2018 Volkswagen Golf Alltrack Long-Term Wrap Up – Goodbye, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen and Good Night!

After three months, it’s time to say goodbye.

Normally, I stay away from writing long-term wrap-ups, but in the case of the 2018 Volkswagen Golf Alltrack – I volunteered. I’m going to miss that little wagon and so is my wife. You see, I came up with any half-believable reason to bring it home. It’s ideal for my  family of four. It has an outstanding AWD (all-wheel drive) system, a frisky (yet thrifty)  turbocharged engine and a compact size that’s a snap to park.

After the second time I took my spouse, She-who-must-be-obeyed, along for a ride through the snow, she went and sampled one at a local dealership. She loves the manual transmission, despite its long throws and empty-feeling clutch pedal. She loved the massive sunroof, interior colors and overall driving feel too.

Personally, I feel it’s on par with various Subarus in its class like the Outback and Crosstrek off-road. Importantly, it is far more sporty on-road. After all, it did best our long-term Ford Fiesta ST. The whole TFL staff agreed it’s excellent on challenging terrain. We worked it hard and, unlike its competitors’ PR reps, Volkswagen was fine with us using the vehicle as intended by its branding.

It’s not perfect, but…

Sure, it could use a few things. I wish it had more storage cubbies and a slightly lower price (She-who-must-be-obeyed really likes it). You can get a Golf SportWagon 4Motion for a few grand less, but the added height of the Alltrack alone is worth a bit more. It has poor towing numbers versus its competitors; up to 1,500 lbs – and that might cause a warranty issue. Finally, its manual transmission setup is too vague for many and not sporty enough for others.

My final thought: I deliberately pushed this car hard as it’s in contention to become my family’s next car. I put it through a gauntlet of long highway drives, slow city traffic, deep snow, thick mud and difficult terrain in all weather conditions. Over three months and 4,000 miles, it never was a problem child.

In fact, I’ll be damned if the little 2018 Volkswagen Golf Alltrack didn’t kick ass at every mile. Overall, it soundly beats its closest rivals. Now, it even has a killer 6-year/72,000 mile warranty. Seriously, other than the GTI, it’s my second favorite Volkswagen.