Since March 2020 my primary car has been a 2013 JSW TDI that I bought as a CPO car with 36k miles. Objectively it's a terrific car, and the best and most usable all-around "normal car" I've ever had. It's big enough to easily fit a bike(s) and other lare stuff, no bigger than it needs to be, fun to drive, fuel efficient, etc. Recently some of the Stupid German Car S**t started appearing, which wasn't a shock, but not enough to sour me on the car. It's now at 70k, stock, and the Dieselgate warranty runs out on 1/1/25.
However, it also has very very tasty catalytic converters on it. These have now been stolen three times in nine months. First time it took a while to get fixed because the dealer ****ed up ordering parts and the car was perfectly driveable in the meanwhile - so quiet you don't even notice anything is amiss save for the CEL. Second time was immediately (6 days) after I got it back. Third time was a week ago. I went to drive it to work Tuesday morning and was met with a glow plug light, CEL and battery light. Drove the Saab to work, assumed this was probably some emissions-related issue, verified still under warranty, scheduled an appointment to have it towed to nearby dealer. Got home, hooked up VCDS and did a scan, got a couple of O2 sensor-related codes that did not make sense as a cause of a no-start so I looked underneath and....motherf***ers. I had a theft-mitigation device added the last time and, well, it was stolen anyway.
I suspected the ECU got shorted this time and that was the cause of the no-start. Confirmed when the service manager called me back yesterday - estimate to repair as it was is TWELVE THOUSAND DOLLARS. Needs a new ECM, DPF, both cats, and those are all multi-thousand-dollar parts. I paid $15k for it in 2020 so obviously that's an instant insurance total. I wanted a clean car and it was still under the powertrain warranty, which was why I did not do a tune and delete the last time. I didn't want some other mega-$$ part like the HPFP to take a dump and be left holding the bag because it wasn't stock. Now I don't care - I just want a car that isn't constantly getting vandalized. I was advised by the excellent indy shop that replaced the clutch (!@&&!) that a used ECM had a high probability of not working and that it was highly advised not to do that and that it needed a new ECM. A tune and delete runs around $1500 for parts and software (for example
https://www.rawtekinc.com/products/dpf-egr-delete-exhaust-eco-kit?variant=1004180527). So fixing the car that way would run probably about $4500-5000, which is about what it cost the first two times. Those were both insurance claims.
I give all that detail because it's therapeutic to get it out and maybe other JSW owners will chime in. This will be an insurance claim, too - no way can I do this out of pocket, especially after the damn clutch vacuumed up all my spare cash. I'm aware there is a high risk that State Farm will drop me afterwards, even though none of this is my fault. If I get it fixed I'm going to try to make sure it gets through that I'm fixing it in a way that removes the theft incentive, but underwriting and claims are separate domains so good luck with that. My agent will appeal for me if they do, but he's not optimistic about that working out.
All of this means that there's a high probability I will need to shop for something else. This sucks for many reasons, including because this is a great car that I was planning to keep for at least a decade. When I bought this, the only two cars on my radar were this car and the next-generation Golf wagon and Alltrack. I decided I didn't need to spend the extra money for those.
I don't really know what my budget is since I don't know what I'd get for the Jetta, but let's say $12k at the top.
I want something that is a wagon or spacious hatchback that can effortlessly carry my racked and fendered bikes - just fold down the seat, open the hatch and insert. This means load floor length with the back seat folded of 5-6 feet.
I want something with a manual transmission. This is going to be a tough one. I'm flexible on this for the right car.
I think I want a sunroof - I've always loved sunroofs but might be flexible on this.
I want something that has, at worst, not-bad fuel consumption.
It has to be reliable, and if it's older it at least has to be easy to work on. I really want to still have one car that doesn't need my attention (my old cars get all my wrenching time - I like having a car that I can just take to the dealer for basic maintenance once or twice a year) but I may have to give that up.
I want something that's nice to drive.
Ideally I want something ~2010 or newer. If I can't have that I may just consolidate the "normal car" (the VW) and "fun older car that is also practical" (my '85 Saab 900 SPG) parts of my fleet into one car that is like 90s or maybe 2000s, not too expensive and reasonable to work on.
Anything I buy will be a year-round car in Chicago.
I don't know if I can have all of these. Cars that come to mind include:
2015-2019 VW wagons of the non-diesel flavor. I do kind of wish I'd gotten an Alltrrack in 2020, but now they're still too expensive for me. There are other varieties.
Um...I'm really reaching for something that's newer. This is where I'm looking for suggestions.
We have Ford C-Maxes in our fleet at work and they're really nice cars but I don't think I can bring myself to drive one for myself.
Volvo 700/900 wagons - I grew up with one and think they're great, they're terrifically practical, and there's the iPD catalog.
BMW E30 or E36 wagons. E36 functionally better. I'd want to find one that wasn't so nice that I would feel bad wintering it, because anything I get will be a year-round car. Like a 318i or 320i from northern Europe that was mechanicall tip-top but had already lived in winters.
A Mazda 6 wagon or hatchback is great but in that spot where it's too old as a modern car and not old enough to be an old car.
Acura TSX wagon? Advantages of Honda but not the most practical wagon. Automatic only.
BMW E46 wagon? Great to drive but maintenance-intensive.
Ideas? Thoughts?