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With the middle seats down you can get 2 bikes in with the wheels on in my XC90 in fact volvo sell a carrier that fits in side the car.
With the two bar rack i can and have carry 2 bikes plus luggage in the boot and 2 on the rack. It is expensive car mind so i would go for a v70 estate instead.
Any estate thats cheap to buy and run that you wont be precious about just chucking muddy bikes in. My choice was a crashed civic estate. A friends got a wobbly old laguna that dismantles itself as you drive along. Mondeos vectras and the like just as good at carrying bikes. Mines got tyre tracks on the headlining chunks out of the rear bumper from leaning bikes against it. Its a honda i couldnt give a monkeys how tatty it gets. Ive had pristine shiny rare fast cars and ended up spending more time cleaning them than riding my bike.
MG ZT-T 280 V8 what more can you say.
...although reading up on them, the mark1 seems to be a bit troublesome.
There were some issues with coils and a common vault with VW platform cars involving the water pump (had mine done with the cambelt), but most of the niggles should be sorted out by now, especially if you get a later one. There's a great guide to buying one [url= http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/137484-vrs-buying-guide-please-read/ ]here[/url].
One thing to bear in mind though is that they have white upholstery... Seat covers are a near permanent fixture in the car. 🙂
Regarding getting bikes in without wheels off, I might only have a medium sized XC bike, but I can get that in the back of my 406 estate with 4 people in and the rear seats up without taking the wheels off. Admittedly that's only with kids in the back, as the rear wheel sits on top of the headrests, but it is doable (and quite handy). Next car will either be a Mondeo or some variety of people carrier (when I get round to making my mind up).
I got a Hyundai i20 and had tow bar fitted so I could carry three bikes on the back with a Thule 9503.
So far it has taken bikes up and down the country with ease ... my best choice to date, and saves dirt and damage being done to the car and is very economical ... saves money for more MTB trips 😉
All of my decisions were made with biking and keeping costs down in mind!!!
A vote for Volvo build quality. I do all my own maintenance, and on every job I come across pleasing quality components. Second hand the brand isn't overpriced either, due to the geography teacher image.
I like my cars. I've had my hot hatches, impreza, evo, merc, GTis and so on but I've started to calm it all down a bit.
Ironically I'm now in the fortunate position to get the cars I want but don't want to buy them as I'd hate to have to run them on the crappy roads and with fuel costs as they are. As it is I have a Fabia vRS which I have found to be a fantastic little car. There is a Skoda dealership in my village and I've had the opportunity to try the Yeti and the Roomster. Both seem to be good bike carrying vehicles. I moved my wife's Fabia on but kept my vRS. I had considered replacing her car with a transit connect. Between dogs and bikes our 'utility' vehicle gets a hard time and a van could be abused without too many worries. She didn't fancy a van though and did comment on the fact that when we go out on the bikes there's usually 3 or 4 of us and the van would limit numbers or involve another vehicle. In the end I bought a Multipa off druidh from these parts 😀 and it's been a revolution. 4 folks, 4 bikes (road, wheels on / MTB front off) and kit all inside the car! You do need some form of interior protection as the seats and carpets could get wrecked in no time.
It's not a bonnie bairn but it's certainly a versatile car.
The MK1 Golf and forthcoming Elise is for fun but as a 'bike car' the Multipla is very hard to beat! As a 'petrol head' it really is hard to accept that this is a great car but for what I need it for, it is!
Surely you can get you bike in the back of the Impreza - judging by your username we've the same bike, and mine I'll fit on the back seats of my 5 series with the front wheel off (and thats with a fixed seatpost in a 20" frame)?
Got a 51 plate passate estate here. I've done several trips of 3 people and 3 bikes and luggage (body armour, full face helmets too) across france for the alps. recently was a camping trip of 3 people/3 bikes again up to scotland etc, only the tent needed to go on the roof.
b r, yeah I've got an 18" ti456 (well at the moment it's a carbon456 as the ti is back with lynskey due to a cracked weld) and if I strip all the wheels and post out, it does go on the back seat, just!! Trouble is, it has a blue alcantara on the seats and door panels, and light grey plastics and headlining! The car was bought from a real enthusiast and is absolutely mint inside and out. Bike on back seat was fine on my old 200sx cos it was all black leather, but the few times I've put the bike in the imprezza, I've ended up damaging or staining something in there no matter how many blankets I use, and thats just in the dry. Reading back through the posts, I just wanted to add that I'm not just selling the scoob because of the bike fit problem, it's also because it's too nice to have sitting there doing nothing. I need something that can sit around doing nothing without it costing me a fortune, but also ready to easily throw a bike or 2 in.
How about a prodrive Subaru forester?
Fast and the bike goes straight in (wheels on).
this is an interesting thread - i'm also looking at a new car at the moment
currently i've got a 3 door focus which is pretty good for bikes, but not much good for liftsharing. also my mrs is a baker and at the weekend i help her with deliveries, so i need space for those big bread trays (and soon, my belly)
what i'm after is something that will fit 4 adults comfortably during the week, and at the weekend will be a workhorse for carrying mainly bikes and bread!
i don't really want something as big as an estate or 4x4 though so i was thinking of going down the people carrier route
i was very impressed with a C3 Picasso I got as a hire car last year (in terms of practicality). i spent more time playing with the car than looking at the pyrennees! should i go french?
i'm also considering the Skoda Roomster. it's a bit popemobile, but has some really good features and i think the interior is a bit more comfy than, say, a berlingo
can anyone recommend any MPV alternatives? or things to avoid?
(sorry for blatant thread hijack)
Berlingo