I don't know much about those. One thing is I am sort of leaning towards new so I can "put my money where my mouth is" so to speak.

The new Golf Variant (known as the Jetta Sportwagen in the US) looks really good to me. A lot better than the very round one that is currently for sale. the new generation brings a new platform that is lighter and stiffer and a new 2.0TDI with 10 more hp. 6MT should still be available according to C&D. No official release date yet so I will just have to check out the current Gen. Only potential downside is all the new Golf based stuff is going to be made in Mexico (which isn't inherently bad but a new factory could mean problems in the first MYs)

 

^ I would love a GTD. It would be the car I buy if they were coming sooner. But it won't be here until like 2015.

 

Not disagreeing with you. Of your options I'd go with the Mazda.

I got thrown a curve ball when I wanted a sedan, awd, reasonable power, and reliable on a budget. The AWD kills options even more then I expected. I wouldn't buy a German car.

While I like the TSX it's lacking in power and the interior design is iffy for some. Doesn't bother me much and if you need a good wagon it's a good option.

I'm almost wondering if a second car would be a better direction for you.

 

It is a second car sort of. My wife and I both work close to home, when we drive we carpool together. We rarely use both the S2000 and WRX at once so the s2000 is our "fun car" and the WRX is our "pratical car". What I am basically looking for is a car that is nicer than the WRX but still as pratical to replace it. I am weirdly leaning towards the mazda, but the test drive will be very telling. I might find something I can't stand about it or realize I really need 300hp in my "pratical car"

Thanks for the input. I just thought I would throw this out there in case I missed anything. Keep the suggestions coming yall.

Weird about the AWD thing, it seems like lots of stuff has the AWD option but I know sometimes it limits other choice (a lot of times you have to get the most premium version to get AWD and its almost always AT).

 

Fun!

What'd I might consider doing is going stage 2 on your WRX, upgrading brakes and adding some little goodies to keep it interesting for you. You can likely do that for about $2-3k and keep the car you have now.

I went stage 2 for about $1k on my Legacy and it was a vastly different car. Mind you the interior is a little more upscale then the WRX.

 

your interior is leap and bounds better than the WRX. WRX has one of the shittiest interiors I've ever sat in for current gen cars.

 

I was being polite, rare of me I know.

 

Its true, its pretty bad. I mean, it looks bad, it feels bad, even the floormats are crappy, the stereo sucks, everything rattles, and the road noise is getting to be unbearable now that the tires are wearing down. Its a good car otherwise. Well, the tranmission isn't great, I swapped in a short shifter and and bushings and that was good for a while but now it feels notchy, maybe it just needs fluid change, I am coming up on 30000 mile service.

 

Its true, its pretty bad. I mean, it looks bad, it feels bad, even the floormats are crappy, the stereo sucks, everything rattles, and the road noise is getting to be unbearable now that the tires are wearing down. Its a good car otherwise. Well, the tranmission isn't great, I swapped in a short shifter and and bushings and that was good for a while but now it feels notchy, maybe it just needs fluid change, I am coming up on 30000 mile service.
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yeah I would semi-tolerate crappy plastic. But rattling & road noise piss the shit out of me maybe I'm getting old... or it's the 40k/year i drive

 

Wow, the only cure for that would be to get a driver and a Bentley to be driven around in I think.