For reasons covered in Part 1, I've decided to buy a brand-new stickshift all-wheel-drive station wagon. Both station wagons and manual transmissions have fallen heavily out of favor, with few manufacturers offering both. I figured the dearth of options would make the selection process easy--but was astonished at the poor job most carmakers do with communicating to would-be buyers what their wares offer.

Before I get into that, here are the five 2018 AWD stickshift station wagons available for purchase in the U.S.:

Left to right: Volkswagen Golf SportWagen, VW Golf Alltrack, Mini Clubman, Mini Countryman, Subaru Forester

Let's start with Mini. I had a helluva lotta fun learning to pilot their vehicles in the snow up in Finland and am sold on the company's AWD acumen.

Mini offers the Countryman and the Clubman, two models of what I would barely consider station wagons (they look pretty small to me). 

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I clicked onto their website to learn more about the cars. The first question I had, of course:

What's the Difference Between the Models?

That's a pretty basic question, yet when we go to the landing pages for each vehicle, there's no usable up-front data, just marketingspeak:

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So one is apparently bigger than the other. It doesn't say in which way--taller ride height? Larger cargo capacity? Longer wheelbase?

If we scroll down further, to the features, perhaps we'll learn more about what distinguishes one model from another? Nope:

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Then we get down to each model's three different trim levels:

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And then, confusingly, a "Line-Up" for each model--is that different from the trim levels?

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A spreadsheet-like comparison page makes it a little easier to see, side-by-side, what the difference is between the line-ups:

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However, there's nothing that simply says "Here is the practical difference between our two station wagons, the Countryman and the Clubman." This is bewildering to me. If you walk into a restaurant and there's two $19.95 chicken entrees on the menu, right after each dish's name is an italicized sentence describing each's preparation and ingredients, so that you can make an informed decision.

I clicked over to the website for Subaru's Forester, to see if it was laid out more sensibly. The Forester offers six different trim levels:

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I found this layout less confusing than Mini's "Line-Up" presentation. Each iteration on Subaru's page is a progression of the model before it, including its successor's features and adding a list of new ones. The fonts and layout are easy to read and straightforward.

Clicking on the "Compare Specs" link provides an easy-to-parse checklist-style spreadsheet, by which I'm easily able to understand the difference between the trim levels.

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Subaru's website also offers the helpful ability to compare vehicles, both in-brand and external. Ironically, this tool helped me see, side-by-side, some of the relevant differences between Mini's Countryman and Clubman:

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Next I looked at Volkswagen's two offerings:

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Again, there's nothing on the model page that indicates the difference between these two very-similar-looking cars. Clicking on the "Explore" links for either brings you to a bunch of lifestyle photos and statistics that appear identical between both models. The only difference is the Alltrack photos show it driving on dirt.

This car can fit a Dalmatian

SportWagen or Alltrack?

Alltrack or SportWagen?

Clicking on the "Build Yours" link for the SportWagen reveals only one of the trim levels, the "S with 4Motion," fits my AWD criteria:

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All of the Alltracks are AWD. However, the "Build Yours" link for the Alltrack does a poor job of helping you understand what the difference is between trim levels:

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Of the three brands whose websites I looked at, Subaru's presentation is superior, offering a comprehensive look at what each variant offers in addition to the succeeding trim level. That VW's marketers expect you to distinguish between trim levels using a measly three bullet points is disappointing.

I found that both Mini and Volkswagen's websites do a poor job of allowing a potential buyer to quickly hone in on a model. Perhaps they'd prefer you visit a dealership in person? While that's probably an inevitable part of the process, anytime salespeople are involved I try to do my homework before meeting face-to-face.

In the end I had to rely on an exhaustive series of car magazine articles and tons of YouTube videos to really get a sense of what each car and trim level offers.

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Up Next: Part 3, Design, Interior UX and Aesthetics