Station wagons are not exactly a common sight on Singapore's roads, and their relative lack of popularity here can be hard to explain.

Some say that the shape of a station wagon resembles a hearse, and therefore can be considered unlucky for those who are superstitious.

The lack of choice can also be an inhibiting factor. Indeed, a quick look at the new car listings in Singapore reveals just eight station wagon models available for sale here. Most of them are from Skoda and BMW, with one solitary offering from former wagon specialist Volvo.

Nevertheless, wagons do have their appeal. The main benefit of a wagon is the enlarged boot space over their equivalent sedan counterpart, which makes them extremely practical choices for those who need their car to accommodate all sorts of stuff, from furniture to sporting equipment to kids' paraphernalia.

At the same time, the fact that they do not have a raised ride height like an SUV means that wagons tend to offer a more engaging and stable drive. If you are looking for something that offers lots of space without sacrificing on driving enjoyment, then a wagon is well worth considering.

What is it? Skoda's Octavia Combi is the only wagon you can currently buy in Singapore with a Category A COE.

What's good about it? Well, the Octavia Combi's status as the only wagon in Cat A means it is the most affordable (relatively speaking) option by a long way.

But price aside, the Octavia Combi brings with it many strengths that makes it a compelling choice in its own right.

The most obvious one would be of course the boot space, which is where most people would look when they consider a wagon. The Octavia Combi definitely excels in this regard, with 640 litres of capacity available.

Fold down the rear seats and you'll get a whopping 1,700 litres at your disposal, enough to fit a full-sized bicycle if you need.

Skoda's Simple Clever approach to interior practicality also means you get quite a number of handy bits around the car to make life just that little bit easier.

There are flip-out hooks in the boot to hold your shopping bags in place, along with separators that can be Velcro-ed onto the boot floor to contain loose items.

The cabin also features neat storage solutions to hold various stuff, such as an umbrella holder in the door, and pockets behind the front seats that are just nice enough to fit a smartphone. Looks-wise, the Octavia is a prime example of understated elegance. The car received a mid-life facelift this year, although the changes are relatively minor.

The grille, lights and bumpers are slightly redesigned, and the car is 9mm longer, but you'll struggle to pick out the changes unless you put it alongside the previous version.

Still, the car remains a handsome looking wagon in its own low-key way. It won't exactly turn heads on the road, but you'll probably get admiring glances of approval from those who appreciate the wagon form.

What can be improved? While the 1.5-litre turbocharged engine with 115hp and 220Nm of torque is relatively peppy and energetic on initial acceleration, its relative lack of power is evident when you try to coax it to higher speeds.

The reduced power output is what enables it to qualify for Cat A, but it does feel a tad inadequate for lugging around a car like this. One can only imagine how the car would fare if it were fully loaded.

The facelift also brings with it a new 13-inch infotainment touchscreen with an updated interface for the operating software.

It feels slightly easier to use than before, but it's still not the most intuitive system around, with key functionalities like adjusting the air con temperature still requiring one to prod the touchscreen instead of using physical buttons.

Is it worth buying? As mentioned earlier, the Octavia Combi's status as the sole wagon in Cat A means that this is your only choice if you want a relatively reasonably priced wagon in Singapore.

At $210,900 with COE (as of September 2025), it's not unreasonably expensive when compared to what else you can get at this price point, which are now mostly entry-level SUVs in various shapes and forms. If you'd like to break out from the SUV mould without breaking the bank though, then the Skoda Octavia Combi is a fine option to go for.

What is it? BMW's 520i Touring brings wagon style and practicality to the luxury mid-sized executive segment

What's good about it? Out of the three major German luxury car brands, BMW is the only one that has seemingly committed to bringing in its wagon products to Singapore.

While Audi and Mercedes-Benz have wagon offerings as well, they remain forbidden fruit to buyers here for now. As such, BMW essentially has the luxury wagon market all to itself, albeit a market that is admittedly tiny in scale.

The 520i Touring then is for those who want a car from the executive class, but don't want to settle for the regular sedans that everyone else in the CBD is driving.

The Touring's shape and style is certainly distinctive, with the long roofline giving it a sense of sleek elegance that is somehow absent in the equivalent 5 Series sedan.

It's not all style and no substance too. Open up the boot and you'll find an impressive 570 litres worth of cargo capacity, a full 50 litres more than the sedan. Fold down the rear seats and you'll get a truly colossal 1,700 litres of space.

But the 520i Touring offers more than just mere practicality. It retains the well-sorted driving balance that BMW is renowned for, with its agile handling abilities belying its large dimensions.

The ride quality is surprisingly composed and comfortable too despite coming with the M Sport package as standard, a feature that usually meant ultra-stiff suspension that resulted in a rock-hard ride based on past experience.

The 2.0-litre engine that powers the 520i produces 190hp and 310Nm of torque, which are decent numbers, though not spectacular. Where it shines though is how it pulls away so smoothly and effortlessly, making short acceleration bursts and overtaking manoeuvres a cinch to execute.

What can be improved? The current generation of BMWs seem to feel a little less ergonomic inside as compared to its rivals, and the 520i Touring is much the same in that aspect too.

The dashboard is dominated by the large 14.9-inch infotainment touchscreen and the 12.9-inch driver instrument display, combined into one giant curved screen. And it literally dominates, with a notable lack of buttons anywhere else on the dashboard, requiring one to access the touchscreen for nearly every available function.

The Interaction Bar ambient lighting that stretches throughout the cabin looks fancy at first, but it feels like a bit of a distraction after a while. At least the colour and brightness can be adjusted if you tire of it eventually.

The car's large dimensions, at 5,060mm long and 1,900mm wide, can prove to be slightly problematic in smaller carparks too. It does come with parking assistance and a bevy of cameras to guide you, but it is still advisable to manoeuvre this car with caution in tight spaces.

Is it worth buying? Well, the 520i Touring comes with a staggering price tag of $410,888 with COE (as of September 2025), which is a full 21 grand more than a 520i sedan, and a seemingly inconceivable figure for what is essentially a 5 Series with an entry-level engine.

Still, it is literally in a class of its own, and if you fancy an executive car that offers style and more importantly space, then the BMW 520i Touring is pretty much unbeatable.

What is it? Essentially the same as the BMW 520i Touring above, but with an electric drivetrain, and a lot more power.

What's good about it? The BMW i5 Touring holds a unique status as the only electric station wagon currently on sale in Singapore, a title it attained after MG withdrew its MG 5 EV wagon from sale here earlier this year (although you can still see them running around our roads, painted in bright green with a 'Taxi' sign on its roof).

The basic premise of the i5 Touring is simple. Everything is mostly the same as the 520i Touring, except that it comes with an electric drivetrain.

And what a drivetrain too. Total output stands at 335hp and 400Nm of torque, which are numbers not to be sniffed at. It allows the car to go from 0-100km/h in 6.1 seconds, which is mighty impressive for a car of its size.

Boot capacity remains the same as the regular 520i Touring too, at 570 litres, expandable to 1,700 litres with the rear seats folded down.

It is a tad surprising, as EVs tend to require more space to accommodate the associated components like batteries and whatnot, but it's a testament to BMW's engineering prowess that they've managed to keep the i5 Touring as close to its petrol counterpart as possible.

As an EV, the i5 Touring fares extremely well too. Claimed range on a full charge is quoted as 548km, although even if you're heavy-footed and lugging large bulky items in the boot, you can probably achieve at least 450km, which is still not a bad figure at all.

What can be improved? Carrying all that electric drivetrain and batteries means that the i5 Touring has a pretty sizeable weight of 2,255kg, which is quite a large increase over the 520i Touring's 1,850kg.

That does impinge on drivability a bit. The i5 Touring remains as stable and planted as one would expect from a large BMW, but it doesn't have quite the same sense of urgency or nimbleness as its lighter petrol-powered sibling.

And of course, all of the annoying interior bits from the 520i Touring applies here as well, as do the large and cumbersome dimensions.

Is it worth buying? If you want to jump on the EV bandwagon with a literal wagon, then the i5 Touring is currently your only ride of choice in Singapore. For that privilege though, you'll have to fork out $462,888 with COE (as of September 2025), which is not an insignificant amount to say the least.

Nevertheless, the i5 Touring represents the only way you can go emissions-free while still having the capability to lug home large flat-packed furniture without having to go down the SUV route. For that alone, the BMW i5 Touring is well worth serious consideration.