WTB: VAG Wagon, prefer AWD, diesel

[WestcoastPete]

Hi All

I'm new here. I've been drawn to this forum while I've been looking at what to replace our old Volvo V70 wagon with. I loved that car, but it was a basketcase of trouble. This replacement is supposed to be reliable, relatively trouble free, and lovely to drive. Initially I thought it would be a manual Subaru, but then I tested a Passat, an Octavia Scout, and then a Subaru, and the Passat really stood out as a lovely car to drive. The Scout was good too. The Subaru didn't compare in my opinion. I've always been a strictly manual guy, but the DSG in the Passat was great. I'm pretty sold on them (I wasn't initially, after reading all of the horror stories, but I'm pretty convinced they're reasonably reliable now).

Ideally we'd like an AWD car though. It's likely we'll move to Tassie soon, and the car is for taking us on adventures. I reckon AWD on the windy wet/snowy/icy roads would be pretty handy. I'm not discounting a FWD Passat though. There's plenty of good looking used ones around. Ideally I'd like a 2.0tdi 6sp DSG 4motion Passat, but they're out of our price range so far. Skoda Superb equivalent would be er, superb. I'm keen on an Octavia Scout, manual (or auto, but I suspect that'll be out of our price range). Keen on Audi A4/A6 Quattros, and would consider turbo petrols for these. One of the reasons I'm discounting the 3.2L petrol engines is because I believe they require 98RON fuel, which can be scarce in Tassie. Am I wrong about this requirement? FWIW; I run 98RON here in Melbourne, but it's easy to get here. Diesel would be preferred though.

So, are you in Victoria and thinking of selling your Passat wagon? Your AWD Skoda Octavia/Superb diesel wagon? Your Audi Quattro Avant diesel or 2.0T? Our budget is looking like $10,000 +/- $3K or so. When I first started looking there was an '08 A6 Allroad that was totally rad that sold for $15,000 (owner got offered that as a trade in price so sold it for that), but we missed it by a few hours. Decent Passats seem to be around $10,000 +/- $1000, so everything will be compared to that. Buying a car interstate without seeing it first has been problematic for us in the past - see: V70 - and we're not in a great hurry, so we'll keep our eyes out locally for now. Happy to travel to rural VIC though.

If you've got any advice or suggestions, please feel free to share.

Thanks!

[WestcoastPete]

I bought a Passat

Thanks for playing!