I've said this before. That's one of the best looking cars on the road. Don't see them too often, and I saw one a week ago. congrats!

btw I have a Thule story in my college days, I delivered pizza. Had a 264 Volvo with a ski rack. I drove into a hospital parking lot, that was chained off. The chain went up my hood, caught the rack, and pulled the left front arm back. Dented the drip rail if that was it was called back then (it was a real channel or gutter), but stayed attached. Had to move the rail back ever so slightly to keep using it. Those were the days.

 

Congrats! Looks great!

 

Definitely cool purchase!

 

Congrats! Definitely lose the roof rack, that will absolutely solve your wind noise issue.

I was behind an MB E Class Wagon yesterday and was admiring it and was thinking that its a shame they have such a stigma here

 

What is that thing, an Oldsmobuick?

 

congrats, i like it myself and see it more as an opel than a buick!
my next vehicle will surely be a wagon - i have a tacoma at the moment so i understand loosing the ability to haul things (to an extent - wagons can haul too).

 

Too late. Olds, as a brand, bit the dust in 2004...but, IMO, it ceased being truly Oldsmobile when the 88, 98, Custom Cruiser wagon, and various Cutlass models were dropped.

 

I like wagons, miss wagons, and hope they make a comeback some day. A Lexus wagon would be ultra-cool!

Congrats on your great find/deal!

 

Lexus had one almost 20 years ago, and almost no one bought it. Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean that one would not sell today.

 

It's obvious why nobody bought it...it looks like the extra cargo room in back was welded-on without much design work! (the after market wheels are cool). This seemed true for most of the Japanese wagons...they were afterthoughts. Subaru makes "wagons," but they are relatively small, and don't fit the classic "station wagon" image like the German offerings do. I suppose I could live with the Audi, and the Opel ain't bad.

 

I probably would have picked up one of the VW Sportwage, but the Golf doesn’t come with HID/LED headlights (small gripe) and the only models that come with leather/leatherette are the SE/SEL trims which come with pano sunroofs, that are notorious for leaking. The Alltracks also have the leaky pano sunroofs, so they were a no-go.

 

Nothing small about today's Outback. In the past 15 years or so, it has significantly increased in size....now 191 inches long, which is about 16 feet.

 

Thanks. Didn’t know anything about these. It’s definitely one of the better looking wagons out there. Looks sleek and sporty instead of big and chunky. 😂

 

My choice for a wagon would be one of these, or a VW Jetta TDI.

 

Good news and somewhat good news.... One of the dealers called me back and said that even GM can’t get a replacement key for the crossbars 🤦‍♂️. But, he did confirm that the racks are made by Thule, so there’s a chance one of the Thule dealers might be able to get a key. I did stop by a highly rated locksmith and he didn’t have a blank that he could use to cut a key. BUT, while talking to him, I decided to just pull “very gently” on the plastic cover that that’s housing the lock and what do you know - it came off quite easily! Couple minutes later, the racks were off and the car looks like it’s supposed to!

Also, had a chance to load it up - this thing swallows cargo like there’s no tomorrow! Even one of my 7’6” rods fits nicely with just the smaller seat folded.
Now, I’m thinking about adding some window tint to the car - it should tie things up nicely.