Ummm, you're complaining about hard plastics and you drive a Subaru? The only VW someone might be able to complain about the materials is the Jetta. Pretty much all the other offerings are at or above average as far as materials are concerned.
You mention paying $40,000 all in on an economy car underpinning, but that's looking at it in a glass half full way. The other way to look at it is a luxury vehicle underpinning at a discount (Audi).
I've always thought that VW's resale value are some of the strongest, maybe not quite at Subaru level but on par with the Toyota and Honda products.
Reliability is always going to be a concern with German vehicles. Life is a trade off, I could have bought a Subaru WRX STi and not have any concerns with reliability, but I'd have to live with the crap interior and ride quality.
It's funny how my Forester always comes into question when I criticize another offering.
Yes, my fully loaded (for 2011) Forester XT Limited, with literally every available option, is awash in hard plastics. And yet, it was $35,495 (MSRP) and we got a $3,200 discount for a new vehicle (current model year - the 2012 was not available in March of 2011 when mine was leased). The residual buy-buck was under $17,000, with tax, and total lease cost was $20,886.48 with tax. So, I paid under $38,000 total.
...but none of that matters. I didn't say my Forester is perfect, and I have exactly that criticism of it, among others! I did say this about the VW in reference to the plastics:
And the third is better in the new MQB, but still not fantastic for the price premium commanded.
I just said it's not fantastic. I drove my buddy's 2015 GTI recently and still noticed the plastic, which was better than in the Jetta lineup, but certainly not perfect. It itself would not preclude me from buying one of these.
What would, however, is that I can get a fully loaded Forester XT for about the same price. Or a very nicely loaded Escape, Rogue, etc - choose your CUV. Yes, a wagon is preferable to most in these forums, but IMO (which is just that - an opinion!), the ground clearance is more important to me. That's why I don't consider the Rav4 an option, having only half an inch more ground clearance than a Corolla! I ploughed many roads in the Corolla in the winter in the GTA - yes, we do on occasion have more than 5.6" of snow accumulated on the roads. Yes, the Corolla has been stuck, even with winter tires and reasonable driver's skill.
So when I say that AWD is important to me, and this Sportwagen offers it, it excites me because I can have a more fun to drive vehicle with reasonable fuel economy (with any engine), tons of cargo space compared to a sedan, and the only downside (to me) is the car-like ground clearance. That, I can live with.
...but then based on its price, which at $35,720 for the FWD, + taxes, will exceed $40,000 when 4Motion is added (assuming Highline). For that, I remain sceptical as to what the costs will be out of warranty due to VW's reputation - and that reputation is not feigned by me - it's enshrined at the very least in Brendan's article, which is amazing given his reputation of being a fine, fair, and clear journalist.
I wholeheartedly support your purchase of the Golf R. If I were to consider any VW, it would be an R, and now that the Sportwagen has 4Motion, perhaps that.
...and I'd even be ok with the pricing...except I'd view an ECP as mandatory (based on the above) and it's another $3,000-$4,000. Hence my issue of pricing - to command such a premium, or to position oneself as a premium manufacturer, I would expect a good return on my investment of a depreciating asset. What does that entail? A below average, or at least average, running cost. A premium initial outlay, following by a premium at servicing or in the event of repairs, is just too costly in terms of long-term overall cost of the vehicle.
And those are just MY thoughts. I did not write an article, publish it to the world, and expect remuneration for it. These are the comments to Brendan's article, the subject of which is a vehicle that, in 2015, had some shortcomings worthy of constructive criticism (especially as addressed in the 2016). I don't think mentioning that the cost is a bit high in light of reliability concerns is something that is unreasonable or unfair.
