On Sunday I happened to park right behind exactly the car I would try to find and buy used if my occasional-use Volvo XC70 had to be replaced: a red VW Golf Alltrack wagon with tan leather and the big sunroof and 6-speed manual. (2020 was the last model year.)
I fantasized a bit about whether I could buy one and keep it long enough for my 9yo to learn to drive stick, but of course that would be a determinedly quirky and antiquarian skill to learn by then, like writing with a quill pen or using a coal furnace. (https://www.npr.org/2019/03/03/699325560/for-the-few-who-hea...) Also the used prices have gone up since I last checked a year ago!
I had an Alltrack, only in white. It was totaled in an accident last November, with only 11,000 miles on it.
The first thing I thought after we knew we weren’t injured was, “oh NO I am going to have to buy a new car!”
Used Alltracks with more miles were going for both more than what I paid and more than the insurance payout (also more than I paid).
I have given up ever having a manual again. I managed to get a Honda Accord hybrid, and the only thing I can say about it is the gas mileage is nice right now. But it’s absolutely soulless, I feel unconnected to the road when driving, and it’s just boring and an appliance.
On Sunday I happened to park right behind exactly the car I would try to find and buy used if my occasional-use Volvo XC70 had to be replaced: a red VW Golf Alltrack wagon with tan leather and the big sunroof and 6-speed manual. (2020 was the last model year.)
I fantasized a bit about whether I could buy one and keep it long enough for my 9yo to learn to drive stick, but of course that would be a determinedly quirky and antiquarian skill to learn by then, like writing with a quill pen or using a coal furnace. (https://www.npr.org/2019/03/03/699325560/for-the-few-who-hea...) Also the used prices have gone up since I last checked a year ago!
(What will finally put the nail in the coffin of the manual is the electric car. And--yeah, I guess I obsess about this--electric wagons from Volvo and Volkswagen will be coming to the US in the next few years, though for various marketing reasons they both shy away from the word "wagon": https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a39263104/new-volvo-evs-wa... and https://www.reddit.com/user/HDiess/comments/soje69/hi_reddit...)