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Old 12-21-2019, 05:36 PM   #1
equ
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Golf Alltrack

Not a perseveration thread... as we pulled the trigger today.

Long story short, many things lined up... The GTI was beginning to have a couple of strange trim issues, mainly due to the large glass moonroof. That was going to be a tough and pricey fix. It was also a bit small for the two of us traveling with our XL dog. E.g., her collapsible crate does not fit in the back when the dog is in the rear seat (the last cars in our fleet that could do that were the 535i and the JGC, both gone).

All 2018 and 2019 VW's get a 6/72 warranty. When we checked out the wagons back in 2017, they were on the pricey side. Now, they are on their way out, no more after 2019 and discounted.

So we got a manual Golf Alltrack... Last of an era; a green, manual, AWD wagon. In addition to the above factors, the deals were serious as well as C having one more month left to qualify for her PhD recent graduate discount, all stacking...

So far we are happy... The GTI was getting beat (nothing engine, suspension, brakes wise but more body/trim) at 4 years /48k miles (C did 44k miles in 32 months). Hopefully this car holds up better, and we won't have to invoke the generous warranty.
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Old 12-21-2019, 05:44 PM   #2
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Interesting combo. There can't be very many AWD manual wagons available out there from any brand. Enjoy!
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Old 12-21-2019, 05:45 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by equ View Post
Not a perseveration thread... as we pulled the trigger today.

Long story short, many things lined up... The GTI was beginning to have a couple of strange trim issues, mainly due to the large glass moonroof. That was going to be a tough and pricey fix. It was also a bit small for the two of us traveling with our XL dog. E.g., her collapsible crate does not fit in the back when the dog is in the rear seat (the last cars in our fleet that could do that were the 535i and the JGC, both gone).

All 2018 and 2019 VW's get a 6/72 warranty. When we checked out the wagons back in 2017, they were on the pricey side. Now, they are on their way out, no more after 2019 and discounted.

So we got a manual Golf Alltrack... Last of an era; a green, manual, AWD wagon. In addition to the above factors, the deals were serious as well as C having one more month left to qualify for her PhD recent graduate discount, all stacking...

So far we are happy... The GTI was getting beat (nothing engine, suspension, brakes wise but more body/trim) at 4 years /48k miles (C did 44k miles in 32 months). Hopefully this car holds up better, and we won't have to invoke the generous warranty.
That is on my list to look at. Would love a review after you’ve driven it awhile.
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Old 12-21-2019, 07:13 PM   #4
Nick M3
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I have an acquaintance who has one of these. He's delighted with it, aside from the wimpy engine. (He got it flashed like a week after he bought it.)
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Old 12-21-2019, 08:15 PM   #5
Josh (PA)
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Congrats, It's cool that you purchased it. Its great to support the idea of a manual wagon. I have a friend with a manual one as well. They've been really happy with it (other than his wife took out whatever the massive sensor is in the bumper and it was an expensive fix)
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Old 12-21-2019, 09:12 PM   #6
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Nice car indeed. Seems like a very practical choice, and definitely the end of an era.
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Old 12-21-2019, 09:33 PM   #7
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Enjoy!
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Old 12-22-2019, 04:29 AM   #8
Alan
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I’ve never seen that car before ... now I need to research it

Congratulations... any interior pictures ... would love to see it !!
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Old 12-22-2019, 08:54 AM   #9
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Congrats and enjoy! I have always had concerns buying a car after its retirement is announced, but we all know how long you keep cars
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Old 12-22-2019, 09:29 AM   #10
equ
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This car is not about the driving experience, it's to get you to the destination in a pleasant, civilized way. It's an alternative to the RAV4/CR-V solutions which are obviously very strong contenders. We are essentially seeing convergent evolution as all cars become like the rav4 and the cr-v, perhaps all EV's will become like Teslas in many ways.

Its power is a significant step down even coming from a stock GTI, not to mention one like ours with the APR tune likely putting out 290hp/315tq. I don't know the numbers, but I know it lights up the fronts in gears 1 through 5). The brake feel on the GTI is more consistent but actualy requires more effort (R brakes) and the LSD on our perf package did great in turns, allowing to apply power without doing the FWD wash-out.

This car's drive is a bit more Audi-like, perhaps those a4 avant's from 2001 to 2005 with the 1.8T. Maybe a bit lighter on its feet, but generally a smooth operator and not very fast compared to the GTI. Ours without the pano roof, is likely about 3350lbs, not a lot by today's standards. It's no faster than RAV4's, they might even be faster if you mash the go pedal and let the AT and Hybrid add to the pick up, but this car is C's choice. It even externally resembles her first manual car, the dark green Impreza wagon. It is quieter and slightly more spacious feeling than the GTI, providing for a better passenger experience.
I found that I needed to keep the car in 1 to 2 gears lower to keep it in boil and make some passes. It also balances differently in and out of turns. Hard to describe but a bit more audi-like. Applying power cancels the initial understeer, I'd need to drive on snow to comment. The weight distribution is more like 55/45, not the hot hatch 60/40. Being raised it also some roll, not major but noticeable. There is a SportWagen 4motion that is the same car but lower, but cloth seats and the smaller gas tank were a no go for C.

We are very happy with the interior even if we lost some options going down o the S trim level notably Fender Audio and the bi-xenon headlights... but both SE and SEL make the pano roof mandatory and that was a definite NOT for us. VW hasn't figured it out how to make them, even the smaller roof on our GTI had problems. One bonus was losing the GTI seats. C liked them but I never got comfortable in them (the reason why I didn't get an r32 back in 2004 were the seats). These non-sport seats are much better for my upper back not being pushed out of the bolsters. I'm not a huge guy but the 42-44 chest range is max to beyond max for the GTI/R seats.

All trims get leatherette, not a huge step down from the hard leather of the GTI. A big step up from the base cloth of the Golf and the SportWagen as well as stronger against those monster paws. Trunk is pretty big to being with and just like the GTI, the floor can be removed to provide another 3-4" of depth.

Tuning? I haven't forgotten it. The APR tune on the GTI gave us no issues up to 48k miles just good power and drivability. However, the 6/72 is important and C has no interest in giving up that coverage. I've also thought of piggy backs, so that might be the best of both worlds (JB1, JB4) but again, too soon to say... As she drives much more than I, about 16-17k/year, she very much appreciates that this car is going to take Regular 87. I'm not sure you can up the boost with that.
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