I need to hire a vehicle to transport me, my girlfriend and a bike to the Lake District. I’m torn between getting a van, an MPV or a larger estate car. I’m leaning towards a van as it would be easier to get the bike in, with the additional bonus that it wouldn’t be visible to passersby, but the MPV and car would be nicer to drive (presumably). Any thoughts or recommendations? Any hire companies to avoid? Cheers.

but the MPV and car would be nicer to drive (presumably)

not neccesarily – depends on what you like but most vans are very comfortable these days.

The two big differences will be…

Hire vans are usually cheaper like for like / size for size and the main reason for that is an element of the cost is insurance and a factor in  the insurance is the number of passengers you can potentially harm/kill so with a car or MPV you’re paying to insure empty seats if you’ve only got one passenger

A hire van will look like you hired it – it’ll be liveried with the company’s details.

Theres also to less to worry about keeping clean with a bike in a hire van – hire co’s can be a bit fussy about clean interiors in return where as so long as you’ve not left rubbish in their they’re less bothered about the back of a van

Get a van.

Less likely to loose your deposit and probably better specd than a povo kid Carter

Thanks very much. Van it is!

Seems a bit of overkill. Most small hatchbacks will happily take a bike, go medium size if you have a lot luggage. No need for a van or MPV/large estate. If you do go for a van anyway then be aware of the different speed limits.

A Berlingo sized van will work fine, not be overkill in any sense, cost the same or less than a hatchback and is subject to the same speed limits as cars

A Berlingo sized van … is subject to the same speed limits as cars

Not necessarily. Some are, some aren’t. Law is a bit unclear so I wouldn’t just assume it is and speed away. If it says CDV on the log book then it should be but who checks that when hiring?

You would like to think they would tell you the speed limits when you hire it, but then again they would miss out on their “admin fee” when your speeding ticket comes through 😜