Why not a Volvo? Cost. Volvo doesn't offer anything in the $24k ballpark, and not a manual transmission is to be found on their lots. I'd love nothing more than a new XC90 or V90 Cross Country or simply a V90 AWD, despite their auto transmissions. But at double the price I paid for this VW, it's just a dream.
Why not used? I absolutely looked for P3 wagons, on Craigslist and at Rickenbaugh Volvo near my house here in Denver. The problem there was scarcity. And that cascades into cost, since rare stuff is by nature more expensive. For the same $24k, I was looking at 5-year-old XC70s with 50-100k miles. To be honest, it was hard to swallow that pill.
So I got a new car, and it checks all the boxes:
- wagon
- manual transmission
- turbo (for future tuning)
- AWD for taking my son camping/skiing
- in my price range
I didn't want to trade her. I wanted to take her off the road after I'd found a car, give her some R&R or part her out.
It was the first and only time in 17 years of owning my beloved 1997 850 T-5 that it left me somewhere. The universe was telling me something.
I doubt I'll ever have a car as long as 17 years again. She pulled her weight, and then some (and some more, and more after that). I have sentimental attachment to that car, and it was hard to let go. I have mixed emotions today.
But onward and upward. Things change, life changes. I'll have fodder to write about on my VW site now, so if you want to follow life with a 2017 Alltrack, you'll find my thoughts there. That URL is https://www.matthewsvwsite.com/
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