Golf*Alltrack opinions?

No, my '15 Golf TDI isn't goin' anywhere!


But I kind of like the idea of an AWD Sportswagon jacked up about 50mm. Unfortunately I'd have to accept a 1.8 liter gasser in the bargain which would up the fuel bill a bit, but a bit more bad road and bad weather capability would be nice too. And the the dealers are marking them down by $5k-8K!


Opinions?

I looked at it for fun, even though I wouldn't be able to live with the 1.8. The Alltrack gets a few things the GSW doesn't get, but for the price, I'd get the 4Motion GSW with the 6M and put the cash towards mods or upgrades where desired. The ride height on the GSW can be adjusted to meet or exceed the Alltrack, and the plastic body cladding on the Alltrack doesn't do much for trail credibility. Take the GSW 4Motion, raise it up, add the right wheel/tire, and add a skid plate, etc. Maybe the current discounts on the Alltrack are better than the GSW right now, but when I looked, the GSW 4Motions on dealer lots were at least $3k less than Alltracks, which largely seemed to be SE and SELs. The hard part was finding a 6M.

The crappy EA888 engine under the hood would keep that thing out of my driveway.

I'd trust my 2004 Passat 4mo over that, and it already has a 16 year/240k mile head start. It'll STILL last longer.

My brother bought one of these last week. I managed to keep him away from ones with sunroofs, and he doesn't drive a lot so I think he'll be spared serious EA888 engine problems for a long time, or maybe never if he sells before it gets anywhere near high miles. He took a trip down the eastern shore of the Chesapeake last weekend and said it performed well, especially compared to the tired Volvo XC70 it replaced.
I too prefer the GSW. And I'd stick with a TDI: Get some Nokians with the money you save and you'll be fine in snow. And if you're more comfortable with a taller ride height we have Alltrack springs.

Peter, I suppose it depends on what you mean by "low miles". Here's one from this week that needs a rear main seal before it is even due for an air filter:







And this is the "new and improved" or "gen 3" or whatever nonsense some folks want to think it is. Still fragile. Still riddled with core design level flaws that they just cannot seem to get sorted out. They need to clean-sheet the whole engine family and replace it, but post-Dieselgate's butthurt VAG execs are so drunk on the EV Kool-aid now that won't happen. We're stuck with this piece of junk (or the ancient never-was-that-great-to-begin-with VR6) until the end.

Thanks for the advice- No new 4 Motions around here and only one S trim so hard to avoid the troublesome sunroof. Thanks for the advice on the EA888 engine, the warranty is 72/72 but I keep a car at least 10 years. I'd hate to reward Ford for killing their cars off by buying an SUV, but the Escape matches or beats the Alltrack in performance and fuel economy, they're rated to tow, and competitive in price. Been looking at Audi A4s too, but hard to justify a $40k price and Allroads are even more.

The Escapes become rolling dumpster fires in short order, too. GM and Ford pretty much only care about one thing: trucks. And to be more specific, FULL SIZED pickup trucks. That's it. Literally everything else they sell has some sort of awful systemic problem that is a wallet crushing event.

The Silverado and F150 are really the only models worth anything at the GM and Ford stables, they didn't even bother to grace the Colorado and Ranger with as much toughness as the big trucks, and in limiting their cab/bed/powertrain configurations they've managed to keep them an overpriced niche vehicle. And even at that, I'm certain the newer Silverado and F150 won't hold up long term as well as the older ones, and we cannot depend on the Fords to rust out anymore (the GM trucks still excel at providing ample food sources for many species of tin worms, however).

I'll give a nod to the Camaro and Mustang, because they are still cool in a boy racer sort of way.

Not sure yet about the new Explorer (which is all new).

But all the rest, despite some decent driving dynamics, have some serious long term issues. The current Escape is revamped, but I really do not know how much, but if there is anything left of the previous version I'd not want anything to do with it. And speaking of the previous version, that is what the broad replaced the 4Mo B5 wagon I have with. And it has already had its transmission replaced, the vacuum pump replaced (barfing oil), and then blew one of the excessively complex cooling hoses running buried underneath the cowl and ruined their vacation. Ironic.... she sold me the Passat at 200k miles because she was afraid something expensive would break. NO TAKESIES BACKSIES!!!

If I had to pick a little cross-dresser, I'd pick the RAV4. The CRV was great until the CVTs came along. Ugh....

I looked into them before I bought my JSW, and I was not impressed overall for the money. Plus, with mixed reviews on the EA888s I might stay away. My wife currently wants to get out of her 2015 Golf TDI for one but I'm trying to convince her to stay with the TDI.

What do you boys think of a 2020 KIA Sportage? Nice interior and you get all kinda of features for 20k with the big discounts. Hauls 30 feet cubed which is ok, gets kinda crappy mileage, but overall a nice package. Car and driver said it handles well. I have not driven one.