The Ultimate Guide to Buying a Station Wagon

GTM NE region chief Harry is looking for a new car, specifically a wagon, so we thought … wouldn’t it be fun to rally the troops and play another round of “What Should I Buy?” – WAGONS EDITION!

There is one thing I have to point out … there’s been a long standing internal debate, let’s call it what it is… an argument… within GTM about the differences between a wagon, hatchback, and lift-back. While some might lump all these cars together, we don’t, and therefore for this episodes purposes to be considered a “wagon” the vehicle must have a “D” pillar. Vehicles like the VW GTI or Subaru Impreza though “wagon-like” are considered Hatch-backs and are disqualified. And with that… let’s get into it.

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Transcript

Crew Chief Brad: [00:00:00] Our panel of brake fix petrol heads are back for another rousing. What should I buy debate using unique shopping criteria? They are challenged to find our first time collector the best vehicle that will make their friends go Where do you get that or what the hell is wrong with you at the next cars and coffee?

What’s up everyone, it’s your host brad and with me as always is my co host eric So GTM Northeast Region Chief Harry is looking for a new car, specifically a wagon. So we thought wouldn’t it be fun to rally the troops and play another round of what should I buy? Wagons edition.

So Harry, why don’t you tell us why you’d like to become a member of the long roof society by telling us what you’re replacing and laying out your shopping criteria.

Harry Brill: Okay. So currently the only vehicle my wife and I have is a 99 four runner. Third gen. Best gen. We’re [00:01:00] replacing a mini four door that we leased.

Good car, not a great car. Definitely looking for something a little bigger. My requirements are kind of unique because my wife is really hard on rims. Something with a big sidewall is really important, which is hard to find in nice cars. The higher you get in the model, the bigger the rim, the smaller the tire.

So, looking for some big tires, not big rims. Looking for something that says I’ve got class, but not money. Oddly enough, going to customers houses and being seen around town, being in the small business. It’s important to not be too flashy, but not looking like you’re broke. So that’s where the mini came in last time.

That’s also really important to us. Normally I like the lease cars because I don’t like to get committed to anything outside of my wife. I like three years, maybe two years and change it out for something else. All right. So those are pretty much for our requirements. I don’t really have anything else.

Don’t need four wheel drive. I got, we got the four runner. I’ve [00:02:00] got a bunch of trucks. Yeah, that’s about it.

Crew Chief Eric: Do you have a dollar requirement, Harry?

Harry Brill: So looking like you have class, but not money, that is the dollar requirement. So it’s probably somewhere in that 30 to 50 range. Anything more than 50 to me would be, you know, I’d love to own a Merck wagon, but it’s just too much money.

Crew Chief Eric: Is there a age? Does it have to be within the last five years, seven years, three years, 10 years? Are you looking new, used, any of those types of requirements?

Harry Brill: So the current fleet is my work truck, which is new, but beat, it’s already got 33, 000, the 99 forerunner, and we have a 74 Alfa Romeo. So that is the current fleet.

So something that is new in the last, maybe just off lease would be as old as I’m willing to go. So basically I’m looking for a new car

Mike Crutchfield: and

Harry Brill: we’ll be really comfortable on road trips. A parameter that I didn’t mention earlier, like, Being able to do five, 600 [00:03:00] miles at a pretty good clip.

Crew Chief Brad: All right. All right.

All right. Now that we’ve properly chummed the water, the piranhas, I mean, the rest of tonight’s panel of GTM members, we’ll submit some cars for you to consider. But before we get into it, I’d like to introduce Crutch, Mike Crutchfield. We’ve got his lovely wife, Chrissy, definitely the better half. We’ve got hazmat.

We’ve got Tanya hailing from Texas. We’ve got Andrew Mason. We’ve got our newcomer to the show, Rob Lors, and then of course you’ve met our Northeast Region Chief, Harry. All right, who wants to chime in first? Who’s got a card for Harry? I’ve already got three or four, but I want to hear what the peanut gallery

Crew Chief Eric: has to say.

Before we start, there’s one thing I have to point out. There’s been a long standing internal debate, well, let’s call it what it is, it’s an argument, within GTM about the differences between a wagon, a hatchback, and a liftback. While some might lump all of these cars together, we don’t. Therefore, for tonight’s purposes, to be considered a [00:04:00] wagon, the vehicle must be built with a D pillar.

Vehicles like the VW GTI or the Subaru Impreza, though wagon like, are considered hatchbacks and therefore disqualified. And with that, let’s get into it.

Mike Crutchfield: Given that criteria, your suite of available wagons has gotten very small over the years. We’ve got, really, the Buick Regal Tourex, which is I think it’s, it’s actually a very, a very attractive car.

The golf sport wagon, which ended production in 2019, which is still available, new on dealer lots, as well as the all wheel drive version of that, which it’s, you know, a neat little gimmick for them to sell more. But the problem I have with the newer Volkswagen wagons is they shop the roof line on those wagons so much with the mark sevens that it makes putting anything large in the back of that lift gate.

Uh, really difficult. I have a feeling the Buick has a similar problem, but I’m not sure it’s as pronounced as the Volkswagen.

Crew Chief Brad: Are you saying I don’t fit in the back [00:05:00] of the Volkswagens? You do in pieces.

Mike Crutchfield: You might not fit in the mark 7s in the back seat But and the mark 6 has just ended too far too long ago for the criteria, unfortunately

Harry Brill: I guess another criteria that I didn’t mention is the fact that we own a fleet of trucks, and I also own my pickup truck, so Capacity of a wagon isn’t really, like, we don’t have to put shit in it.

We have other trucks to do most of the heavy hauling. I do like just having the gen the space in general for grocery getting and whatnot. Like, I like having the space versus having a grocery getter. And the Buick Regal X is currently leading the charge, and I can’t believe it. I’ve never ever. Owned, actually I owned one GMC, but I’ve never owned a GM vehicle before outside of that one piece of crap truck.

Mike Crutchfield: Well, I mean, we, we actually have, we’ve had wagons and we have a Passat sedan right now, because unfortunately the U. S. was, was cursed to not getting the wagon. But we actually have found that the trunk in the Passat holds a similar volume to what the [00:06:00] back of our Jetta wagon held. Because the trunk is just massive while it’s nice to have the larger opening if having that big empty cavernous space that fits large items isn’t as big a deal, you know, looking at one of the sedans with a larger trunk for a grocery getter could still solve your problem.

Crew Chief Brad: All right. So I’m going to throw it over to Chrissy because I want to hear what the, the, the other half of the Crutchfield dynasty has to say.

Chrissy Crutchfield: I feel like he sold a lot of my stuff. So I think that under that 50k mark, especially if it’s like an end of a lease, you can probably look at a Volvo, like a V70, which are nice, and they’ve updated, they’ve gotten away from the boxiness of it, which is nice too.

I do like the Buick, but at the same time, it’s a little expensive for a Buick, in my opinion. And I do like the Golf Wagon, but like Mike said, the roofline’s lower. However, you and Justine are shorter than Mike. So I don’t think that that’s a problem. [00:07:00] Sorry, hon.

Crew Chief Brad: Rob, you’re new. You’re fresh meat. Let’s go for it.

Rob Luhrs: The Regal Torax actually only starts at like just under 30k. So price wise, it sort of fits right in there. I was also going to say the only counteract to the sedan is I saw obviously that you have a dog and dogs don’t like trunks, dogs, love hatchbacks and wagons. So I know for like, for my family, we had a Jetta that my wife loved and we finally got rid of it and got her a Subaru Outback, which.

I would not suggest only because they switched all the CVTs, and that’s a pile of crap. But our Outback is a manual, so it’s actually a ton of fun. And the dog loves being in the back of that thing, and the kids love sliding around in it too. But yeah, I’d say the Buick should be the leading contender. I think if you go to the Volvo, it starts edging into that.

Like you have old money sort of feel as opposed to just looking nice. It looks like you loaded a close friend. Classmates, parents recently got rid of their Mazda three and picked up a pre owned, you know, V [00:08:00] 70 wagon. And literally the first joke on the first camping trip was like, Oh, who died and left you a pile of money?

Because it just seemed like that was the joke to make when you got a Volvo wagon. So the Buick wagon, we saw it at one hiking trip and it is gorgeous when properly outfitted. Like, we walked up to it and my wife and I literally stopped in our tracks and both of us were like, what is that? Because at a distance across the way, it actually has a little bit of a look of the, uh, the Jaguar wagons they made for a while that were pretty sweet looking, even though they, I wouldn’t necessarily want one, but they were pretty sweet looking.

So it has a tinge of that Jaguar wagon look, a tinge of that Volvo wagon look, but it’s a Buick. So no one thinks that you’re rolling in dough. And it looks pretty fly and has meets all the criteria. So it’s tough to beat that option.

Mike Crutchfield: Is the Volvo an old money look or just an old look? That’s

Harry Brill: what does fly mean?

Mike Crutchfield: If you have to ask, you are not,

Harry Brill: you’re pretty fly for a

Rob Luhrs: white guy. Exactly. It looked pretty pretty awesome. I’ll put it that way. It looked sleek and Futuristic even [00:09:00] I would say so bigger guys. It was in it was pretty awesome

Crew Chief Eric: So I I would agree with you there rob. I really thought the the regal was a handsome car until I saw it in person And the photographs of it Were much better than when I first saw it at the DC auto show a couple of years ago when it debuted.

And the reason I say that is the concept Regal Torex was different in the rear. And what really turned me off is I didn’t like the chrome and I didn’t like the way it felt like the artist pencil broke as he got to the D pillar. And it’s like, well, I don’t really know what to do here. So I’m just going to continue this chrome from the front all the way to the tail lights.

And if I owned one of those and my wife considered one, as a matter of fact, And we ultimately ended up with a Cadillac instead. The first thing she said was, that needs to go away. Meaning, make that black, right? Because it’s just a little bit ostentatious, because the rest of the car doesn’t have any chrome, except for that large arch from the A pillar to the D pillar.

Andrew Mason: That’s, that’s a GM thing. Just throw too [00:10:00] much chrome everywhere. You buy a GM car if you want to look good. You gotta, gotta get rid of the chrome. GM

Crew Chief Eric: loves the chrome. Styling is, is a personal thing. It’s very subjective. I still think it, at the right angles, it is a good looking car, but it is deceivingly large, and I think that’s another thing that I didn’t realize from the photographs until I saw it.

It’s a very, very big car.

Rob Luhrs: Yeah, I think, I think it’s similar length to the V70. Which is not a small Volvo either. No, it’s bigger than the V 70. It’s huge. Is it? Yeah. Yeah, definitely. It was. It had been backed into a spot so that that front threequarter view, it is a gorgeous vehicle. Like, I mean, it’s one of those, you definitely, you know, you stop yourself in a parking lot to look at it, which is.

Amazing to see, let’s call a spade a spade. We’re saying this about a Buick, which is kind of ridiculous for a Buick made in the last 20 years. Like that’s the car that your grandmother happened to have bought that you kind of laugh at. That’s about it.

Crew Chief Eric: It’s a Vauxhall. Let’s yeah, let’s be serious, right?

Yeah, you mean an

Andrew Mason: Opel, right? Yeah, right. It’s made, it’s made in Germany. So [00:11:00] checks that box.

Crew Chief Eric: Other than the aesthetics of the Regal wagon, the other downside to the Regal, why we didn’t get one was when we looked at it from an economy standpoint, right? Regal is so big and heavy and it’s powered by a two liter turbo.

Like everything is nowadays, the mileage was worse than the Cadillac we had. And so at that point, Jess, what was the

Rob Luhrs: mileage?

Crew Chief Eric: It was. So the Cadillac, the best they could ever do was like 24 and the Regal was worse than that. So it’s not great. But if you don’t care about fuel economy, then enjoy yourself.

Harry Brill: I would own a Mazda 500.

You get bigger tires on it. Like, everything’s an 18 and it goes to a 19 and that’s why it’s disqualified. Like, I’d own a hatchback. You can’t get bigger rims on it. I have to immediately swap out.

Crew Chief Brad: Okay, Andrew. So what else do you want to say other than Buick?

Andrew Mason: Well, I was going to say, I was going to say Outback.

I didn’t know about the CVT. I was not familiar with that, but up until hearing that, I mean, a Subaru is definitely not [00:12:00] ostentatious. It definitely blends in. And if you need someone to work on it, it’s a Subaru. They’re like Legos. So that was going to be my out of the box pick, but yeah, I mean, just, While Robin and uh Crutch were talking I was looking up that Buick and yeah, it’s a good looking car And I don’t know.

I’d definitely get one get a driving one, but no, I don’t have anything else

Harry Brill: We went to the local Subaru dealer and he’s been bothering me for probably about six months now like borderline harassment That guy put a bad taste in my mouth.

Crew Chief Eric: Was he sending you care packages full of granola and Birkenstocks too?

Harry Brill: It was pretty close. If he knew where I lived, he probably would have. During the pandemic, like the, the heat of the moment, he’s like, we’re still open. You can come in and order a car from the parking lot. I was like, Dave, I don’t want your car. Thank you. I

Rob Luhrs: mean, the, the Outbacks are, are, I mean, we love ours and everybody who owns one loves them.

I mean, there’s a reason everybody who has an Outback buys another Outback because they’re great. And just in the last, Eight months or almost a year, you can get the, [00:13:00] whatever they call it, the XT model that has the turbocharged motor. So instead of dealing with that 178 horsepower, you get the 268 horsepower one and it’s only like a three or four mile per gallon hit.

And so it’s actually gets out of its own way. But the, the one complaint from anyone who’s driven one, and I’ve had them as rental cars a few times ’cause I’ll, I’ll seek them out ’cause they feel familiar, which is nice. And they’re much better than most of the crap you can get is just that CBT drives you insane.

I mean, you just, you’re driving it and you’re like, everything about it just annoys me as I’m driving it.

Matthew Yip: The biggest thing about Subaru is I have a shop down the road from me at a friend of mine, it’s a Subaru tuner. The beauty of those cars is if you haven’t done a head gasket, wait, you’ll do one soon.

That’s been the biggest problem with Subarus is they are just notoriously unreliable in that respect. They don’t have the durability. And a lot of them that I see for whatever reason, they just They rot, you know, which really surprises me. I know that’s probably less of an issue for Harry [00:14:00] because he’s not, you know, not probably not keeping it for 20 years, but those things rot and it’s not, not a good thing.

Rob Luhrs: Ours is a 98. We’ve had zero problems with that. The valve cover gaskets I’ve had to do, but I’ve done them myself because as Andrew said, like they’re a joke to work on. I drove up a pair of ramps and half an hour later they were both replaced. In a week I’m replacing the power steering pump and mine’s got 170, 000 miles on it.

And that’s like the first three things I’ve had to replace are those things.

Harry Brill: I should also say that the requirement for this car is about 5, 000 miles a year. My wife works from home and doesn’t leave the house. That’s kind of where the leasing comes in because we can get a 10, 000 mile lease and be okay.

She doesn’t drive. Worst case scenario we just start driving my truck at the end.

Matthew Yip: Why don’t you just go, why don’t you just go old school and buy some, uh, classic station wagon?

Crew Chief Eric: Yeah, you need a, you need a late 80s grand marquee with wood paneling on the side.

Harry Brill: Actually, what I really want is one of those old Merc diesel wagons.

[00:15:00] That’s what I want in the driveway. Nice 300 TD.

Matthew Yip: Well, the nice thing about those is you can do those with veggie oil. Yeah, because

Harry Brill: I have so much veggie oil laying around, I’m just gonna be able to fill up all

Crew Chief Eric: the time. Let’s throw another choice out there. So, I mean, there are some old school options and I think we’ll get to that, but let’s, let’s stay on this in the last two years, potentially be able to lease it or off lease type of car.

Does anybody else have anything in the hopper? I have a few, but continue.

Crew Chief Brad: I want to hear from Tanya because she is, she’s against wagons. She’s anti wagon. She’s, she’s perfect for this. I want to hear what she has to say.

Executive Producer Tania: Not anti wagon. I’m anti people that pretend like wagons are the savior to, to everything when in fact wagons have unfortunately gone to the wayside because SUVs have become more popular.

So there’s been people that are like, Oh, I need a wagon because how could I possibly fit my groceries in a Camry? And it’s like, [00:16:00] you can fit your groceries for like six months in your Camry. Let’s be real here. That’s not why you want a wagon. Just admit that you like the styling and the aesthetics and the performance that a wagon brings you versus something like an SUV.

Because unfortunately, I’m not in a station in life where I need an SUV, and I don’t want one. An SUV is, they’re kind of ugly, they’re really big, they’re fuel inefficient, they’re not performance vehicles. You’re not going to go trundling down mountain roads, really taking turns. You can still do that in a wagon, because it’s an SUV.

It’s a really long car and my, my problem with wagons is just people that aren’t honest about why they like a wagon. It’s like, they’re embarrassed to say they like a wagon. Just admit that you like the styling of a wagon. It’s fine. I don’t hate all of them. I mean, some of them are ugly, like, like the old ones.

Okay. Who’s out there trying to get one of those, those Partridge Family wood panel style wagons? I would

Harry Brill: love a Buick [00:17:00] Roadmaster!

Executive Producer Tania: No, no, I don’t want no Oldsmobile whatever they were, okay? But, you know, a nice tastefully lowered A4 wagon with big rims and tinted windows? I mean, yes, please, I would definitely drive one of those if you gave it to me.

Am I gonna go choose one? No. But I mean, there, there you have it. At the end of the day, depending what your use case is, this day and age, unfortunately, an SUV trumps. Out wagons and that’s why they’re disappearing because you get the same cargo space if not more Have more than the small tune in 2. 5 nuclear family You know you get third row seating and granted the third row isn’t necessarily comfortable But for small children they can fit back there and you can still carry some things in the trunk You get all that space you get four wheel drive.

You can also not get four wheel drive You got ground clearance so you can go up into the mountains and the dirt roads and all that stuff and honestly You’re not going to take your low riding [00:18:00] wagon over tree trunks. Uh, that’s an exaggeration. You’re probably not going to take your SUV either. Maybe a Bronco, but you know, whatever, but it’s not as, it’s not as practical anymore and, and, and they’re just disappearing.

So my biggest gripe again, is just people that aren’t forthright with why they like wagons. For us, it’s

Harry Brill: very unique. Cause like we want to be the, the ideal wagon owner just for the aesthetic. I just don’t like sedans. They don’t take my boxes

Crew Chief Eric: and I don’t rev my motor.

Executive Producer Tania: I appreciate you saying that.

Crew Chief Eric: But to Tanya’s point, I did some fact checking with respect to wagons because, you know, as she stated, a matter of factly SUVs are taking, you know, they’ve been taking over for 15 years now.

Right. And so as I was doing my research in 2010, so going back just 10 years in the United States, This doesn’t include like, you know, as Rob said, there were some Jaguars and some one off wagons that they sold all of three of in the United [00:19:00] States. But in 2010, there were

Crew Chief Eric: wagons available that you could choose from.

That’s pretty decent considering the number of manufacturers that actually bring cars to the States. In 2015, that number reduced by 50%. Five years later, we’re down to eight wagons available. In 2019, six and one of those six, I actually don’t even consider it a wagon and we’ll go over that later. So your choices are getting slimmer and slimmer and slimmer every day.

But Harry hit on something with the sidewall thing with the tires, right? And I’ve heard the stories about the bent wheels, and I bought a set off of you, and yeah, they were, they were rough. I would say, if that’s a major thing, then maybe the wagon isn’t the right choice, and something like a Grand Cherokee, or the new Bronco, or something else is the right choice, because it’s the same size.

The

Harry Brill: Bronco is in the works. When I can get a Bronco, the Bronco is something I do [00:20:00] want. Put a down

Crew Chief Eric: payment on one today.

Harry Brill: Yeah, and get one in 2022, but I need a vehicle today. Like I’m ready to buy next week.

Crew Chief Eric: Gotcha.

Harry Brill: I have my sales guy from work all primed up. I think his dealership owns 42 different marquees.

So I basically can get whatever I want. I just need to text him and say, this is the car I want. Please have it ready for me on this date.

Executive Producer Tania: Are you limited to your manufacturer? Because If you don’t want to go full SUV, there’s obviously the small compact crossover type SUVs, the HRVs, the Honda HRVs of the world, if you will.

Harry Brill: So we were right before COVID like really shuts it down. We were about to buy a CX 5, really close. It’s still probably the clubhouse leader for us. That really red CX 5 is just a really nice car. It’s a lifted wagon, as Tiny kind of alluded to, didn’t all out say it, but with that unibody chassis on those cars, those [00:21:00] crossovers, they’re just lifted wagon.

So that’s kind of where we were leaning towards actually staying down range in that CX 5, so we didn’t get the bigger tires, specifically. I mean, she is literally brutal. So I found out why though, my wife is only five foot two, maybe she actually can’t see the potholes in rural Pennsylvania. So she hits them because she’s so short.

It’s like a little old lady driving, so she can’t see the potholes and she just runs into them. And then I think of the TDI, we had a Volkswagen TDI for years. She, she went through four or five rims in a year. I bought her 16s. To make it through the rest of our uh,

Mike Crutchfield: I might have a better suggestion leave pennsylvania

Matthew Yip: Yeah, the problem is there’s just not a lot of choices out there right now for wagons and you’re right you know, I think your better option is to find a small to mid sized crossover Because it fills all the [00:22:00] same needs without having to get yourself stuck in a niche, which is the wagons right now.

You know, as Eric was saying, you know, they went from, what, 18 to nine wagons in 2019. But, you know, if you look at my favorite kind of cars, which are coupes, and particularly three door coupes, You know, they don’t exist. Volkswagen doesn’t sell those anymore.

Crew Chief Brad: So crutch, man said a Regal or the Buick Regal Rob said the Buick Regal, Mr.

Mason, I believe said the Buick Regal in a bunch of other words, uh, has Matt. Hasn’t said anything. Tanya said, don’t buy a wagon. Chrissy said, Mike stole her thunder. Eric, do you want to chime in or should I go?

Crew Chief Eric: Well, I have a legitimate answer and then I have some other alternatives, but if we’re sticking within the last two years, no, I don’t want the alternatives for sure.

We’re definitely going to get there because they’re good. Let me tell you, if we’re [00:23:00] sticking within the last two years, if you want something that isn’t too bougie, that is going to be a great all around car, doesn’t suck fuel, like it’s going out of style, can handle the weather up in Pennsylvania. I would tell you to look at the A4 Allroad.

It’s a better looking car than the Regal. As good looking as the Regal is, like Tanya said, you tint the windows and put a set of wheels and tires, if you were doing that, on an A4. Great car. Great handling car. Excellent all wheel drive. Yeah, and the A4 doesn’t say you

Harry Brill: have a ton of money. It just says that you wanted that car.

It’s like owning the Beamer Wagon. Maybe exudes a little money, but just says you really wanted a wagon.

Matthew Yip: The, the all roads were always big money. They rivaled the, uh, the S four is in certain respects because, you know, the S four was slammed on the ground station wagon. The all road was up in the air station wagon.

The, the, the terrifying thing about those cars is it’s an Audi. And I have a friend, he bought an S [00:24:00] four wagon. He has so far sunk 30, 000 into it. And it still isn’t done. Because it needed turbos and it needed a motor and it needed, there’s a laundry list, you know, and, and that’s, that’s kind of the problem with those cars is,

Crew Chief Brad: well, see, I think Matt is talking about the a six all road, which the older all roads were notorious for having all kinds of issues, mechanical issues, electrical issues.

That’s back when Audi was junk. Now, Audi is just a little junky, but they were real serious junk back then. I think Eric is talking about the new a four based all road, which is supposed to be a much better car.

Crew Chief Eric: And it uses a two liter turbo GTI motor. So it’s a commodity engine, which is much cheaper. And if something does break, it’s a couple hundred bucks instead of a couple thousand dollars.

And I’m not exaggerating there, but it is a. Decent price differential. If you look at what the A6 was and the A6 doesn’t make my list for that very reason. And it’s also massive. I mean, it might as well be a yacht in [00:25:00] comparison to the A4 and they did make a newer version of the A6 all road, but again, it’s just too big for me.

And when you start comparing lengths and you’re getting up above, you know, 195 inches, I mean, you’re, you’re, You’re starting to get into, you know, explorer territory, you know, in terms of sizes and, and vehicles that are bigger than a Jeep Grand Cherokee. I mean, stuff, it just, at that point, why do you need the wagon?

Just, just buy an SUV. It’s just too big, you know, in my opinion, but to each his own, right. Just to continue on that thought, if we go back to 2015 and you were considering something just a little bit older, maybe picking it up, use something from CarMax. I would tell you. Out of the list of the eight cars, or maybe ten cars that were available in 2015, knowing the criteria now that you have, I would actually lean you towards the Honda Crosstour.

Because, again, a soft car, big car, lift back, with big puffy balloon tires, comes in all wheel drive, Same [00:26:00] old k motor that was like in the tsx and and that kind of thing also came with a b6 And it’s cheap. It’s a honda Acura made one too.

Crew Chief Brad: Yeah, I was going to touch on to add the class factor You would get the acura zdx, which is essentially the cross tour In acura trim and it’s a little bit better I think it’s better looking it’s more angular more I guess they were a lot more expensive than the cross tours, but I think that would be a similar alternative.

Matthew Yip: They didn’t sell.

Crew Chief Brad: No. So they’re harder to find.

Matthew Yip: Our old bookkeeper had one. I haven’t seen any of them other than that.

Rob Luhrs: Yeah. The cross tour. I got a neighbor with a cross door and that has not aged. Well, looks wise. I agree from a, from a usability standpoint, it’s perfect, right? It’s balloon tires. It’s it’s, they use it to putz around, you know, a few thousand miles a year at most in it.

And. You know, they have, uh, they have a dog and a daughter. So like the, that, like the tiniest point, right. The difference in my brain for a wagon is if you have a dog that’s [00:27:00] bigger than a shih tzu, a wagon helps a ton because then you can actually have a passenger and a dog if you want to go out camping and stuff, or keep at least your interior slightly clean, but yeah, that’s the, the Crosstor, it’s a very usable functional vehicle, but it’s, it’s looks have not, I mean, I see it every day when I walk my dog outside and it’s, It hasn’t aged well.

I find it interesting as a car guy, but it’s definitely more car guy interesting than traditional decent looking car. The Acura looks pretty solid though.

Harry Brill: I’m absolutely anal when it comes to cleaning my cars. All the vehicles get maintained outside of the Miata. You guys have seen the Miata. The Miata is beat.

It’s currently sitting outside. Hasn’t been started in four months.

Crew Chief Brad: I think Harry’s Miata is still carrying the same mud from 2018’s Summer Bash, shouldn’t it know?

Harry Brill: It is! The rest of my vehicles are all maintained. I really, really love detailing cars when I get to take Saturday and Sunday off from work.

That is what I do in my free time to enjoy myself is, uh, [00:28:00] detail cars. So I really love it. That’s why we bought the forerunner just so I didn’t have a car that I, my wife could drive it as much as she wanted and ruin it and not wash it and take the dogs out and not have me freak out. So,

Crew Chief Brad: Eric, what else is on your list?

Crew Chief Eric: I’m not getting into the good ones yet, but if I go back another five years, into the 2010s, there’s some really interesting stuff there. Now, I know it’s out of Harry’s criteria, but I want to dive into the used car market just a little bit, just for fun.

Harry Brill: Yeah, me too. I want to dive in too. We could maybe own one of those and a new car.

Crew Chief Eric: So, when you go All possibilities. When you go back to 2010, you have all sorts of weird one-offs, like the Lexus, you know, wagons and the, the Mazda sixes and all that kind of stuff. But you also have some enthusiast cars. In 2010, you’ve got the three series BMWs, the five series BMWs, the Mercks, you know, the eClass, all that kind of stuff.

You’ve got a plethora of Volvos V 50 [00:29:00] 70, XC 70, which is still a wagon before it became an SUV. But you also have stuff like the Cadillac CTS station wagon, which I mean if you’re a car guy, that’s the holy grail of wagons.

Matthew Yip: Good luck finding one of those. Knew they were 60 grand, used their 70.

Crew Chief Brad: But you don’t have to get the V.

Matthew Yip: That’s true, that was my point. But they’re also tiny.

Rob Luhrs: Knew they were 60 and used their don’t exist. Itty bitty cars. They’re teeny weeny cars inside. They’re They’re normal size on the outside. Every auto show I would go sit in those things because I was excited as an enthusiast to get in one. Even the passenger seat was too small and I’m barely six feet tall.

It’s a tiny, tiny car.

Crew Chief Eric: It really depends. But in the, speaking of the Cadillac, I would tell you having owned one, the SRX is not that much bigger. It actually isn’t really bigger at all than the CTS wagon. It’s up higher, bigger sidewalls. It drives like a Cadillac It’s got a [00:30:00] GM engine that’s been around for a hundred years.

The gas mileage was the only deterrent on the SRX. So I like the angular style looks, it looks like an elongated kind of stretched out CTS and you can have one of those any day of the week. I will tell you, do a 2015 or a 2016 the last year. Uh, like we had, because that’s when they improved the Q system and a lot of the interior stuff.

It’s a lot better than the early ones. They just took care of some of the problems and those cars are relatively inexpensive. If you wanted to go into that crossover and have a little bit more posh, I would, I would tell you that as an option.

Harry Brill: I’m 5’10 just for the record. 5’10 I fit in every vehicle. I’m 5’11 I’ve instructed, I’ve instructed in Lotuses, I fit in every

Rob Luhrs: vehicle made.

Yeah, no, and I normally can squeeze, I mean, I have a Miata, it is what it is, but like, that car just felt claustrophobic coming out of any other vehicle I sat in. Including like a Boxer or Cayman like you sit in that CTSV and it’s like you’re in you’re in like this weird little shell It’s [00:31:00] the weirdest.

It’s it’s too small. It’s comically small

Crew Chief Eric: So what I will say though is I mean if you take all the you know The Kia Rondos and the Hyundai Elantra Touring and all that garbage and throw them away They scream

Crew Chief Brad: money

Crew Chief Eric: Elantra

Rob Luhrs: Touring I have a friend with they actually like that car a lot.

Crew Chief Eric: I do too and she raves about it But what I’m What else is in there is what Mike was getting at is if you go back to 2010, there is a Passat wagon, right?

So if you’re looking for a bigger Volkswagen, stuff like that. But I think you just, there’s some other cars in that mix that I think we’ve forgotten about. And again, I was looking at, at these just block years to say what car was sold in that year. I don’t know when they ended. I didn’t do that much research to say, okay, they, they, they made the forever.

I mean,

Matthew Yip: When did they stop making the TSX wagon? That was actually a good looking car.

Crew Chief Eric: If I look, if they made the Crosstour through 15, I think they just sunsetted the Crosstour a couple of years ago. So it would probably be at the same time.

Executive Producer Tania: It looks like 2014 was the last. [00:32:00] Okay.

Mike Crutchfield: You mean the European Honda Accord Wagon?

Matthew Yip: It was a pretty decent, as wagons go, it wasn’t bad. It wasn’t nearly as weird as the, uh, was it the mid 90s Honda Accord Wagon? It was the weird, angular, you know, flip up headlight front end, and this modern, rounded rear end that didn’t match the front at all.

Rob Luhrs: If you go back to that 2010, I haven’t researched this, like you have, Eric, but Like my favorite looking wagon of sort of that 2000 or 2000 2010 2015 world is the sob wagons 9 5 wagon

Crew Chief Brad: would be pretty good 9 5

Rob Luhrs: wagons are really attractive cars.

They drive pretty well You can still get them with a stick if you wanted you don’t have to But they had tons of space They have like a little bit of the quirkiness with the key on the floor and stuff And they drove drove really well and most of those sobs came with pretty big side walls that you would have any problems You know getting the smaller tires and those things And those SOB wagons are, I think, really, [00:33:00] really attractive.

Andrew Mason: Harry, did you consider that the essence model of the TourX comes with an in vehicle air ionizer? Oh God. So God, I mean, I dunno if any sobs have that

Mike Crutchfield: air up to it. Make it air

Andrew Mason: ionizer so it cleans the air as you’re in it. So Harry, no matter how funky you are, it’s just,

Crew Chief Brad: that sounds like something I need.

Harry Brill: Does it kill Covid? So my wife, we we’re driving around and my, my at one 50 today, my wife’s complaining about my body odor the whole time . ’cause I work outside.

Crew Chief Eric: I mean, I want to go back to what Andrew said. Now, Andrew, you said that there’s an air ionizer. Is that in the Buick or is that

Andrew Mason: built into the essence level trim of the Buick?

Crew Chief Eric: Okay. So I have a much cheaper solution to this problem of air ionization. I heard the windows

Crew Chief Brad: down.

Crew Chief Eric: I heard recently that you can put a scented candle in your center console. And that takes care of the problem.[00:34:00]

Executive Producer Tania: You look at the opportunity right now, because if they market this the right way, and let people know there’s an ionizer, but maybe modify it to kill COVID.

Andrew Mason: How about, how about it, it cleans up its own carbon footprint as you drive it. How about that?

Crew Chief Eric: I’m not a big fan of the, the, the, the old like 1920s robber headlights.

It looks like a raccoon on those. They’re weird. I thought they were

Rob Luhrs: fly cars. I love. I’m trying to look up what years they had those wagons, but those the sub 95. What does

Crew Chief Eric: fly

Rob Luhrs: mean?

Crew Chief Eric: But harry harry, I I mean i’ll sell you i’ll sell you my gulf estate, you know It’s got a it’s got a six cylinder. It’s a wagon.

You know, it’s all good. It’s a 2003 though

Crew Chief Brad: We know of another one coming down the pipe. That’s, that’s

Crew Chief Eric: true. Yeah, I

Harry Brill: think, I’m trying to convince, well actually, she wants old cars, but she can’t handle old cars. Every time she drives a 4Runner, she’s like, oh it made a clunk. I go, yeah, it’s old, it makes [00:35:00] clunks.

That’s what they do, they’re old cars. You just have to deal with it. Shuts the door of the Alfa, like, oh it made a noise. Yeah, that’s what it does, it’s old, it makes noises. Just have the deal with them, so she’s really a new car girl.

Crew Chief Brad: All right, Tanya, this 2009, by the way, for the SOB nine five Wagon, Tanya, you said you had another one

Executive Producer Tania: not in the 2010 to 2015 range.

Oh,

Crew Chief Brad: I, I don’t even care about his criteria. I’ve got a whole bunch of stuff that I like. Harry B. Damned, his criteria means absolutely zero to me, and I’m about to lay into it, but I want to hear what you got.

Crew Chief Eric: It’s

Executive Producer Tania: on like Donkey Kong! Come on! So, so Rob stole a little bit of my thunder there, because if we’re gonna go older, 9 2 X Arrow, what a good looking wagon.

Crew Chief Brad: It’s a Subaru

Executive Producer Tania: looking sob. I don’t care. It looks better as a so than a Subaru.

Crew Chief Brad: Yes, it does. Yes it does.

Executive Producer Tania: And I saw one, like when I was in uh, Colorado the last time, there was a lady just trolling down the [00:36:00] highway and I was like, bam, that looks good.

Harry Brill: I’ve always really liked the sabers.

Crew Chief Brad: One of my favorite cars in sedan form is the last 9 5 Arrow that they made.

It’s just a slick looking car. I had a buddy who bought one

Rob Luhrs: of those when he had his first kid and like got it like one year old but brand new on the lot sort of thing. stick. And I was like, if you saw that the next two years, you better call me first. It’s a phenomenal car. He didn’t, he still has it and he still loves it, but that’s a good looking car.

Crew Chief Eric: I will say the, this, I have worked on a lot of cars over the years and I have never used so many expletives. As when I work on a Swedish car, well, and it’s just one of those things that as good looking as they are and whatever, I just can’t. Right. And it’s

Rob Luhrs: the old ones were so easy to work on though.

Like I remember like driving somewhere with a buddy and an old 900 and like the shift link it broke and we nursed it in third gear to some like truck [00:37:00] stop and bought like literally I think a string. a couple things of bubble gum and some paper clips and we rigged up the shifter so we could get like three or four of the gears for the rest of the way home and we did it from inside the car like you take off one panel and you’re like there’s the whole linkage we’ll just fix it i mean it’s so easy to work on

Matthew Yip: the problem with sobs was at that time period socialized medicine because you got six months of time off so You didn’t feel like coming in tomorrow, you didn’t come in, but Joe, who normally builds transmissions, is putting interiors in.

You know, and then Joe doesn’t feel like coming in, so the guy who normally mounts tires is building engines. I’m trying to remember when GM sold them.

Crew Chief Eric: Ten

Rob Luhrs: years ago at this point, almost. 2009, I think, was the last year you could buy a, like, the last model year of

Harry Brill: an actual Saab. Saab Vegan is really high on my list of fantasy cars, though.

I think it’s a, I

Crew Chief Brad: think it’s a Viggen, though. It’s, it’s, it’s not plant based.

Harry Brill: Viggen. Viggen? [00:38:00] Vigov?

Crew Chief Eric: It only, it only runs on biofuel. You can’t use regular gas.

Matthew Yip: You know, if, if you forced me to drive a station wagon, there’s, there’s only one I drive. 90 95 impala ss wagon, which doesn’t exist But you buy a caprice and you put all the impala stuff on it and those cars are badass You can fit I don’t know 12 of your best friends and a keg of beer

Crew Chief Eric: I think i think mike’s got one of those too, right?

You got a favorite wagon

Mike Crutchfield: Oh, yeah, you just take the magnum and buy a hell crate bolt right in

Matthew Yip: I I rented a magnum and With luggage in the back and there were four of us it would wander down the road. I it was You Yes, but how did it do it in autocross Matt? Oh, that would that would have been the Sebring convertible.

I rented. Thank you very much

Mike Crutchfield: I have instructed on track in a magnum wagon It’s a big vehicle, but I’m not buying that for a track toy. I’m buying it [00:39:00] to put to shame to everyone with their sports cars off the traffic light while I’m hauling four by eight sheets of plywood.

Crew Chief Eric: See, and that’s the other upside to a wagon.

It’s like the ultimate sleeper. Especially if you don’t do anything fancy, but you got something juiced up under the hood, and you just rip off from a, from a, from a light. It’s like, did I just get pulled by a wagon? You know, it’s, it’s, it’s like a matter of pride, you know? I got

Harry Brill: my door split off by a Buick Roadmaster.

Crew Chief Eric: Yeah, right?

Crew Chief Brad: I think I’m gonna kick it off here with some Crazy Town. I’m ready. I’m ready. So before I get into it too crazy, I think the Buick Roadmaster is the only Buick Harry should consider, for sure. With a 350, a crate motor, maybe an LSX motor in there somewhere, you know. I agree, also. I saw a Caprice wagon, which is the equivalent, tow in a car hauler with a Camaro on the back of it, and I was in love.

That thing was amazing. Does he get to change, does he

Crew Chief Eric: get to

Crew Chief Brad: [00:40:00] change

Crew Chief Eric: his last name to

Crew Chief Brad: Griswold? Yes, yes, yes, yes. Yeah,

Matthew Yip: but you put the Impala SS stuff on it and the thing’s badass.

Crew Chief Brad: Yeah, exactly. So my next crazy town car is not too terribly crazy, but I mean, I would consider it’s a pair of cars. Either the E63 wagon, Because everybody needs, you know, a 600 horsepower wagon or the RS six Avant.

I think, I think either one of those, I mean, the

Crew Chief Eric: fact that it’s called an Avant just brings it up to that next level of prestige. One of

Harry Brill: my employees just bought a B5 Avant S4 for 500 with. Like 70, 000 miles on it. The guy wanted to sell it to someone who would love the car. This kid has been looking for the cars up and down the eastern seaboard for the last four or five years.

He just finally got one. It’s leaking oil and fluids out of every orifice that you can leak fluids out of, but he has it.

Matthew Yip: As I always said, most [00:41:00] honest car ever sold, resale value right on the hood.

Crew Chief Brad: All right, next it’s, it’s been touched on, but the V90 Volvo, or if you want to go something with bigger tires, you can do the cross country version, the V90 regular wagon, at least when it first came out had to be special ordered.

They were only bringing the cross tour, you know, to deal with a lot. So you had to special order the, the non cross, I mean, cross country version. Next I’m going to say a Stelvio and you’ll lower it. And you’ve got an alpha Romeo wagon.

Crew Chief Eric: I give you that. That’s a major points right there.

Crew Chief Brad: The two of my favorites, uh, Mitsubishi Galant VR four, if they made a wagon version and you can get one right hand drive, I would bring one of those here.

Matthew Yip: Maybe, maybe in Japan, but I’ve never seen one. Yeah. So you’d

Crew Chief Brad: have to bring it here. I’ve seen the Evo

Rob Luhrs: wagon, but I haven’t seen the.

Crew Chief Brad: Yeah. So yeah, like an old nineties galant VR for, [00:42:00] then I’ve got two more. One, my all time favorite is the Chevy Nomad.

Matthew Yip: It’s the worst looking wagon ever made because you can’t put anything in it.

Crew Chief Brad: You can, you can put horsepower in it and that’s all that matters.

Matthew Yip: Yeah, I know.

Crew Chief Brad: You can put all kinds of horsepower in it. You can put a lot of stereo in it too. And you can fit airbags in it. That’s a lot, that’s a lot of stuff.

Crew Chief Eric: That’s

Crew Chief Brad: a lot of stuff. You can fit a lot of things in it. And then That’s the,

Harry Brill: all the most important things that you can fit in a wagon.

Crew Chief Brad: Yes, horsepower, power and stereo. That’s all you need. And then lastly, is something semi serious. Have you thought about a Mach E? It’s not a wagon. It’s more like a lift back and it’s raised or whatever, but I think it would give you that, that class that you’re looking for, cause it’s brand new, you know, and there aren’t, I mean, nobody’s got them on the street and I just, I think they’re kind of cool.

Harry Brill: Yeah, it’s definitely a consideration. We actually have. access to the Ford fleet program, which gives us premium pricing on all of Ford’s products. So Ford is [00:43:00] definitely in there. It makes everything more attractive because everything’s cheaper for us. Sure. Not a lot cheaper. Just, just a pinch.

Executive Producer Tania: Just get a wait for the VW buzz.

Really?

Harry Brill: I’m just waiting for Peugeot to make it back to America. So I can get the Gary

Crew Chief Brad: Busey.

Crew Chief Eric: What? So you could get a 405 station wagon like back in the 80s. This is what I’m waiting

Harry Brill: for. I got a Peugeot pepper grinder. What one to match?

Crew Chief Eric: You could have got a model. You could get a model X there, Harry, with the gullwing doors and all that.

Harry Brill: Yeah,

Crew Chief Eric: possibly, probably not, but yeah, maybe,

Crew Chief Brad: Hey, is the, is the Reliant Robin a wagon or is it just a hatchback?

Crew Chief Eric: That’s a mistake.

Andrew Mason: All right. I was going to say, I don’t think Harry has any choice, but to find a crossover. No choice. No. As far as my car, I’d, I’d take the wagon version of my car. If I could, I got a 2016 SS and in Australia.

They just make one [00:44:00] platform, apparently. And they’re like, you can get it however you want it. You want it two doors, four doors, pickup truck, wagon. You want it LS3 or you want it LSA with a blower. Like, they don’t care. They’ll make it for you. So that would be probably my ultimate wagon. But those aren’t here.

And I’d say the more realistic option, the one that I’ve been noodling with Brad for a while, is Find some mid sixties wagon, something like Mopar A Body, GMX platform, something as small as possible. Which those things were actually like curb weighted under 3, 000 pounds. Find something with a dead six in it that I can get for 500 and throw 30, 000 worth of parts at it.

And just have some kind of pro touring slash track something. So, that’s my fantasy wagon.

Mike Crutchfield: I saw A Holden HSV wagon when it was in New Zealand. Yeah. And I just, I just stared at it for a while. ,

Andrew Mason: full size wagon. Full send

Matthew Yip: the wa the wagons I liked were from the mid seventies. I had a, uh, I had a Chevy Kingswood wagon, [00:45:00] full size wagon.

I paid $50 for it. Best car I ever bought for 50 bucks. And the coolest thing about it was. You put the key in the, in the back, and you turned it, and if you, you held it, uh, just a little bit, and the window went up into the roof. If you held it, turned it further, the tailgate went into the, uh, sunk into the body.

And it was awesome, and it had the third row, it had the third row. We had 14 people in it one night. You know, and it was, you couldn’t hurt it. I hit a building in Georgetown and set off the burglar alarm.

Crew Chief Eric: It’s like that scene from Lost Bullet and you guys all were those 14

Harry Brill: people dead or alive. We’re not sure

Rob Luhrs: Next podcast has to just be stories from Matt by the way

Harry Brill: Is the title of next week’s podcast, Y’all be Yippin

Chrissy Crutchfield: We touched on all the ones that, [00:46:00] like, I mean, we talked about, like, the BMW 5 Series wagons when they existed, the 3 Series, which they finished making last year or the year before. The Volkswagens, what I like that’s coming out but not going to be available here is the Arteon Shooting Brake Volkswagen.

That’s pretty. But also along those lines with the little bit higher price range is the R6 Avant. So, it’s the same difference, I imagine. Yeah, and I like my CTS V wagon, but then I was sad to hear that it’s actually small inside. So

Crew Chief Eric: So Mike, you got anything else you want to add to that? Because I think you and I share a similar unicorn that we would appreciate as a wagon.

I already

Crew Chief Brad: know which one it is.

Mike Crutchfield: Well, I have a kind of an off the wall one that’s that hasn’t been made for a few years Is basically an old school wagon that they call an suv because of the platform, which is the ford flex

Crew Chief Eric: Oh that was on my list. I was gonna bring it [00:47:00] up because a lot of guys really like the flex I mean think of that harry.

Harry Brill: I love the flex. My wife said no fuck you That’s actually her exact words. You can you can go marry someone else. I

Crew Chief Brad: I agree. I agree with justice

Harry Brill: That’s ugly. She said that Tim was ugly.

Executive Producer Tania: I agree with you. What a smart woman you married.

Mike Crutchfield: Well, I mean, if you want ugly, you just get an HHR. Is that a wagon? I think the HHR is a wagon.

Crew Chief Brad: We found, we found an episode where the HHR is appropriate. Well it is. Then the PT

Matthew Yip: Cruiser’s the same thing, right? Yeah.

Crew Chief Eric: So, oh my God, you’re stealing ’em all. Because the third one in that mess is the PF 500 L, all these. Oh yeah.

Harry Brill: These

Crew Chief Eric: travesty Doesn’t

Harry Brill: the PT Cruiser turbo share the same motor as the SRT

Matthew Yip: four?

Crew Chief Brad: Yes, it’s the SRT four four neon. It’s a neon wagon.

Matthew Yip: And it’s called the GT Cruiser. Thank you very much. Correct. With sticker wood paneling.

Crew Chief Eric: Yes. Man, I was gonna, I was gonna [00:48:00] end with the HHR. You stole my thunder, Mike.

Matthew Yip: Barry, you know, that might be the perfect car for you. The Chevrolet Malibu Max. Oh, I forgot about that gigantic turd.

Rob Luhrs: That thing is ugly as sin.

Executive Producer Tania: Also, light it on fire with a candle.

Rob Luhrs: Seriously, I’d rather an Aztec.

Harry Brill: Right, I’ll take two Aztecs. And you can have that thing. And a V Cross! What the fuck was that thing called? The V Cross?

Mike Crutchfield: The V Cross is awesome! The Max was actually the same chassis as the Pontiac G6, even the Coupe.

Because Pontiac was doing their whole wider is better thing still. So they were still doing their whole wider is better, so they wanted the longer wheelbase on the G6. So they took the Malibu Max’s wheelbase rather than the Malibu’s wheelbase for the G6. The

Matthew Yip: other nice thing actually, and it’s [00:49:00] kind of the dark secret, is that was in the period where Chevrolet was selling everything as an SS.

So you could get a Sonic SS or a Malibu Max SS. Yes. Cavalier SS. What the fuck do you do with a Malibu Max SS? I’m not sure. It’s a Cobalt and it does the quarter mile

Executive Producer Tania: faster than a GT3.

Matthew Yip: Yeah, until you started.

Crew Chief Eric: Don’t be talking smack about that HHR. That is a high quality vehicle, people.

Rob Luhrs: That chat went on so damn long and that was horrible. Everything about that whole, the entire thread was

Mike Crutchfield: horrible. That was the era of so much SS that they made the SSR. I’ve got

Crew Chief Brad: a question for you guys.

Did they ever make the SSR? A panos wagon.

Mike Crutchfield: Well, so I had to bring up the hhr because it’s sitting behind brad right now

Crew Chief Eric: Uh, well, that’s a nomad. But yeah, oh [00:50:00] shit

Crew Chief Brad: He he’s just fired. He’s just talking trash, but he knows not to come across my nomad

Crew Chief Eric: But yes by by our rules I was going to bring it in as an exception because it does have a d pillar It is actually considered a wagon when you look it up And that’s in that 2010 range along with the pt cruiser and the fiat 500 l You quickly replace that.

And if you want to be environmentally friendly, you can always go with the Ford C Max Energy.

Matthew Yip: Oh yeah, yeah.

Crew Chief Eric: Is that, that’s actually a wagon? It’s not a hatchback? It is considered a wagon. It has an extra window and a d pillar, so yes.

Crew Chief Brad: It’s a, it’s a, it’s a wagon. I think so does the Mini

Rob Luhrs: Clubman too, but

Crew Chief Brad: Yeah, the Mini Clubman’s a wagon as well.

I think they’re done, I think they’re done with Mini’s. The Clubman’s actually

Harry Brill: actually, The Mini Clubman’s actually, I could lease it again until I could stay over until I could get my Bronco.

Rob Luhrs: Cause the Clubman does have that D pillar, I mean, it’s a [00:51:00] pseudo wagon.

Mike Crutchfield: And barn doors.

Rob Luhrs: I mean, my holy grail of wagons is still like a, I’d rather have like a Volvo 850R.

Yeah. You get one of those tinted up and nice wheels and tires. That thing is phenomenal looking

Crew Chief Brad: brown with a manual.

Rob Luhrs: Exactly. I mean, you’ve got a manual, brown or that weird blue color.

The weird blue color,

Rob Luhrs: that’s all you get money. Like you can get the, what’s the other one? The V 70 R or something is the other one.

That’s like the six speed and 300 horsepower.

Matthew Yip: They made the Camry with the dual, had the dual wipers on the back window.

Crew Chief Eric: Oh, I know what you’re talking about. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That’d be great. It looks like a hearse from behind. It’s terrible.

Harry Brill: The Magnum looks like a hearse. The Magnum always looks like it’s always in silver or black or some other monotone

Crew Chief Brad: color.

Some other color.

Matthew Yip: The Magnum is actually, I think, classified as an [00:52:00] SUV. Because SUVs, you know, the manufacturer classifies them as SUVs. But if the floor is it’s an

Harry Brill: SUV because it’s on a dodge truck platform like every other dodge ever made No, it’s on a mercedes b class

Crew Chief Eric: platform Yeah, it’s the same as a chrysler 300 which I was gonna say you can put the 300 front clip on them I’ve seen them converted over

Crew Chief Brad: and it still looks like ass Tonya, you got something?

Executive Producer Tania: If we’re going for Hearst like

Crew Chief Brad: The Ghostbusters!

Executive Producer Tania: Well, yes, but no. We want Hearst like and also modern within the last five years. Lincoln M. K. T. Talk about, oh

Rob Luhrs: God.

Executive Producer Tania: Like a hearse. What the hell? I have

Rob Luhrs: one of those that lives on the street behind me. There’s an older couple that has one of those. I see it every day.

Matthew Yip: I’m trying to remember which one that was.

Crew Chief Brad: It’s the hearse. The hearse. You gotta look

Crew Chief Eric: it up. The mark t Yeah, the MKT. Oh, Google it. It’s, it looks like a hearse. If

Mike Crutchfield: it’s, if it’s not the hearse, it’s the vehicle escorting the hearse. Yes. I thought that was

Harry Brill: a Feuderholm

Rob Luhrs: exclusive. [00:53:00] I

Harry Brill: didn’t know you could actually buy that.

No.

Rob Luhrs: I just love the, the logo. Like the Mark T was like wedged together funny. So it’s like little M, little tiny K, the T over the top. Like, it tried to look stylish and it’s just

Crew Chief Eric: dumb. The best part is when you can get the Mark T Blackwood edition with the pinstriping. Oh my god! Like who thought that was a good idea?

Matthew Yip: Come on. Did you did you ever see the old money

Rob Luhrs: man?

Harry Brill: Old

Rob Luhrs: money loves

Harry Brill: that shit

Rob Luhrs: You need to get it with the the boston top the sort of fabric top across the back three quarters of it Even though it’s like not That’s good, right the boston top right I think that’s what it’s called

Mike Crutchfield: Oh shit. My first car was a cutlass supreme coupe That had the back half, the back, just back over the back seat had vinyl over the roof.

Matthew Yip: Yep, Landau. I think, I think it’s

Rob Luhrs: called the Boston Top. I think that’s what they called it. Oh, fuck me. That’s so good, sure.

Crew Chief Brad: It’s, it’s the Boston Top.

So the Landau

Matthew Yip: Top.

Rob Luhrs: The Baston.

Mike Crutchfield: Have you ever seen a CTS, a [00:54:00] CTS with one of those? Because I have.

Crew Chief Eric: Oh, God. So I, you know, I, I’ll let Tanya go after me. Cause I got to steal Mike’s thunder since he stole mine for the HHR, which where we can revisit as many times as we like, uh, I, as much as I’ve sworn off BMWs and there’s, there’s, there’s two, I would.

Own in my, in my lifetime. If, if I, you know, could find, well, one is not a wagon. It’s the Z4M coupe. I like the Z4M coupe is something about that car, but the other one, the other one would be that late, uh, kind of early two thousands Five series wagon. I thought they were very handsome cars that was pre bangle getting his hands on them and ruining them.

You know, they were still kind of classy BMW, especially in black with some big, you know, HRE wheels or something like that. Or even

Harry Brill: M wagon. How nice would that be? That

Crew Chief Eric: would have been awesome.

Rob Luhrs: Wasn’t that the last time you could get, you actually could get an M5 touring?

Crew Chief Eric: Correct. [00:55:00]

Rob Luhrs: In that, in that style. In that, in that, yeah, generation.

They’re

Crew Chief Eric: super rare, but they look fantastic. You know, again, I’m not, I’m not super into BMW camp, but I would definitely check that one off the list, Mike. So I

Mike Crutchfield: like, I actually like the E60 with the little cat eye taillights that was available as a 550. And that is basically an M5 wagon without some of the M bits.

It is a stunning car and I always loved one.

Crew Chief Eric: But there is one car if literally money was no object and I had all the time in the world to turn wrenches on it with spare engines and parts and everything else.

Crew Chief Brad: Can I steal your thunder? I’m going to steal your thunder. I

Crew Chief Eric: get my thunder stolen all the time.

Crew Chief Brad: Go ahead.

Crew Chief Eric: No, go ahead. The

Crew Chief Brad: Passat W8 Wagon?

Crew Chief Eric: Yeah, with six speed

Crew Chief Brad: and

Crew Chief Eric: all wheel drive. You better believe it. I looked for one. I looked pretty hard because I was going to get that instead of the Golf Estate. I just think those cars are super cool. I don’t mind 4 liter [00:56:00] W8. If it blows up, you put a 4. 2 Audi motor in its place, it bolts right up.

You know, it is two VRs together. You know, that motor sounds odd. And it’s just it’s cool. It’s different. It’s very subdued and in the right color scheme with the right wheels It’s a very attractive car. So I don’t know that that’s just me I I guess I like euros and and i’m sure tanya’ll back me up on this you go Travel in europe enough, especially over the last decade Wagons were everywhere.

It was the hot commodity. It was the thing that everybody had And all diesel Yeah, and if you didn’t have a wagon, you had a hatchback. I mean, a sedan and especially SUVs, that was not a thing.

Rob Luhrs: Even recently that like my dad was over there with, on a trip with my parents with other set of parents and they had rented a Tiguan with the diesel and a six speed, and my dad was, would kill for one.

He came home and he’s like, why can’t I have a car that gets. 40 miles to the gallon, perfectly drives up hills all over the place, easily fits four adults with all the luggage in the world, and was awesome.

Crew Chief Brad: Because it kills [00:57:00] people, allegedly.

Rob Luhrs: Yeah, but he, he was like, I wish they would sell it over here.

Instead he bought the final generation Forester that you could get with a stick. So he has a six speed Forester that he loves. He’s driven it down to Florida and back up. He lives in Massachusetts. So he loves his Forester wagon, but he bought like, the final year he could get a stick on it is what he bought.

That one. Because he refuses to ever own a car that has an automatic. So only manuals for him. Good.

Good.

Rob Luhrs: He’s got an A4 manual, like a newish A4 manual on the Forester, and then he has his 1989 11SC from Europe.

Crew Chief Eric: So Tanya, do you have anything you want to add in there? Wagon you would own? Just like a fantasy thing?

Well, first of all,

Executive Producer Tania: I already own a wagon. It just doesn’t have a D pillar.

Matthew Yip: That’s

Executive Producer Tania: kidding. I’ve got a Golf. But I want to mention a terrible wagon, just for the fun of it. The HHR. No, I’m going to go further back in time and suggest that the Plymouth Reliant [00:58:00] Wagon. Oh, come

Matthew Yip: on, what’s wrong with the

Executive Producer Tania: Plymouth

Matthew Yip: Reliant?

Executive Producer Tania: Definite choice on anybody’s wagon list. Let’s not forget that. Low blow. Dishonorable mention right there. But if, I mean, I, Yes, but was

Crew Chief Eric: it used by a Florida man?

Executive Producer Tania: Probably. Let’s be real. Next week there’s going to be something. The Saab, the Aero that I mentioned earlier, I mean, that’s beautiful, honestly, as a wagon.

I would very much enjoy that car. I would also very much enjoy a 2000s vintage RS4 wagon. I particularly like that RS4. Style of the A4s and S4s and done well or done right with the correct body package and wheel choice, et cetera. I mean, to me, they’re very good looking. If I was buying today and what’s currently available the last couple of years, I, I don’t, I [00:59:00] don’t know.

I’d probably go look or an Audi, but I don’t know for Harry.

Rob Luhrs: I’m leaning towards the idea of just keep the Mini and wait for the Bronco to come out is probably the right decision. Dream Wagon, I want like

Crew Chief Brad: Tomas I believe Rob is talking about the A6 Allroad with like 1500 horsepower that, that can get through half a session on track before it overheats and needs to come off.

But in that half a session,

Rob Luhrs: no one can keep up with it. I mean, he’s exactly fair, but That thing just hauls. That thing is a freaking rocket ship and sounds amazing at full chat and you got to get rid of the doll back stickers to get some level of sort of sleeperville. But that thing is just on a different planet of awesome.

Crew Chief Eric: Well, with that, let’s get back to what do we think? What do we think Harry should buy, right? That is the premise of this particular episode. What should I buy? So what are we thinking for Harry? Do we have a vote? I mean, just we’ll go around the [01:00:00] horn real fast and just knee jerk. What do you think he should buy?

All right, let’s start with Mike.

Mike Crutchfield: Uh, I mean, if he’s sticking wagon, I’d still say Torex. Chrissy? Matt?

Matthew Yip: The Regal is probably the way to go.

Rob Luhrs: If it’s new, it’s gotta be the Regal. If it’s old, go Saab.

Andrew Mason: GMs aren’t that bad. So yeah, the Regal.

Executive Producer Tania: A crossover. You have to be a wagon. Fine. I would go seriously consider the

Crew Chief Eric: Buick.

I’m gonna go with the A4 Allroad. I’m the oddball out. And then Brad.

Crew Chief Brad: Uh, if it’s old, I’m going Chevy Nomad. If it’s new, I’m going Stelvio lowered.

Crew Chief Eric: Because you got to be a true petrol head at some point in your life.

Crew Chief Brad: Exactly. Well, he’s already got an alpha. He’s already got an alpha now. Yeah, he doesn’t need

Crew Chief Eric: that.

I have an alpha.

Crew Chief Brad: He’s already got that. He needs an alpha that doesn’t run on Monday and an alpha that doesn’t run on Tuesday.

Crew Chief Eric: Nice. So Harry, is there anything else, anything else you want to talk about? No,

Harry Brill: I think you guys hit [01:01:00] everything, uh, way more thorough than I thought you were going to. This was nice.

Well, very good. I, I’m definitely going to look at the Buick Regal. I have not seen it yet. It was in the leader house just because. It fit all my criterias, being a wagon, and that’s what I wanted. I didn’t want to own an SUV.

Crew Chief Brad: And the listeners are going to tune in next time when we can hear all about Harry’s new HHR.

Crew Chief Eric: And on that utter disappointment, I think it’s time. It’s time to end. So thank you all so much for joining us tonight. I hope the listeners out there enjoyed it. We never really do come to a decision or a consensus. I think this is the closest we’ve ever gotten. And I guess Harry, the answer is Buick. So let us know how that goes.

Roadmaster. I’ll let

Harry Brill: you know how the Buick is. I’m going to go lease one tomorrow. And don’t forget your golf clubs.

Crew Chief Eric: In full disclosure, our high level assessment of all the cars on this list is really based [01:02:00] on our members and our owner experiences. We urge you to do your own research and fact check everything before committing to any one of these vehicles. GTM and Brad and I specifically, we’re not responsible for your satisfaction, your happiness with whatever vehicle you choose.

So make sure to visit, you know, vehicle specific online forums and or owners clubs for highly detailed firsthand information on any vehicle you might be interested

Crew Chief Brad: in. If you like what you’ve heard and want to learn more about GTM, be sure to check us out on www. gtmotorsports. org. You can also find us on Instagram at GrandTouring Motorsports.

Also, if you want to get involved or have suggestions for future shows, you can call or text us at 202 630 1770 or send us an email gtmotorsports. org. We’d love to hear from you.

Crew Chief Eric: Hey listeners, Crew Chief Eric here. Do you like what you’ve seen, heard, and read from GTM? Great, so do we, and we have a lot of fun doing it.

But please remember, we’re fueled by volunteers and [01:03:00] remain a no annual fee organization, but we still need help to keep the momentum going. So that we can continue to record, write, edit, and broadcast all of your favorite content. So be sure to visit www. patreon. com forward slash gtmotorsports or visit our website and click in the top right corner on the support and donate to learn how you can help.