Narrowed it down to two cars. VW Golf and Tiguan. I know, I know get the VZ Commie wagon and be happy. But I want the new car smell for the first time in my life, and VW are having a fire sale (they need something to quell their recent PR disasters).

Tiguan: 168 cm high, a bit short for an SUV. I measured 250 cm to the dashboard with the front seat down.
Golf: 149 cm high. I measured only 2.30 cm to the dashboard with the seat down and I don't think I could remove the headrest. Bummer.

The Golf is newer, cheaper and drives better. But it's a small car at the end of the day. Are roof racks really such a pain? Does vehicle height make a big difference? Is it safe to drive with the board flung over the front seat and equipment inside the car in general?

P.S.
Wagons are a dying breed.

Just one question. How long do you expect to keep this car? If I's over 3-5 years (ie outside warranty period), give the euro a miss...

How's this a windsurfing related decision? Both cars are equally crap as windsurfing cars. You may as well post this question in a car sales forum.

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GrumpySmurf said...
Just one question. How long do you expect to keep this car? If I's over 3-5 years (ie outside warranty period), give the euro a miss...

5 years (3 + extended warranty).

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jermaldan said...
How's this a windsurfing related decision? Both cars are equally crap as windsurfing cars. You may as well post this question in a car sales forum.

Not ready to drive a van. You need a car to get to the beach, right? It's a roof racks on a low car vs shortish "internal transport" question. What is easier to live with or suffer less with?

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jermaldan said..

One of these bad boys maybe?

http://www.carsales.com.au/private/details/Nissan-Elgrand-2004/SSE-AD-2107161

Elgrands look so trick inside and out. They are also called El Uglies though. We had a look at a couple recently. The length at the back is about 2.5m.

Answering your question, neither will be that great as a windsurfing vehicle however whatever is longer will be better go for the Tigiuan thingo. One of my relatives has one one and like it.

I use a Toyota corolla with the back seats down so mainly as a 'van' laden with gear. I have 3 boards which have to go on top and heaps of gear inside. I probably have a lot more gear than you but I can't see out of my L window which makes driving a bit dodgy.Also if I ever have a prang I'll probably end up with a heap of gear in the back of my head. I use a waterproof drop sheet and plastic tubs ( wet gear goes inside garbo bags then in the tubs ) + any wetsails go onto towels to get any drips.
It all works ok but I don't go over 90kms on the freeway as with 3 boards on top I'm worried the roof racks mightn't hold if I go too fast.. and its a pain trying to load the boards on if your parked in the wind. You need someone to holds them while you tie so they don't blow off.
Having said that I get by although I have the use of a VW caddy van very economical and just fits the 3 boards and all gear in which is great if I have to go grocery shopping after.I use a bike lock through the footstraps and onto the roofracks on the boards when they are on the Corolla but have still had people start to try and nick them.The van is also great if its raining as you don't end up with 3 soggy boards and bags.. even if you don't sail!
My longest board is 245cms long.

It's time to decide whether you're a windsurfer (presumably) or just want to drive out to coffee shops on a Sunday morning.

If you must have a VW get a Transporter.

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Mobydisc said...

jermaldan said..

One of these bad boys maybe?

http://www.carsales.com.au/private/details/Nissan-Elgrand-2004/SSE-AD-2107161

Elgrands look so trick inside and out. They are also called El Uglies though. We had a look at a couple recently. The length at the back is about 2.5m.

Answering your question, neither will be that great as a windsurfing vehicle however whatever is longer will be better go for the Tigiuan thingo. One of my relatives has one one and like it.

I had one for several years. Awesome beast of a car. V6 engine out of a 350Z. Integrated entertainment, electric side doors, list goes on. I think it's a harsh call calling them ugly though. They have a real presence and are definitely head turners.

I removed the sliding centre console and was able to have 2x 3m board down the centre.

Tons of room and such a comfy drive.

The only reason I got rid of bit was so I could get a dedicated van and do this;




It would break my heart to rip the guts out of an elgrand to don't he same, but it would work out less than buying a Hiace or Iload to that same spec.

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ikw777 said..

It's time to decide whether you're a windsurfer (presumably) or just want to drive out to coffee shops on a Sunday morning.

If you must have a VW get a Transporter.

If you afford it that would be the best!

People try to steal gear from roof racks!? WHY? Windsurfing gear is not exactly iPads and iPhones. Or is this a NSW and QLD thing?

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MrCranky said..

People try to steal gear from roof racks!? WHY? Windsurfing gear is not exactly iPads and iPhones. Or is this a NSW and QLD thing?

I suspect they think they are surfboards but once off will try and sell anyway.They are in boardbags.
This wasn't when I was sailing. As I live an hour from the water I tend to lump a whole pile of things into one day so I go to portrait painting and will have the car parked on the street for 4hrs while I am there so I can sail later on the way home. I've been taking the VW van lately as it feels much more secure.

I got the GolfMk5, its fine as a windsurfing car, fold front seat down and I can easily throw my freestyle+waveboard in, plus 4 sails, booms etc. Bonus, it uses <5L/100km. Diesel, so pulls hard enough, great for overtaking on the highway.

Cons: Unreliable piece of crap. Mainly random electrical glitches. I got a manual to avoid any DSG issues. I suppose I may have to get roof racks at some stage if I want to cart gear and passengers... can still fit one person in the backseat behind the driver.

I bought it second hand, $10k, so I don't really give a crap, but I keep stuff in gear bags and a tarp in the back to avoid moisture issues.

I reckon next gear hauler, presuming I get overcome with stupidity, will be one of these http://www.carsales.com.au/private/details/Mercedes-Benz-C63-2010/SSE-AD-2448564/?Cr=2&sdmvc=1

mmmmmmmm

I've been through this process in detail and settled on a Subaru Liberty Wagon. Owned it from new since 2007 and no regrets.

Pros:
Japanese Build and Reliability
Drives Like a car and good fuel econ.
Rear seats fold forward in one move creating a flat bed for sleeping
RHD rear seat split fold set up means you can load long stuff and still fit two people in the back row.
Fits 2 boards and gear with a front seat passenger.
Easily fits 3 boards and gear inside with front seat reclined.

4x4 for beach parking up north.

Cons:
Want to upgrade/change cars but cant find anything as good so I am going to keep it until it dies.

I went with the VW tiguan 2 years ago, works as a windsurf car for me fine. I can get 2 boards, 5 sails etc inside no probs, with roof bars for when I have someone riding in front seat. It's not a crap car whatever others may say. Like

Ore you could get one of these



The story goes some really good lookin genius worked on the design.

With this I can take 2-3 boards and all the rest, don't need roofracks, nothing wet gets in the car and can take passengers. I can fit all in the single garage.

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Dezza said..

I went with the VW tiguan 2 years ago, works as a windsurf car for me fine. I can get 2 boards, 5 sails etc inside no probs, with roof bars for when I have someone riding in front seat. It's not a crap car whatever others may say. Like

Who said it's a crap car?! The sales guy said I'd be "finally stepping up to German quality"!. In all seriousness, however, how long are your boards? What I plan on getting is either 239 cm or 250 cm. Tarp over the front seats? (The top end Tiguan (not the one I am thinking of getting) has a folding front passenger seat, so you can use it as a table. Don't know why such a practical thing is not more common.

Big cars suck

Get the golf!

use these roof rack straps. www.kanulock.com/ you can't steel the board.

I drive a mini with roof racks. And I just chuck all the gear inside the car. I'm not the only one. There are two of us that sail out of st kilda with mini clubmans.

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Yuppy said..

Big cars suck

Get the golf!

use these roof rack straps. www.kanulock.com/ you can't steel the board.

I drive a mini with roof racks. And I just chuck all the gear inside the car. I'm not the only one. There are two of us that sail out of st kilda with mini clubmans.

Well, the Tiguan is a Golf on stilts (but definitely has more room inside). I'm afraid it's a bit in no-mans land. Neither low enough for roof racks to be easy to get to (Golf), nor big enough inside not to both with roof racks at all (Kluger, Pathfinder, old Commodore Wagons.. or gulp.. vans). If I had kids I'd probably have an excuse to drive a people mover (Odyssey and the like).

Mazda 6 Hatch can take a lot of gear inside (2 boards 2 rigs) and looks like a normal sedan. I have the Lux Sports version which looks nice. Unfortunately the new model only comes in 4 door sedan.

Right. Whatever you guys.

Anything other than a van is a hack job. No matter how much effort you go to, you will have salt-water on your interior and damp issues over time. The sand is so hard to get out completely.

The only other alternative is a trailer, and that's a prick to park.

Just get 2 cars. One you want to drive and one you use just for your kit.

I picked up my Hiace for $5K and use it only for windsurfing (and the odd trip to bunnings/ikea and the tip). Always has all my kit in it, ready to go in a moments notice. Packing up is also 15 minutes, no straps or complex stacking puzzles. It costs me nothing to run and I can resell it in 5 years for more or less the same if I wanted.

So as far as your question relates to a car to cart your windsurfing kit with you... you may as well get a Prius and get decent fuel economy, because its just as good or as crap at the above mentioned alternatives.

Does the Tiguan actually do anything more than the Golf?

4WD? Yeah, right. Enough to get you on to the beach maybe, but is it enough to get you off again? And how many times are you planning on driving it on the beach?


More importantly, you're going to get your new car and because it's so perfect you're really not going to want to put any wet salty boards inside, scuffing up the interior.


I'd accept that you're going to want a roof rack for either car.


If you're really desperate to throw money at a new car, I'd also purchase a wreck to use as a windsurfing car.


Or just do the smart thing and buy a Commodore Wagon. New car smell? You can get a spray for that and it costs a lot less than a Euro softroader :)

The reason the car companies are jumping all over small SUV's or soft roaders is that all the market research says that customers will pay considerably more for one over a conventional hatch. All you really get apart from the SUV appearance is a higher ride height ( lots of people like this) and questionable offroad capability. You pay for it with worse fuel economy ( more mass, compromised aero), less performance, handling and breaking.
Then there is the price tag. However they are one of the fastest growing segments so they have hit the spot for whatever reason

Personally unless I want to go off road or need 7 seats I would buy something with a lower center of gravity that goes around corners and stops. But that may just be me.

You can get a Tiguan with the option that the front passenger seat folds forward.

This gives it a lot of options for loading longer boards mast etc

Get a megane gt220. Leftfield suggestion.

work mate has 7yr old toureg , 7k to fix cam after 3k air con failure &it's only worth 10k now.

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bjhjames said..


You can get a Tiguan with the option that the front passenger seat folds forward.

This gives it a lot of options for loading longer boards mast etc

That's the highest spec model.

Reliable: iLoad or Hiace

Hipster: Golf or Tiguan

Baller: C63

Bogan: V8 commodore wagon

I have a V8 commy wagon, I can fit 3 boards and 6 sails in it and still have two people in the front seats. I offset at least 3 Hispters with my fuel consumption but each time I start it up and hear that V8 rumble it reminds me that I wouldn't have it any other way :D

In all seriousness though I wouldn't buy anything euro particularly from VAG unless you are going baller on warranty and plan on selling it before it's up. For a premium brand their failure rate is pretty epic and the parts/repair costs are full retard.

My first car was a VW - a split screen. Went for ever. Loved it to bits.

We were suckered on the Mk V diesel with DSG. Touch wood, we haven't had too much trouble with it, but really, we just know it is an unreliable crap shoot.

The 6 speed DSG changes beautifully at high speeds, under acceleration or heavy braking load. But around town at low speeds it clunks between gears like crazy. Its not going to be long lived, and its not going to be cheap to replace.

Personally, I think VW's response to reliability issues has been appalling. I recall reading somewhere that our 6 speed DSG got recalled in China, but not here.

Really, they deserve to be trash talked, and trash talked, and trash talked. I hope they never get to sell another car at anything but a huge discount.

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mr love said..

The reason the car companies are jumping all over small SUV's or soft roaders is that all the market research says that customers will pay considerably more for one over a conventional hatch. All you really get apart from the SUV appearance is a higher ride height ( lots of people like this) and questionable offroad capability. You pay for it with worse fuel economy ( more mass, compromised aero), less performance, handling and breaking.
Then there is the price tag. However they are one of the fastest growing segments so they have hit the spot for whatever reason

Personally unless I want to go off road or need 7 seats I would buy something with a lower center of gravity that goes around corners and stops. But that may just be me.

You are preaching to the choir. I know the soft roaders are just bad wagons at the end of the day. The only reason I even considered the Tiguan was because the sales guy sent out a feeler. Will you buy for X? Yeah, OK, I'll test drive it. Test drove it, said OK, here's X! He immediately did the "i need to speak to my manager". When back and forth, then I spoke to the manager, who was frank: "his job is to find out how much money you have, my job is to say no". The haggling broke down over $500. The sales guy keeps calling me, and I think he would have met my price. Too bad, I don't want the damn thing anymore.

Anyway, as far as small SUVs go, it's probably one of the best. Handles almost like a car. The closes equivalent is the Mazda CX5, but it's a fair more $. Like I said, it was only the price that made me look at the Tiguan.

Bogan and proud of it!!!