons are basically the same size.

I'd look for a passat or A6 wagon.

Lots of great suggestions here. I've looked into the mazda wagons. The 6, 3, even protoges. I've never owned a FWD car and never want to. Audi and bmw scare me in the parts and service department. Although I owned an x5 for 9 yrs prior to my SS, and loved that thing. BMW definitely make their cars fun to drive. But simple fixes cost a small fortune. The volvo v70 looks awesome and I did not even consider it. The 05 legacy gt is hard to find but I saw a few around the $10k mark. I have actually seen several malibu wagons with 4 speed/v8 in my area (300 mile radius) for around $5k. The more I think about it the more the G-body wagon idea is more of a project car and not a DD. The squire is out of the question. Although a cool sleeper, just not for me.

That brings us to the legacy and the v70r. I've read a decent amount on the legacy but know nothing about the v70. A quick search brings up several potential candidates but all with over 100k miles. What should I be looking for in these vehicles? What problems or issues are common place in either model?

Thanks

Volvo t5r

Volvo T5r??