Comment needs about 100K more likes for the ridiculous SUV craze to end... SUVs and trucks have headlights up so high now, every car they come up to in the dark is screaming at them. People don't understand Needs over Wants, they just don't.
Late 2010s VWs are nice. Clean designs, a varied lineup, and reasonably reliable. It's a shame no one bought Golfs in the US, and especially Golf wagons. The Mk7 was probably the best Golf.
Zack, Like all compact wagons, these Golf variants were very popular in Canada until the bitter end*. I have a neighbour with one and the neighbours beside them had two. * By 'bitter end' I mean the day car companies stop selling wagon models in Canada because Americans don't by them in the US. 🤨
I have the previous generation Jetta Sportwagen (Golf wagon/variant outside the US) and this looks very similar throughout. It's almost a perfect car, fits two carseats in the back and still has plenty of room in the way-back for groceries, buckets of gravel, or a double stroller... But for those odd things that won't fit in the car, I added crossbars to the roof rack as well... Which are actually usable because it's not too tall to lift things up to the roof! I have had the odd check engine light (once requiring a throttle body replacement) and rocker panels are starting to rust, but I wouldn't trade it for any crossover, truck or SUV. (Well, maybe a Maverick.)
With a bigger turbo on these, you can actually get decent power out of them. Also, they did make 4Motion Golf Sportwagens for the last couple years of the gen (Not Alltracks) but only as base models
9:42 - Tell that to Subaru with their Outback. Essentially the same formula, except Subaru tells gullible shoppers the Outback is a crossover/SUV. And Outback people believe they're not driving a wagon. 😂
I owned -two- of these. Both were 2017s. The first one was an SEL and did have the dual, automatic climate control and nicer seats than the one you're in. Both Alltracks were tuned. The first one had an APR TCU and ECU tune, intake, suspension upgrades, etc, The second one just had a Cobb ECU and TCU tune. Really great cars that could do anything.
Spot on. I bought a 2019 7.5 Alltrack second hand here in Australia two years ago because I had learnt that VW were also discontinuing it here too. They've now also discontinued the 2WD Golf 8 wagon, but you can still buy a hatch as well as the GTI and R. Same story, everyone seems to think they need an SUV even though they often have much less cargo space. It's a great car. As you say, really great steering and just the right amount of power. And it has KNOBS inside and NO FAKE EXHAUSTS!!
I have a 2019 Alltrack, last year sold in America. I love this car and I have no idea what is going to be my next car, there are no affordable station wagons in the market anymore. The only ones out there are Audi Allroad and Mercedes E Class. We need more options of station wagons, not SUV.
Hello from France, I drove one in Pennsylvania for many miles! It was a good experience! Extremely rare in stick shift version! On of my favorites car after the Citroen xantia ! I can't wait to return there and drive it again!
I agree that it's a great car, that didn't sell well because Americans are obsessed with SUVs and crossovers. But the Taos essentially replaced both the base Golf and this in VW's lineup.
I have it's Spanish sibling - Seat Leon X-Perience - same engine, same DSG gearbox, same 4 wheel drive but different body style :) It's a great car. I also upgraded my turbocharger to Golf MK7 GTI one and now this little 1.8 TSI makes 292HP instead of 180 :) it's super fun to drive in snow once you disable traction control :)
If I were a car, I would be this car. This ticks a whole lot of boxes for me. And I thought of that right before you said it would wear a Kirkland Signature zip-up fleece on a hike instead of an expensive Patagonia one, which just sealed the deal for this Costco fan.
You could get pretty much the same car in front wheel drive as well. Look for the Jetta Sportwagen (until 2014) or Golf Sportwagen (2015-2019). For regular snowy-street driving I really can't complain about my FWD JSW's traction control.
@@FTRVDenny I did just think of one thing to watch out for with the earlier generation: I'm not sure if they fixed it in the Golf but the JSW's fatal flaw is probably the panoramic sunroof. They often leak, the tracks bind and get stuck, or they come loose. I definitely recommend finding one without a sunroof if you can.
In regards to the seats. The higher trim SEL model has the GTI sport bucket seats both front and rear. Much nicer and more supportive than the standard seats. And they have 6 way adjustment plus adjustable position and firmness for lumber control.
Hah... I bought one alltrack in Milwaukee and shipped it to Ukraine Europe) Currently, I`m the owner of this great car. I used it in mountains and other offroad trails) Really good car in SE edition with automatic gear. I bought it at Copart - an insurance auction
my mom bought a 2019 alltrack manual and loves it. only issue she's had was a dead battery at the start of this year when the temp dropped a lot. she's a VW fan and had a 1999 Passat before buying this
Great video and fellow Wisconsinite here (filmed near McCarty Park, correct?). I own a regular golf sportwagen, would love an Alltrack though and so sad it’s not offered here anymore. Cmon people…wagons are COOL!!
Love my 2017 All track. Had it for 4 years and it has 45k miles and zero issues. The bushings will probably need replacing soon, getting a bit squeaky.
Own a 2018 Highline trim with 6 SPD manual , lovely car to drive with excellent build quality and very nice interior . Only 88,000 km and beautiful riding vehicle, real shame Canadians are so fixated on SUV's , very boring vehicles , cant tell one from the other . This thing is bangin !
I love when I see one of these on the road now and then. It really is a shame that VW dropped this and other, more affordable Golfs. I have a 2014 manual Jetta with the same engine. Had a 2008 2.5 manual before that. Love them both! 💙
I have a '18 SportWagen in Night blue metallic 6spd 1.8t with the 4motion. Man... I love this thing alot alot. Been using it as a road trip machine. Great fuel economy and its a real shame that vw dropped these for NA market. I didnt want the alltrack because here in canada we never got a S trim all track (trendline) only higher level with sunroofs. I didn't want sunroof i settled for my navy beauty. :} anyone that is on the fence to buy one of these. DO IT! Perfect all around car and please get the 6Spd. Feel alot more connected to the wagon on road.
Incorrect, Sir! At 2:05 You mentioned that the only way to get the 4Motion AWD was to get the R or the Alltrack. Not Quite! You could for a while get it on the normal Golf Sportwagen. How do I know this? Because I own one, with a manual 6 speed. it's a 2018 and also boasts the 1.8L turbo. Bit of a unicorn, but it exists. Sent you an email to come review it a while back. Next time you are in Colorado, come say hello :)
Tried to talk my wife into one of these, but she couldn't submit to driving a wagon. What'd she get? An Atlas. Which is...for all intents & purposes...a wagon. Almost a minivan, save for the lack of sliding doors. I don't get the psychology of people saying wagons are uncool.
As much as we say we like station wagons they are 3% of overall car sales in the US and US Enthusiast just don't buy a lot of new things automakers listen to the people who actually give them money aka the people who buy trucks SUVs, High end luxury cars and $75,000 + sports cars new.
I hated my Alltrack unfortunately…the ride was too rough for the shitty roads in Quebec. Then one of the Bi-xenon headlight died so I traded mine in. But I 100% agree that it’s waayy better than the Taos (tried it as a loaner).
The ride sucked because VW jacked it up and there was no droop. Throw away the shocks and springs, and replace with GTI suspension from a junkyard and the ride quality improves dramatically.
Manufacturers need to bring back wagons. Not everyone wants or needs an SUV. I'd buy a wagon if it was the right size for my needs, most of the SUVs are too big or too high for me. Short guy problems. lol
Great car, shitty suspension as one commenter mentioned. I have ‘19 SEL with 6spd manual. The combo of seats with the shifter is impossible to replace, so I haven’t. Mine is tuned (APR 1) and is flawless. 72k miles, no issues at all except suspension bushing squeaks when really dry and cold.
It shows Android Auto which you forgot to mention. It's frustrating that Toyota didn't offer Apple CarPlay and Android Auto in 2017 while other automakers did
Indeed. Some leak some don’t. Mine hasn’t, but I clean drains like I change the oil. The car is good enough that I’d consider sealing the roof if it leaked, and like a Buzz have a non opening skylight.
SUV is what people WANT.
Station wagon is what they NEED.
It's a boring life when we only satisfy our needs.
@@bwofficial1776 a typical SUV isn't any desirable over a station wagon
Comment needs about 100K more likes for the ridiculous SUV craze to end... SUVs and trucks have headlights up so high now, every car they come up to in the dark is screaming at them. People don't understand Needs over Wants, they just don't.
@@jacquesc3166 and financial decisions. I've seen people making 50k buying 50k SUV then questioned why they can't afford food and rent 🤷
Minivan > 3-row crossover
Wagon > compact crossover
The best thing about the Golf Alltrac is that you could get a manual. So you could have a Turbo AWD wagon with a manual😊.
Yeah, but the dct was fantastic, always did exactly what I wanted. Also suited the car better, but I appreciate they offered the option.
@@jacobeldredge803for me being in full control of the car always suits me better, and it’s not even close.
@@BoiseTDI nice sentiment, but have you driven both? Dct is a much better trans in this platform in most cases.
I bought one new in 2019. It was my first manual car. I hate I got rid of it.
Late 2010s VWs are nice. Clean designs, a varied lineup, and reasonably reliable. It's a shame no one bought Golfs in the US, and especially Golf wagons. The Mk7 was probably the best Golf.
I’m about to look at one of these next week. Perfect timing
Zack, Like all compact wagons, these Golf variants were very popular in Canada until the bitter end*. I have a neighbour with one and the neighbours beside them had two.
* By 'bitter end' I mean the day car companies stop selling wagon models in Canada because Americans don't by them in the US. 🤨
I have the previous generation Jetta Sportwagen (Golf wagon/variant outside the US) and this looks very similar throughout. It's almost a perfect car, fits two carseats in the back and still has plenty of room in the way-back for groceries, buckets of gravel, or a double stroller... But for those odd things that won't fit in the car, I added crossbars to the roof rack as well... Which are actually usable because it's not too tall to lift things up to the roof!
I have had the odd check engine light (once requiring a throttle body replacement) and rocker panels are starting to rust, but I wouldn't trade it for any crossover, truck or SUV. (Well, maybe a Maverick.)
With a bigger turbo on these, you can actually get decent power out of them. Also, they did make 4Motion Golf Sportwagens for the last couple years of the gen (Not Alltracks) but only as base models
It's too bad we Yanks never got the love child of a Golf Alltrack wagon and a Golf R. That would be my jam.
Golf R wagon. It exists and is on sale overseas. Look it up. Although a bit of a lift would be nice…
9:42 - Tell that to Subaru with their Outback. Essentially the same formula, except Subaru tells gullible shoppers the Outback is a crossover/SUV. And Outback people believe they're not driving a wagon. 😂
I own an Ootback and I call it a lifted wagon. Had I wanted an SUV/crossover, I would have bought a Forester.
After the 2008 model year they made it too tall but for real it's still a wagon (shh! Nobody tell them!)
That 1.8T is the best engine VW has made, in my opinion. Great combo of impressive acceleration and gas mileage.
Love it in my Passat!
They’re great but the ALH TDI is legendary.
The 1.8 TSI bears nothing in relation to the original 1.8T apart from displacement. It’s not a bad engine don’t get me wrong but it’s no 1.8T
I owned -two- of these. Both were 2017s. The first one was an SEL and did have the dual, automatic climate control and nicer seats than the one you're in. Both Alltracks were tuned. The first one had an APR TCU and ECU tune, intake, suspension upgrades, etc, The second one just had a Cobb ECU and TCU tune. Really great cars that could do anything.
Whoa whoa whoa, the alltrack has the big bottle spot in the doors! Fits my 32oz bottle perfectly.
Spot on. I bought a 2019 7.5 Alltrack second hand here in Australia two years ago because I had learnt that VW were also discontinuing it here too. They've now also discontinued the 2WD Golf 8 wagon, but you can still buy a hatch as well as the GTI and R. Same story, everyone seems to think they need an SUV even though they often have much less cargo space.
It's a great car. As you say, really great steering and just the right amount of power. And it has KNOBS inside and NO FAKE EXHAUSTS!!
I have a 2019 Alltrack, last year sold in America. I love this car and I have no idea what is going to be my next car, there are no affordable station wagons in the market anymore. The only ones out there are Audi Allroad and Mercedes E Class. We need more options of station wagons, not SUV.
Hello from France,
I drove one in Pennsylvania for many miles! It was a good experience! Extremely rare in stick shift version! On of my favorites car after the Citroen xantia ! I can't wait to return there and drive it again!
Just got my Alltrack a few days ago and I am in love 😻 favorite car I’ve ever owned.
I agree that it's a great car, that didn't sell well because Americans are obsessed with SUVs and crossovers. But the Taos essentially replaced both the base Golf and this in VW's lineup.
And the Taos sells well
AWD, wagon, manual and pano roof available. My ideal car.
I have it's Spanish sibling - Seat Leon X-Perience - same engine, same DSG gearbox, same 4 wheel drive but different body style :) It's a great car. I also upgraded my turbocharger to Golf MK7 GTI one and now this little 1.8 TSI makes 292HP instead of 180 :) it's super fun to drive in snow once you disable traction control :)
If I were a car, I would be this car. This ticks a whole lot of boxes for me. And I thought of that right before you said it would wear a Kirkland Signature zip-up fleece on a hike instead of an expensive Patagonia one, which just sealed the deal for this Costco fan.
Your final thought is ridiculously accurate and heart tugging love your channel ❤
LOVED my Alltrack, and never should've sold it. I'd still have it now! Perfect blend as many have said between power, economy, utility, and handling.
That looks like the perfect car for my locksmithing work. I probably couldn't flat tow it behind my RV because of the AWD.
You could get pretty much the same car in front wheel drive as well. Look for the Jetta Sportwagen (until 2014) or Golf Sportwagen (2015-2019). For regular snowy-street driving I really can't complain about my FWD JSW's traction control.
@@drewzero1 You obviously know your VW's. Thanks for the info!
@@FTRVDenny Just a few models... This is the first water-cooled VW I've owned but my family had a handful of Jettas and a GTI when I was growing up.
@@FTRVDenny I did just think of one thing to watch out for with the earlier generation: I'm not sure if they fixed it in the Golf but the JSW's fatal flaw is probably the panoramic sunroof. They often leak, the tracks bind and get stuck, or they come loose. I definitely recommend finding one without a sunroof if you can.
@@drewzero1 It seems like every one I saw for sale had the sunroof
Loved your review! Very well done, including the humor!
In regards to the seats. The higher trim SEL model has the GTI sport bucket seats both front and rear. Much nicer and more supportive than the standard seats. And they have 6 way adjustment plus adjustable position and firmness for lumber control.
Hah... I bought one alltrack in Milwaukee and shipped it to Ukraine Europe) Currently, I`m the owner of this great car. I used it in mountains and other offroad trails) Really good car in SE edition with automatic gear. I bought it at Copart - an insurance auction
my mom bought a 2019 alltrack manual and loves it. only issue she's had was a dead battery at the start of this year when the temp dropped a lot. she's a VW fan and had a 1999 Passat before buying this
I've never heard of the Alltrack but I'm interested.
VWs aren't known for reliably aging.
Up here in Canada, you could get awd in the regular sport wagon.
Great video and fellow Wisconsinite here (filmed near McCarty Park, correct?). I own a regular golf sportwagen, would love an Alltrack though and so sad it’s not offered here anymore. Cmon people…wagons are COOL!!
Love my 2017 All track. Had it for 4 years and it has 45k miles and zero issues. The bushings will probably need replacing soon, getting a bit squeaky.
Own a 2018 Highline trim with 6 SPD manual , lovely car to drive with excellent build quality and very nice interior . Only 88,000 km and beautiful riding vehicle, real shame Canadians are so fixated on SUV's , very boring vehicles , cant tell one from the other . This thing is bangin !
I was so close to getting one of these, but the 300 page thread about roof leaks (and poor dealer response therein) on the VW forum scared me off.
I love when I see one of these on the road now and then. It really is a shame that VW dropped this and other, more affordable Golfs. I have a 2014 manual Jetta with the same engine. Had a 2008 2.5 manual before that. Love them both! 💙
Can't do figure 8's like my ATTESA-ETS G37xS!! That's where Perfect lives, during Winter.
Great video as usual !
I have a '18 SportWagen in Night blue metallic 6spd 1.8t with the 4motion. Man... I love this thing alot alot. Been using it as a road trip machine. Great fuel economy and its a real shame that vw dropped these for NA market. I didnt want the alltrack because here in canada we never got a S trim all track (trendline) only higher level with sunroofs. I didn't want sunroof i settled for my navy beauty. :} anyone that is on the fence to buy one of these. DO IT! Perfect all around car and please get the 6Spd. Feel alot more connected to the wagon on road.
Incorrect, Sir! At 2:05 You mentioned that the only way to get the 4Motion AWD was to get the R or the Alltrack. Not Quite! You could for a while get it on the normal Golf Sportwagen. How do I know this? Because I own one, with a manual 6 speed. it's a 2018 and also boasts the 1.8L turbo. Bit of a unicorn, but it exists. Sent you an email to come review it a while back. Next time you are in Colorado, come say hello :)
Tried to talk my wife into one of these, but she couldn't submit to driving a wagon. What'd she get? An Atlas. Which is...for all intents & purposes...a wagon. Almost a minivan, save for the lack of sliding doors. I don't get the psychology of people saying wagons are uncool.
Zack it'd be great to see a separate POV drive channel, it would be a fantastic addition
As much as we say we like station wagons they are 3% of overall car sales in the US and US Enthusiast just don't buy a lot of new things automakers listen to the people who actually give them money aka the people who buy trucks SUVs, High end luxury cars and $75,000 + sports cars new.
Great video
98 % Of people would not use that Humongous drink bottle !
VW's answer to the Subaru Outback. Sadly, this thing cost a bit more than the Subie. Don't think these sold all that well either.
I have a 2019 manual golf wagon with awd, and maybe it was just canada. Not sure
I hated my Alltrack unfortunately…the ride was too rough for the shitty roads in Quebec. Then one of the Bi-xenon headlight died so I traded mine in. But I 100% agree that it’s waayy better than the Taos (tried it as a loaner).
The ride sucked because VW jacked it up and there was no droop. Throw away the shocks and springs, and replace with GTI suspension from a junkyard and the ride quality improves dramatically.
Manufacturers need to bring back wagons. Not everyone wants or needs an SUV. I'd buy a wagon if it was the right size for my needs, most of the SUVs are too big or too high for me. Short guy problems. lol
There less than 3% of the market you need to drop $70,000 on a eclass wagon
Great car, shitty suspension as one commenter mentioned. I have ‘19 SEL with 6spd manual. The combo of seats with the shifter is impossible to replace, so I haven’t. Mine is tuned (APR 1) and is flawless. 72k miles, no issues at all except suspension bushing squeaks when really dry and cold.
In Europe they sell golf mk8 alltrack
I almost bought one of these in manual! Not sporty enough though.
1. GTI suspension ; 2.GTI turbo and tune. You wouldn't believe the transformation, and the parts can be found cheap.
Your large water bottle fits in the door cup holder. Just sayin’ lol😊
It shows Android Auto which you forgot to mention. It's frustrating that Toyota didn't offer Apple CarPlay and Android Auto in 2017 while other automakers did
Neat cars for sure.
Is that just a rebatch of Audi A4 Allroad?
No, the A4 uses a different platform for Audis.
Nice 😀😀
get those windows tinted
Except that you CAN get a Sportwagen with AWD
😊👍
sunroof
Indeed. Some leak some don’t. Mine hasn’t, but I clean drains like I change the oil. The car is good enough that I’d consider sealing the roof if it leaked, and like a Buzz have a non opening skylight.
It's because people want SUVs that automakers don't offer wagons like this anymore