Okay, I have completed the first step. Last week I ordered a class III receiver hitch by Curt Manufacturing from a website called autoanything.com. It was at least 40% below retail and shipping was free; even though they sent it overnight! After receiving it I had my suspicions about why it might have been marked down so low; although the blemishes in the finish were barely noticeable. As long as it was structurally sound, a few minor scrapes and bruises were not going to bother me.

Although the instructions said the installation could be completed in 15 minutes by an expert, or 30 minutes by an amateur, it took me two hours - and I needed another set of hands! I used ramps to lift the rear end of the car and, after a couple of trips to Home Depot, I had all of the right tools. The real challenge came while trying to move the exhaust out of the way to gain access to one of the mounting bolts. I suspect those of you more mechanically inclined will fare better.

My Quik-Rack by 1Up USA should arrive shortly. I selected their product because I was looking for a single-bike solution in a platform style. Due to its modular design, I can add bikes incrementally; up to a total of three.

On a side note, anyone needing to carry multiple bikes on a regular basis might want to consider the Wizard Kinetic. I found it on YouTube while researching bicycle racks.