Mine:

Sundayjumper – what is that vehicle, because I want one!

Overall length 25cm longer than the Golf.

A good chunk of that’s in the rear legroom and there’s a noticeable amount more bonnet on the front of the Passat. The boot is bigger too, just not THAT much bigger.

Go on autotrader and narrow your search by selecting Estate, sub 8 seconds 0-60 and add your budget and age limits.

Big German estates with large engines will do all that you want. V8 4.2 Audio avant?

BMW 5 series can be good, but boots can be a bit small for what they are.

Older Mercedes-Benz tend to make you look like you are driving from the golf course the Masonic Lodge. More current ones are a bit less staid.

Left field choice with enormous boot is a Honda According 2.4 vtec. Perhaps not a rip snorting muscle machine but no slouch.

Ford turbo charged estates have some good boots and speed. Strange mix between conservative and Dagenham boy racers though.

That Nissan Prairie is genius. Not many around either – must be going up in price soon.

I had no idea about that site – fascinating, thanks!

Pah. What are you all on about? We go everywhere with two bikes and enough kit to last a decade in a Toyota Yaris.

V60 has a 40:20:40 rear seat, it’s wider than my old mk3.5 mondeo, but not as high or long.

Takes a 26″ 456 with all wheels and the like on.

R-design suspension is ace with heavy loads.

Saccades, any idea if you can get a smallish road bike in the boot wit both wheels off without too much faff, and seats still up? My Golf hatch won’t do it, and I suspect the V60 might just be too small. Since the boot is only about 10% bigger.

My medium Defy fits in the V60 boot easily with the wheels off.

No problem fitting a large Kinesis Aithein with wheels off in my V60. Having said that, you can’t fit in much else though…
V60’s aren’t big estates 🙂

“Sundayjumper – what is that vehicle, because I want one!“

Not strictly an estate car 🙂 It’s a LWB T4 Caravelle.

I have a Focus estate. I can comfortably get 3 bikes in it with 2 passengers (rear seat split)

Can get 4 bikes in the back with the seat fully down

Its a 2l turbo diesel and has plenty of go. Cheap as chips 2nd hand

Crikey, £2k buys a lovely petrol engined V70.
I don’t do many miles, but do drag a caravan occasionally, with the odd trip for work. Reckon a V70 might be just the ticket, nice place to travel in.
Sadly, my Galaxy looks & feels very dated these days.

V70’s are brilliant cars – we have a thrashed and abused 150k mile 2.4petrol. Would buy a another tomorrow but be aware they are thirsty complex cars that can get expensive quickly. We had two bikes with front wheels off and plenty of kit, a mobile gin bar for the Mrs and three people in comfort to Aviemore with no problem.

Thanks AD and onewheelgood. That’s helpful. I don’t need a big estate 90% of the time really, so a V60 polestar is tempting. 🙂

Mine is stupid though, it has a 60/40 top seat but a full bench bottom, so if you split the rear seats they don’t fold down fully. What idiot came up with that? [/I]

Whoever specced/designed the facelift Sierra I reckon as I had an original Sierra and that had 60/40 split top/bottom and then my next (facelift) had a single bench seat with split top.

I am looking at a BMW 3-series Touring (E91). Is it possible to fit a bike in the back with the rear seats up?

I won’t need it very often, but I need the option.

Volvo V70 here had 3 bikes in it yesterday with all the kids gear and still plenty room.

Golf R estate here. Mk 7 and it’s fantastic. Bikes go in boot or on roof. Big enough when you need but small enough to not be a hassle ever. Huge boot and useful space plus it is rapid! 300bhp and 4wd. It’ll do 40mpg on a long journey and mid-30’s all day long if you’re not silly.

Whoever specced/designed the facelift Sierra I reckon as I had an original Sierra and that had 60/40 split top/bottom and then my next (facelift) had a single bench seat with split top.

Fiesta’s are the same, I guess it’s cheaper?

If you want really annoying, get a C-max, the seats fold up but not down into the footwell like most estates/hatchbacks. Which means to get any actual room you have to unclip them and remove them completely.

Ps I looked at v60 polestar. Rare, fast and pretty but I found expensive versus golf r to buy (as rare), rather thirsty and tiny boots. Good 200+ litres down on the golf from memory.

Martin, you might be better off starting a new thread, your post gets a little lost!

Martin, I have an e91 and although I’ll admit to never trying, my answer is going to be no. Even a small Turner Burner only just fits in with the seats down and front wheel removed.

This thread is long enough that I’m now on a s213 (new shape) E class estate. Again huge boot although maybe a tiny bit smaller than the previous model. Fast? Well this one is a fast petrol with a tow at.

Pah, for bike carrying you need a real estate…

That Volvo is ace.
A friend down the road inherited his dad’s – he had 5 months MOT on it, so decided to run it to clear out fathers house. That was three years ago… Thirsty, wallows like a marshmallow, but so far has cost tyres and a service…and it’s turquoise!

[evil laughter] Mine doesn’t wallow any more [/evil laughter]

I am looking at a BMW 3-series Touring (E91). Is it possible to fit a bike in the back with the rear seats up?

I need to put the seats down in a current 3-series estate and take the front wheel off my XL 29er to get it in. I think I would need to strip it to get it in the boot with seats up. Its not a big boot at all.

I didn’t expect that many answers in such short time – thanks. I thought about creating a new thread, but maybe it’s nice to keep the information in a single thread?

Is it possible to have a bike in the boot of a Golf 7 with the rear seats up?

I looked at Mercedes E-class estates, but unforunately they’re a bit too expensive, and a bit too thirsty at the price range I’m looking at.

What about Mercedes C-class estate (W204) with rear seats up? Will a bike fit?

I had two Skoda Superb estates and with the seats down they could both take a road bike with the wheels still on but not any of my bikes that were fun to ride – always had to take the wheel or wheels off the mountain bikes. Just got a Skoda Kodiaq though and this is the first car I have had that with all the seats folded will take my size Large and quite long Slayer, and with plenty of room to spare:

[/url]IMG_5423 by Jamie Clark, on Flickr[/img]

I know – its not an estate but my bit on the Superb sort of made it relevant!

Page 2 and no Octavia vrs yet! I’ve just ordered one of these

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=octavia+vrs+245&client=safari&hl=en-gb&prmd=sivn&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&fir=F1DXNY3ec30_xM%253A%252C3-XEWqkbHMmvbM%252C%252Fg%252F11g7z9yxtk%253B_yD3zl17OEFs1M%253A%252CkwUzqocxOXsf5M%252C_%253BbI-VAj5-P7r5SM%253A%252C8tR8ipi1qtK9OM%252C_%253B3v9cN3RIyoY9BM%253A%252CkwUzqocxOXsf5M%252C_%253BMPcS2dMQR4W3uM%253A%252CKlLJyjb4S3efFM%252C_%253BTnawa-flEZcJbM%253A%252C8tR8ipi1qtK9OM%252C_%253Bo9EI4R8FiUE8dM%253A%252C3-XEWqkbHMmvbM%252C_%253Bo_vZKTh4PrB9GM%253A%252C3-XEWqkbHMmvbM%252C_%253Blp7PwIMqHhPFZM%253A%252CzruvbmOPHREeSM%252C_%253B6-oC-RWmNZvILM%253A%252CtOGprTHkXqJzCM%252C_%253BZJmo8ekh2FP8GM%253A%252CzruvbmOPHREeSM%252C_&usg=__bO61wfQNxVfepyOQ0Jhm4rj5TdI%3D&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiXj_v4ofPWAhVmL8AKHULVBTEQ420Idg&biw=1024&bih=729#imgrc=umk9_1z2e1GhMM

Might need to take a wheel of, but should be big enough.

Grand Cmax with centre seat folded away.

Sorry, you said fast.

My saab 9-5 got 2 lads, 6 bikes and 3 lots of kit down to the alps last year no bother. No bike racks, roof racks etc, all in the back and no stashing of anything by the passengers feet.

It will also take two trail bikes with wheels off in the boot with the parcel shelf still able to be I’m situ. It’s the perfect bike carrying car in my opinion.. 3l diesel bought for a grand.. Bargain

A6 Avant here, no need to remove wheels if it’s just me and a bike, whether road, track or MTB. Most often they are on the roof as car full of family or riding mates.

However, if seats are up, it’s both wheels off and I can get 3 bikes in sideways across the boot.

I find it’s a lot easier to just get a roof carrier and shove your bike on that, than arse around removing wheels, folding seats etc.

^^ +1

Just bought a Passat GT estate. Does have a huge boooot (echo) but it’s not very deep. Easily get my road bike and 140mm FS mtb in there with the seats down. Plenty of room for gear too.

Had a Civic estate previously as a company car which was huge, not as long or wide as the Passat but the depth made up for it. Could get my 56cm road bike in the boot, wheels off without the seats going down. Had a flat load area with the seats down too which was brilliant.

Been using a B8 passat this weekend, my 21.5 trek fuel with 780 bars goes in wheels on with the seats down but only just and takes some wriggling. Dunno about wheels off though

Volvo xc60. No need to take wheels off to fit at least 2 XL bikes in the back. Have fitted 4 bikes disassembled and 4 folks in it once but that was a jigsaw. I still mostly put my bike on a tow bar mounted rack though.

Used to have an E class (14 plate), it was a big car and a good looking one too. I sold it because the 350d engine returned about 30 mpg, which is lame. I replaced it with a BMW 320d touring. Things I prefer about the merc: it’s comfier, quieter and had a bigger boot. Things i prefer about the BMW, I get 50mpg and it takes corners better. Both boots are large, the merc being larger. If I were car shopping again I’d look at C class estate, with a less powerful engine, like the 220d or something. The AMG styling Mercedes I think are great looking cars

I have looked at Saabs, however, the nice models (like 9-3 Aero) seem to be quite thirsty.

Maybe I should consider the A6 Avant. I initially crossed it off the list, as I think it’s a bit boring (too many Audis here).

el_boufador – The thing is, “we” use a lot of salt here during the winter, and I don’t like my bike to be sprayed with salty water when I go racing. That’s the main reason I prefer being able to have it in the car. It’s important that it fits with the rear seats up, as we have a child seat fitted more or less permanently.

Honda Civic might be another option to look into. It looks nice, albeit a bit dull compared to something like a BMW or a Mercedes.

I’d really like to hear from someone with a Mercedes C-class estate, if it’s possible to fit a bike with the rear seats up. It seems the BMW 3-series Touring is too small, so the Mercedes is currently the next car at the top of the list.

Thanks for all the replies, and pixelmix in the first place for bringing this up. It must be relevant to a lot of people.