What wagon?

We are going to sell my wife's V70R in order to move to something more fuel efficient, now that she is putting in a LOT more miles. We want another wagon, used but relatively new. And we're trying to balance the buy-in amount against the MPG, realizing that a more expensive but super efficient car will take a long time to make up for a lower buy in with a little less efficiency.

Requirements:

Comfortable seating for five
Fuel efficient
Automatic (she has back problems, so no more manuals on a daily basis) Relatively luxurious (in other words, no econoboxes)
Under 75k miles or so
$20k max

Options so far:
2010+ VW Jetta TDI (incredible mileage but higher priced fuel)
2003 or so BMW 525iT (hard to find with lower miles at this point)
Struggling to think of a 3rd

Prius?

No interest in an e46 wagon? Or is that too small (I see you're looking at the 5 series wagons)

In my house, a bought new 2010 Mazda 5 serves as the spiritual replacement for a Volvo 855.

mtn wrote: Prius?

I really thought this was the answer, even more so now that they come in a wagon. But then I had a 2014 as a rental car and it was pretty underwhelming. Neither of us was a fan of the electric -> gas conversion process and it felt very cheap on the inside.

e46potenza wrote: No interest in an e46 wagon? Or is that too small (I see you're looking at the 5 series wagons)

Had one. Probably a touch small. I have been looking at e90 wagons but the fuel mileage is pretty low.

In reply to dyintorace:
Could the Lexus version help make it feel less cheap? Lexus ct200h

JohnRW1621 wrote: In my house, a bought new 2010 Mazda 5 serves as the spiritual replacement for a Volvo 855.

An option, but probably too minivan-y for her.

Acura TSX wagon

JohnRW1621 wrote: Acura TSX wagon

The TSX wagon is a great suggestion. I don't know much about Acuras, but they certainly seem to be popular, based on the number of them on the road.

e46potenza wrote: No interest in an e46 wagon? Or is that too small (I see you're looking at the 5 series wagons)

Not going to get 5 in an E46 comfortably, if at all. I love my wife's TSX sedan, but it's not going to fit 5 either. At least not adults.

Duke wrote:

e46potenza wrote: No interest in an e46 wagon? Or is that too small (I see you're looking at the 5 series wagons)

Not going to get 5 in an E46 comfortably, if at all.

True... didn't realize there were that many to haul around lol. is300 sport? Or whatever they called the wagon. Or mazda5, but on coilovers with some decent wheels. If they were cheap enough I'd pick one up for a DD... but I'll probably just get another jeep

What about a SAAB 9-3 SportCombi, or a 9-5 wagon?

Mazda 6 Wagon?

I have a 2010 9-3 Sportcombi and it is a pretty nice car. Wife DDs it and seems to really like it. HOWEVER, the backseat is going to be tight for 3 across. It is bigger than a 3 series and not far off a 5 series (at least my friends E39 wagon). The build quality is much better on the 9-3 than the 9-5 even though I wouldn't say that the 9-3 is stellar quality either.

In reply to singleslammer:

My Dad has a 9-3 vert and I have a 9-5 Aero and I would say the opposite about the build quality.

Keep your volvo. Just simply remove the turbo and voila.

Rusted_Busted_Spit wrote: In reply to singleslammer: My Dad has a 9-3 vert and I have a 9-5 Aero and I would say the opposite about the build quality.

What year is the 9-3? My 2010 VS a 2009 9-5 Aero was much in favor of my car.

If you're lookng for a high efficiency wagon that can eat up a E36 M3 load of miles reliably, the only answer is Prius. They're not fast, don't handle well, but they're not supposed to. I just bought a 2010 about 6 weeks ago and it's perfect for my needs...which are very similar to your wife. I drive 100+ miles per day, often in heavy traffic. I'm averaging 45mpg even with traffic. It's no luxury car, but it's a fine place to spend hours on end. Seats are comfy enough, controls are easy to use, etc... Yeah, the transition from gas to electric could be a bit smoother, but it's not horrible.

Plus, these things are unbreakable and have a remarkably high resale value. Prius is the answer, no doubt.

Keeping in mind the need for fuel efficient and I'd assume reliability since it's the wife's car, the choice if I weren't picking Prius would be the TSX wagon.

I vote 9-5 wagon... because well, I have a 9-5 and wish it where a wagon

Edit: my .02 on build quality, I think the 9-5 is leaps and bounds ahead of the 9-3SS in the quality depo, I have worked on MANY 9-3SS' and most of the soft touch is gone, they have more rattles inside the cabin then a jar of marbles, and meh,,, its not a true SAAB (Nor is a 9-5 but it closer!)

singleslammer wrote:

Rusted_Busted_Spit wrote: In reply to singleslammer: My Dad has a 9-3 vert and I have a 9-5 Aero and I would say the opposite about the build quality.

What year is the 9-3? My 2010 VS a 2009 9-5 Aero was much in favor of my car.

My 9-5 is an 03 and the 9-3 is an 06 I believe.

If your main issue with the V70 is fuel mileage and you still want to comfortably seat 5 adults, then I'm having trouble thinking of anything that will do what you're asking. Anything that gets better MPG won't seat 5 comfortably. Anything that seats 5 won't get much (if any) metter MPG - at least not enough to really offset the cost of buying another car.

The seating for 5 is more around carpooling kids than 5 adults comfortably. Typically, it will just be our family of 4 (2 adults and 2 kids - a tween and a teen).

The 9-3 is great then. It isn't a Town Car but it is a bit wider than a 3 series

Klayfish wrote: If you're lookng for a high efficiency wagon that can eat up a E36 M3 load of miles reliably, the only answer is Prius. They're not fast, don't handle well, but they're not supposed to. I just bought a 2010 about 6 weeks ago and it's perfect for my needs...which are very similar to your wife. I drive 100+ miles per day, often in heavy traffic. I'm averaging 45mpg even with traffic. It's no luxury car, but it's a fine place to spend hours on end. Seats are comfy enough, controls are easy to use, etc... Yeah, the transition from gas to electric could be a bit smoother, but it's not horrible. Plus, these things are unbreakable and have a remarkably high resale value. Prius is the answer, no doubt. Keeping in mind the need for fuel efficient and I'd assume reliability since it's the wife's car, the choice if I weren't picking Prius would be the TSX wagon.

I really did think this was the easy answer. Maybe the rental car version we had was such a bargain basement model that it lacked some civility of the higher trim models. We'll test drive the wagon version and see what we think. I can't argue with the MPG, that's for sure. Over the course of a few days, I was managing ~50 MPG around town without trying too hard.