My car needs have changed as I now drive to commute. Over the next couple of months I am planning in selling my celica and getting an estate and a weekend car. Before I go into MPV territory what estates can I get 3 bikes and 3 mates in? It needs to be very reliable and easy on fuel. Driving experience isn’t that important nor are toys. Budget around £5k.

Mondeo

Fred closed 😉

I got 3 people and 3 bikes into a vauxhall corsa once, without folding the back seats down.

But stock STW answers are:

Octavia
Mondeo
Anything with a tow-bar rack.

3 and 3 inside a Mondeo Estate is a breeze. 4 and 4 is doable. Economical and reliable, depending on what model you go for.

If Mondeo is too large, I get 3 + 3 easily enough in my Focus estate.

APF

Mate of mine has an Octavia estate (well, two of them do in fact). With one of those Thule soft roof boxes we got 3 of us with 3 bikes, a weekend camping equipment and all our kit in fairly easily.

Any decent estate tbh. But you’ll ideally want a 3-seat front (uglipla etc) or a 60/40 split seat (Focus, but not all Mondeos- mine inexplicably has 60/40 seat backs but a single-piece base. The backs still fold fairly flat but it’s not quite as good as it could be)

I tried to find out how many bikes I could fit in the Mondeo with one wheel off- ran out of bikes.

3 and 3 inside a v70 is a doddle.

3 and 3 in mondeo
3 and 3 in citroen c5
4 bikes 2 people in a pug 206 estate

There’s an estate round here with loads of bikes in it.

None of them belong to the original owners.

Sorry.

3 bikes 3 peeps in a 3 series here!

Mondeo, We managed 3 and 3 plus camping gear and kit for 10 days in lake garda last year.

My Honda Accord takes a frame sideways so you can put 3 bikes in the boot without lowering the seats. If there are 3 people I’d drop the 30% seat and use it for bags.

Focus swallows 3+3 easily with room for kit.

Honda civic 2.2ctdi enough room for the split seat to fold down, 3 bikes in, kit packed around them, and still a back seat for a passenger, and 50mpg.

Currenty have an astra h estate which is easy for 3+3.

Also don’t it in an astra and focus hatch.
The srctewt for me has been 60/40 split folding seats where the base splits as well.

It’s this or die

Unless you have this

then you have more balls than a findus ready meal

Passat, we regularly have 3 + 3 and have even managed 4 + 4 though two were kids.

I’m looking at VW Tourans at the moment. Loads of space inside, compact on the outside.

Diesel gives good mpg and a Bluemotion version is cheap on VED.

The three removable seats make it much more practical than an estate.

I’ve got a 2001 passat and do many trips with 3 bikes and 3 people.

Thanks for the replies. Ideally I’d prefer an estate over a hatch but I will look at civics. I like the look of accords so will have a scan on auto trader.

The civic is cavernous with the cantilever seat base folded down, I bought an old table for renovating from a guy in Glasgow, 6′ x 3′ – fitted in the back!.

reading this, the answer is obviously “any”. I’ve had three and three in a v50, and 3 and 3 plus a weekend’s gear in an Octavia

the answer is obviously “any”

Not an A4 Avant.

BMW 3 series estates have have such a small boot they are like an inverted tardis, I am not sure where is all went?

I have a Mondeo Saloon and I can get 2 mikes and a unicycle in with the seats up so I can only imagine how big the estate is, also of all the cars I have had (and it is many) they are the only FWD car that I have enjoyed the handling of, they are cheap as chips safe and I would really miss the heated front screen.

I also had a range rover for a while and that was massive you could get two bikes in the back with the rear wheels on. taken apart I am sure you could get 5 in there with judicious placement

Vectra.

Hatch is big, and estate is huge.

As long as you go for the face-lift ones (post 55) they actually handle too.