So after a couple months of car hunting which involved endless cruising of Craigslist, Autotrader and Facebook I have finally purchased a vehicle. My wife is thrilled I will stop showing her ads and asking her opinion like 6 times a night on whatever random thing I’m looking at right then.
A 2014 Jetta Sportwagen TDI!
It is a 6 speed, has ~48k miles on it, a giant sunroof and I already love the damn thing even though I’ve only owned it for 4 days. It’s even CPO, which since it’s a diesel means it gets a bumper to bumper 2 year unlimited mile warranty in addition to the extended TDI emissions warranty which covers the entire fuel system, engine and emissions equipment for 120k miles.
Black isn’t my favorite color, but this was the only one with a stick and that sunroof for sale near me and it has light color interior so that will help it be less oppressively hot when left in the sun in Missouri summers.
I test drove a lot of cars and everything from a Prius C to a Frontier trying to figure out what I wanted right now and this checked almost all the boxes: small enough to daily drive a highway commute and park in a garage downtown, large enough for hauling gear, able to put a trailer hitch on, and comfy for long highway drives.
To do wish list for it in the next few months: put Yakima rack on it, lift using Tiguan springs, install trailer hitch, replace factory radio, do something about the red interior lighting, maybe replace wheels and tires.
Welcome to the stable TDI, you will not be given a pampered life. You will see many dirt roads, haul on occasional trailer, be loaded down with gear, get parked in a terrible garage and drive many miles. You will be loved and we will have some fun along the way though!
PS- Thanks OPPO for the responses to my last TDI post, they helped push me over the edge on this purchase.