Wagon suggestions

BTW, to give you an approximation of running costs.

The Mazda will cost you approx 50% more to run than the VW (say $1000 a year for typical 15'000km annual running)

The Nissan will cost you twice as much or $2000 a year.

Those are approximations but despite the very round sounding figures I think you will find they are surprisingly accurate. I am happy to do the math properly and show the working if you wish.

Its also worth remembering that aside from the running costs, neither vehicle is as spacious, comfortable or well equipped as the VW either. Its a no brainer IMO.

Oh, and in case you are wondering, the VW is also at a real sweet spot depreciation wise, Diesel VW wagons tend to hit a plateau and hold their value quite well about that point. So even though its at the top end of your price range it's not likely to cost you any more in depreciation than your cheaper options.

If you buy a VW you will spend more in maintenance than you will ever be able to recover by selling the car.

So apart from general servicing which for joe blogs is around $350 for Euro's, ( talking about the general public with no idea, thats about 95% of Vw owners) you will have to be prepared for power accessories like window regulators, electronically controlled automatic transmissions, check engine lights coming on all the time, ignition coil failures, mass air flow sensor faults, PCV system failures, cooling system faults, water pumps, timing belt failures, oil cooler failures, water leaks, power lock failures, and simple brake light switches failing and leaving transmissions stuck in park ( german idiots) plus much much more. i laugh when some kindly forget to exclude these common failures when working out running costs, if anyone can prove me wrong in anyway feel free to do so!

So apart from general servicing which for joe blogs is around $350 for Euro's, ( talking about the general public with no idea, thats about 95% of Vw owners) you will have to be prepared for power accessories like window regulators, electronically controlled automatic transmissions, check engine lights coming on all the time, ignition coil failures, mass air flow sensor faults, PCV system failures, cooling system faults, water pumps, timing belt failures, oil cooler failures, water leaks, power lock failures, and simple brake light switches failing and leaving transmissions stuck in park ( german idiots) plus much much more. i laugh when some kindly forget to include these common failures when working out running costs, if anyone can prove me wrong in anyway feel free to do so!

You forgot to mention instrument displays dying and becoming unreadable, door mirror glass peeling off and engines siezing solid at random when the water pump impeller falls off.I had to tow in a woman with an early 2000's Audi A6 a while back that this happened to who didn't know whether to burst into tears or attack the bodywork with her handbag, it had been 18 months of financial disaster and frustration for her since she traded her Mazdaon it, and was left with something worth bugger all even if it was functional. The economics, or lack of, are just laughable, petrol savings due to all this Euro efficiency and 39 speed whizzbang Drone Slip Graunch gearboxes you don't need pale into insignificance when major repairs are required far sooner than whats reasonable.

lol i had to stop somewhere but thanks for your valid input, glad im not the only one with hard facts! i hope the poster sticks to Japanese

As much as I like the VWs and Audis to drive and they are refined, quiet and have a nice solid feel, several people I know that have owned them have had expensive problems at some stage. Usually things like aircon, various electrical faults including in the case of a Mk 4 VW Golf random stoppages of the car that even the dealer couldn't fix on this 2year old car owned from new.
If you want a load lugger the Falcon is fantastic value though alot of people would consider them to big to drive.