Shinjukan

...Mazda2 or the Nissan Versa? I personally prefer the Mazda2--my bike can fit in, very cheap maintenance, tossable in corners, and has manual transmission. Imagine, I shift for myself whether I'm in my car or on my bike.

saratoga

A JSW TDi is well under 30k OTD and comes with all maintenance picked up by VW for 3/36 (gets serviced every 10k).

Be warned, dealers are insanely expensive for maintenance once you have to pay for it if you don't do it yourself. Oil changes every 10k, fuel and cabin filters every 20k. Brake fluid every 30k. DSG transmission every 40k. Timing belt and water pump at 120k.

Oil changes are $80-100 at the dealer, about $50 if you DIY.
Fuel filter changes are also $80-100 at the dealer, about $15 if you DIY and have a VAG-COM tool to prime the filter.
The DSG transmission service is $4-500 at the dealer, about $100 DIY.

RT

My Chevy is less for oil at the dealer than if I DIY. All services mentioned (not picking on you, saratoga) are much less expensive. This leaves more money for bike stuff

Gluteus

My thoughts exactly.

dalava

After bunch of test drives,pulled the trigger on the Acura TSX Sport Wagon. So far so good, but haven't gotten a chance to use it for a bike trip yet. It's great to see over 33 MPG on the highway.

Banded Krait

I plan on looking at the 2013 Ford C-Max when it is released this fall:

https://www.ford.com/cars/cmax/2013/?...3794|116460358

Hapsmo911

If your not in a hurry to get anywhere theres the Ford Transit. Its no uglier then the Element! and it's cheap!

Dainbramage

Saw a post on the Honda Fit earlier. My wife drives the Fit and we've had nothing but good experiences with the car. 30+ mpg, easy to drive and park, fairly comfy, cheap, and I've managed to fit 3 56cm road bikes in the car with the rear seats folded down. When I raced cars I was able to fit 12 15" wheels and tires in the back of the car. Love the car. Only complaint is that it has no power. Throw a Rotrex supercharger on there and it would take care of that issue.

nsimpson

I have a 2008 VW R32 (same platform as a 2 door GTI/Golf). Just wondering if a bike will fit in the back with the seats folded down?

runningDoc

https://oceanaircycles.com/2010/12/12...ica-dirt-ride/

Carbon Unit

I am with you on this 100%. I am going to suck as much life as possible out of my BMW Wagon but nothing last forever. I will probably replace my wagon with either a Prius or a VW TDI wagon. I think the Prius will cost me less over the life of the vehicle. My only concern with the Prius is its lack of torque. If I decide to drive to Las Vegas from Southern California I need to climb Cajon pass. The TDI would have no problem with the climb but I am not sure how well the Prius would handle it.

rperks

Just for the record, the rear driver's side seat is completely removed to squeeze my 63cm bike in there like that. It works well for me and the bike, not with the wife and baby though.

fstshrk

You can get a GTI for about 23K. Still gets 25-30 mpg (at least mine does) and is a lot of fun to drive. Easily swallows two road bikes inside and probably 3 more on the roof.

jimmyw

Yeah, generally speaking, your not going to be able to find a high mpg car that you can fit a bike into without a crazy amount of disassembling or prep with taking seats out and trying to position it in that specific way that you can shut the door with. I like using a pickup truck to transport my bikes since zero disassembling is required but the mpg does suck. As far as 20 mpg goes, I think the nissan xterra just hits that mark (at least highway) and it has some of the most design considerations for active people of any vehicle I know.

andyman1970

It can actually swallow two without much effort. One easily by merely raising up one of the rear seats.

Nick Bain

rwd 27 hwy 20 city 30 all highway going 75.

Carbon Unit

Very similar to mine. Mine is a few years older. Great car, I have 255,000 miles on mine and it runs great. I don't think I will be replacing it until I hit 400,000.

Cleave

We have had every model of Prius since it's introduction in 2001. We currently have two Prii, a 2006 and a 2010. Very easy to fit a bike in the back with the seats folded down. There are also a number of aftermarket trailer hitches that allow you to use trailer hitch bike racks. My experience with roof racks on our Gen I Prius demonstrated how important aerodynamics are to the Prius' gas mileage. Last summer we drove from SoCal to Bend, Oregon for Masters Road Nationals with two bikes on the rack, three people, and a load of stuff on a 10 day trip. It is amazing how much stuff you can put in the car and we averaged over 46 MPG for the entire trip -- about 2K miles. That included freeway speeds of 70-75 MPH. If I went slower we'd probably have averaged closer to 50 MPG.

It amuses me how much misinformation is floating around regarding the Prius. The Gen III Prius has two main modes: economy and power. I generally drive in economy mode as it works fine for most situations. For long hills when the car is loaded down (like the trip mentioned above), I hit the power button and I can easily keep up with or pass most traffic (at the expense of some MPG, but not a lot).

I am a big time and long time car nut. In the 1980s to 1990s, I owned a string of sports cars and turbo sports sedans. If you want to "hot rod" around in a Prius, then yes, it's not a lot of fun. However, in my old age, I have a lot of fun modifying my driving technique to maximize gas mileage. It's safer fun too. Also, the Prius is not a total slug. Right off the line it's surprisingly good (at the expense of gas mileage) because the electric motors have constant, max torque throughout the rpm range.

The car handles predictably but you're not going to win any autocross events with it.

With both rear seats down you can fit most normal-sized bikes in the back with both wheels on the bike. With one rear seat folded down, you need to take off the front wheel (unless I'm missing something).

The interesting thing I've noticed about Prius sales and prices is that when the price of gas goes up dealers can sell Prii for more than sticker in SoCal. When gas is cheap you can get them for just above invoice. I know this because I've done both. I paid more for our 2006 Prius than I did for our 2010 Prius.

If the base model suits your needs, you should be able to get it for less than $30K out the door. BTW, I see more and more Prii at bike races these days. If anyone transports bikes a lot, it's racers.

Nick Bain

Looks like I took your advice!

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...e-in?highlight

krusty

Pretty much any car that has rear seats that fold flat can handle a bike. I just ordered a new Mercedes C class coupe, and it has no issues taking a bike. That being said, unless I am on my way to the track in the dead of winter, I much prefer a roof rack that holds the bike by its fork.

Metaluna

I guess in general it comes down to the percentage of time spent transporting the bike vs. time spent doing other things. A perfect bike-friendly vehicle would be something like a full-sized minivan, where you just toss the whole bike in the back, maybe with some padding over it for protection, or a few simple tie-downs, and go. As a bonus the bike is protected from the elements and theft. From there you work you way down to various levels of disassembly of the bike, and reconfiguration of the vehicle (folding or removing seats, moving cargo around, etc.). And finally you get to external racks which work with just about anything on 4 wheels. So you have to balance convenience vs. what you're sacrificing for all the rest of the time that you're not carrying a bike.


So, if you're only transporting the bike once or twice a week, all the rest of the time you're still paying the "bike tax" in MPG and other factors, which is kind of ironic if you think about it. I took the Thule roof rack off my Camry because it was noisy and noticeably reduced my fuel mileage. It was convenient for the one time a week or so that I used it, but the other 6 days, including my LONG work commute, it was a burden. Plus if you thought a Camry couldn't get any uglier, you haven't seen one with a Thule rack . I now mostly just use a trunk rack, though it blocks my access to the trunk and has some problems rubbing on the seat tube. I'll probably try a hitch rack at some point, though it will have to be on my next car as the Camry is about ready for the junkyard and any new small car will probably have warranty issues with installing a trailer hitch.

dalava

So I pulled the trigger on an used Acura TSX Sport Wagon and had it for a few weeks now.

Pro: good driving dynamics, descent power for a 4-banger, good MPG (27 mixed, and over 35 on freeway), easy access to trunk space, fairly intuitive navigation system, good sound, bike fits in the trunk without having to take wheels off
Con: auto transmission a bit hesitant, trunk space not as big as it could be (the rear wheel wells made the space narrower), a bit noisy, back seats space is tight

All in all, I am pretty happy and could recommend this to any cyclists. BTW, I see BMC uses it as the team car during AToC.

Menel

Acura RSX/Integra.

Rear seats fold flat under hatch, pedal goes in groove between seat and hatch bed. Lays flat, peice of styrofoam on top for front wheel or second bike.

MPG+
Honda Reliable+

EDIT: didn't realize you necro'd with your pick. Sounds good

merlinextraligh

new (991) Porsche 911S

Not in the car, but can easily carry multiple bikes with the factory rack.



Within measuring error: 28 mpg Highway, 23 combined. With automatic on/off, sail mode, regenerative braking, and electrical (not belt) accessories such as power steering it gets amazing gas mileage for a car that goes Zero to 60 in 3.6 seconds.

see pic above.


Ranked highly in initial quality, and reliability.
https://www.edmunds.com/porsche/911/2...liability.html


Good handling: 1.04 g on the skid pad, 71 mph through the slalom, 148 feet 70 mph to zero.

Ok, not a wagon, but it does have a back seat.

I think it meets almost all your listed criteria.

GlennR

If I fold the back seat down and remove the front bike wheel, it fits easily in my 2001 Civic. Car gets 41mpg, costs almost nothing to drive and you can get one for the price of a low end carbon bike.