Finally circling back to the "why" on my wheels.
Simple answer: We drive. A Lot. A Whole Lot. The TDI came home on 31 August 2015 and already has 92K+. The Miata came home on 30 March 2009 and has 105K+. That's an average of 3000+ miles per month on 2 cars. Not including the Mustang, the MH, the company car or the pit bike. The TDI gets nearly 650 miles per tank @ ~48 MPG. The Mazda goes about 300 miles at 27 MPG (tiny tank).
The VW is fast, comfortable, quiet, handles well, has great brakes, is reliable and damn efficient. The Mazda is a ball to drive and hands-down one of the best cars we've ever owned. Some people are passionate about the Second Amendment. I can tell you that those 2 cars will get pried out of our cold, dead fingers.
I can also shed some light on a Subaru Forester. We had a 2011, loaded with leather, sunroof, everything but the turbo. We put 151K+ on it in a bit over 4 years and can say with confidence that Subaru simply doesn't design their cars for that kind of use. The engine used a quart of oil every 5K miles and Subaru said that was normal. Really? My 72 Chevelle wagon with a 350 never used any and it had 172K on it when it was stolen. Neither has any other vehicle, from a 74 Fiat 128 to a 92 F350 crew cab dually diesel, to anything I own now. The catalytic converter failed at 82K miles. I've been driving cars with catalysts for 48 years and have never had one fail. Ever. The driver's seat frame broke a weld. Neither my wife nor I are large people either. The PCV breather failed at 30K miles. The spark plugs have to be replaced at 60K, and because we racked up the miles so fast, they were dealer-only parts the first time around @ $80 each. The sunroof leaked, thankfully replaced under warranty. We're not talking a 70s Corvette with T-tops either, but a fully modern, rigid integrated chassis. A brake caliper failed at 105K. It got 25 MPG on average and never was better than 27. Under 20 on a cold day. And it was noisy as hell. The radio was a waste of space in the dash, the noise was so bad. 3 different sets of tires from Yokohama and Bridgestone, no change. I got to where I wore my noise cancelling headphones without any input to keep my head from exploding on long drives. Not a good car for a road warrior. We wouldn't consider another.
As others have noted, YMMV.
Thanks for the fun thread!
