Welcome to the VW Golf Alltrack Forum, please post an introduction

[UNCLE JOHN]

Greeting All

We purchased our 2018 Alltrack from the local VW dealer in Sept 2018. This is our first VW and previously we were a Subaru family having owned 4 models (Legacy, Outback & Impreza) over about 25 years. I am Professional Engineer and Subaru's were an "engineer's" car. What really put me off was the time last year when one of the brake lines on our most recent Outback failed under braking. The brake pedal went right to the floor. Thankfully, this happened at slow speed on a side street and not on the highway which we often drive. This after the brake lines had been inspected and presumably protected as part of an earlier recall. Yikes !!

Hence we are now converts (although the Impreza is still around as a 'winter-beater' for driving around town). We just clicked over 30,000 km (18,600 mi) with no serious issues to date. I am a bit miffed that adding a trailed hitch will void the warranty. Though it seems to be a Factory option in Europe. Also, I would have liked to have seen a rear fog lamp as a standard feature.

Here's a picture of the Alltrack and our other red "VW".

Cheers
Uncle John

 

[SH01-DD]

Another new owner here. Just picked up my 2019 S manual in White/Black last night. Not my first VAG vehicle, previously owned a 2005.5 Jetta, a 2017 Jetta, and the wife drives a 2015 A3.

Signing up since forums like this one are the best resource out there for car enthusiasts.

Edit: Also forgot, we had a 2010 CC for a while. That was a nice car.

 

[ATXGolf]

Congrats guys!

 

[Marko]

Greetings all,

I purchased an Alltrack SEL in late December (right before they were pulled off the US market). Thrilled to be back driving a stick (I grew up in Europe and I am quite fond of manual transmissions). The car is great, as it has everything I wanted (fun to drive, decent cargo space, AWD, good quality interior materials and ergonomics). The fact that it is based on the Golf is a big plus. I was not interested in a crossover, or a SUV, both of which are very popular in the US. I also did not want to end up with a Subaru (they are great cars and I am partial to boxer engines), however everyone has one here on the Pacific Northwest, and I like driving a car that stands out from the pack, so to speak. Plus, I am not convinced the Crosstrek is a very good car at all. The Outback seems to be the closest competitor to the Alltrack, I think, however that car has essentially ballooned into a pseudo-SUV at this point. The Alltrack fits the bill and I am very happy with it. Just enough car, with lots of personality.
Looking forward to learn more about the car on this forum!

Best,

 

[ATXGolf]

Congrats and welcome

 

[Thor]

Just today I bought a red 2017 Alltrack SEL with 45,000 miles on it. I haven't owned a VW since my 1972 Beetle. I have been researching cars for what seems like months. I came close to buying a 2009 Lexus RX350 (great price and ride but too old). I considered other SUV's for no apparent reason other than it's what everyone else is buying. But when I watched an Alex on Autos review on Youtube of the Outback, he made a subtle suggestion to consider the Alltrack ("It would be my choice."). The What-track? I saw it, and I was hooked. I so am excited to drive this car. Thanks for having this forum.

 

[Fish74]

Hello and welcome to Golf Alltrack Forum, please take a moment and post your introduction and let us know a little bit about yourselves.

2nd VW. First 2012 Gti APR Stage 2
Now, 2019 AllTrack S currently with Stage 1 APR. Got the MuddyBuddy for the back. It drives awesome! Smooth car. Feel like I’ve gotten a great car that will be in demand down the road.

 

[JCM]

Just bought a 2019 Alltrack SEL (Execline here in Canada for whatever reason). My wife and I have been looking for a new compact suv for a while, but they all seemed so boring to us. The Alltrack was always in or minds but thought it might be too small. Finally had a really good look at one and after a fun test drive were completely sold.

 

[Cbarber]

Hi All,
Just received my new Alltrack and am very excited. Well I'm not really a new owner but a replacement 2019 Alltrack owner. It is a replacement for my 2017 Alltrack, courtesy of VW corp. To make a year long ordeal short, my previous 2017 pano sunroof leaked, had electrical and suspension problems and VW replaced it with a new identical model under the Lemon Law. Some may think I'm crazy to stick with the Alltrack due to continuous problems, but I have investigated this car, I'm an automotive engineer, know a lot about it and can fix anything. Also, I enjoy driving a wagon. This is my first VW and will be my last, coming from decades of Subaru, Acura and Honda ownership. If you search my other posts praising VW for high quality engineering and using quality materials, I also slam them for their poor build quality at the factory.
My 2017 was in for repair for a total of 98 days on and off. On the bright side I made a lot of friends at the dealership, they all know me by my first name and I got a chance to drive 6 different loaners, all various Golf Alltrack, Sportwagen, hatch, TDI models and can vouch for the poor build quality. The '17 Alltracks have more problems than the '18 and '19s. Even though all the loaners had very low mileage they all behaved differently but exhibited some of the common problems. #1 leaks, #2 slight suspension noise from left front and lots of electrical issues probably due to the leaks. The 1.8L turbo is a great engine, but behaves differently in different cars and different years. The turbo kicks in earlier in some cars and VW has been playing around with the shift points. Even the idle speed varies in different cars, even though they are all the same engine. The 2019 is the best and most refined.
Anyway I am looking forward to enjoying my new Alltrack and not visiting the VW dealership anymore. If anyone has any questions feel free to shoot me a message. I'm also on the Allltrack facebook forum.

Thanks for letting us know. My brand new 2019 alltrack doesn't shift as smoothly (manual) or have as much torque as the two I test drove. What would you recommend if I want to at least try to get somewhere with the dealer?

 

[Doct]

Hello and welcome to Golf Alltrack Forum, please take a moment and post your introduction and let us know a little bit about yourselves.

Really enjoying my new 2019 Alltrack! Only have 6500 miles so far.

 

[bitflogger]

Thanks for letting us know. My brand new 2019 alltrack doesn't shift as smoothly (manual) or have as much torque as the two I test drove. What would you recommend if I want to at least try to get somewhere with the dealer?

The car we bought only had 14 mi on odometer while some being used for test rides had 400+ miles. It's clearly more broken in now but shifting smoothly is really a matter of your skill and timing if your shifter moves the forks and transmission parts when the engine is off.

The on dashboard guidance to shift is often at or below RPM where the EA888 engine just does not yet build torque. Every VW we tried with EA888 was happier in the right band (RPM range).

As far as getting somewhere with the dealer, you smile and give good information. They did a slight mess up on charging me for accessories and an appointment to get that and a simple warranty matter done. From being nice they sent me a refund check and apologized. One of those moments in life where you wanted to be unhappy but it paid not to.

On power, it starts making torque around 1600 RPM. Shifts always seem fine if you really know how to, and shift at 2500-2900 RPM. The cam profile is different above 3000 RPM and you can feel that. Standard 87 octane runs fine but high octane does seem to behave the way some dyno tests illustrated - a little more power possible in some scenarios.

I drove semis with 3x5, 10 speed, 9 speed, 13 speed and even 4x5 earlier in life, and still have a Model A Ford in the family. I'm convinced a lot of people who criticize a lot of vehicles shifting are just people daft to rev matching, understanding a synchronized transmission, and need practice. If your shift lever will move the lined up parts when the engine is off, I doubt you have a mechanical problem.

 

[gabollini]

Have owned a white 2017 VW Alltrack dsg since 2017. Bought brand new, but never knew of this forum. Have to make a choice....we have a 2011 TDI Touareg w/ 135K miles (keeping it), but don't need 3 cars. My other car is a red 2015 GTI SE w/ sunroof. No android auto, APR tuned stage 1, manual, red. Love the car, no problems thus far. Our alltrack is white w/ black interior. Had to get the 'Reg to pull our small boat because alltrack can't pull anything. But, wife says one of the small cars need to go. Was leaning toward keeping the alltrack....only 36K miles. The GTI has 50K miles. Issue is that the GTI eats high test gas. It's also very torquey...almost too torquey. Makes almost 400 lbs torque. That's a lot for the little FWD car. It also doesn't have the limited slip. So, lots of wheel spin. The alltrack, on the other hand, has android auto, great 4wd traction, and is zippy. It's got paddle shifters, and I do like the dsg to some extent. I also love the space in the alltrack better. Seats, not so much. Also like alltrack ride height and it's still under p/t warranty. Maybe an apr stage 1 tune, but don't want to void the wrnty. Has anyone just gotten the apr tune and not the dsg tune? Also love the alltrack for its gas mileage and regular gas.

 

[VwagonDad]

Hey,
New member from NJ.
I had to part ways with my Focus RS.
And jumped in to Alltrack S manual.

 

[Mahoney101]

Hey,

Just traded in my 08 passat manual wagon with 245000 km.
Now driving 2019 manual alltrack.
Will miss my 2.0, but the 1.8 is not a huge sacrifice for a soon to be classic!

 

[AA717driver]

Hi all! First time VW owner. Picked up my red Alltrack SE 6-spd in Denver in August and drove it back to Florida. Love the car—9500 mi so far.

I‘ve been all over the map on my previous cars: RX-7’s in my youth, Civics and Accords with young kids, Lexuses later. Most recently, BMW 328ix 6-spd wagon, Porsche 996’s and a recently departed C63.

The Alltrack is a touch slower than the 328 but drives and feels the same. This one‘s a keeper.

TC

 

[AA717driver]

Standard 87 octane runs fine but high octane does seem to behave the way some dyno tests illustrated - a little more power possible in some scenarios.

Reading the manual, they put the Fear in you about using 91 octane. So there’s no problem with that?

TC

 

[jimbelmont]

Purchased a CPO 2017 Alltrack SE from Mission Bay VW in April. Dealership was doing brisk business despite a COVID lockdown due to the first round of stimulus checks that had just gone out (except to me). Was ready to pay cash but took advantage of 0.9% financing. Brought it in for warranty repair on an inop console 12V outlet, and the dealer also took care of a factory recall on the sunroof drain, replacing the headliner and other related trim at no cost. So far it's been a great car, 23mpg around town average and up to 31mpg on the freeway, although as a car rated for light offroad travel I'm a bit surprised to find the suspension really wallowy and underdamped...I'll be searching the forums for a solution. Looking forward to many long distance trips with it.

 

[Jeffz95]

Hello All, just picked up a 17 low miles white SE with the right options. Living in Colorado the Alltrack should be fun, so far very impressed, have owned a couple Audis all road and S4. More a old school 911/BMW guy but these wagons are fairly rare and cool.
Look forward to the great info. On this forum. Thanks for the add.

 

[EBS65]

Hello and welcome to Golf Alltrack Forum, please take a moment and post your introduction and let us know a little bit about yourselves.

Recently acquired a 2018 Alltrack SE to replace my 2008 Volvo XC70. Platinum gray with black interior. 32,000 miles. Alltrack is so much more fun to drive! Look forward to learning more about it.

 

[Ogre72]

Thank you for allowing me to join this forum. I currently am a 3 vw car family. My wife drives a 16 Passat r line, my dad who is 88 drives my 13 tdi sportswagen and I drive a 19 alltrack s dsg. I am modding my alltrack to golf r specs and should be done soon.