ponzini

We have been looking at all the minivans. Our bikes fit in the back without removing wheels, have room for luggage and gear and get pretty good mileage. And the bikes are out of sight when we can't see the van.

Rowan

Machka and I did a 2000km road trip through the Canadian mountains from Vancouver to Red Deer and back in her father's Caravan. I loved it.

My father-in-law can be quite the goer and gives the Caravan a workout from time to time, and he has been very happy with how it goes and its maintenance. Open highway cruising was excellent, fuel economy great, round-city tractability very good, and it was a quiet car.

I really liked being able to remove all the rear seats, then put one, or two, or all three back in as needed. And I am way, way past caring what my car looks like -- I just want to know it will do the things I want. And the Caravan fits that bill perfectly.

If we moved to Canada, it would be on our shopping list, for sure. We'd probably opt for the Grand Caravan for the longer wheelbase to carry the tandem, rather than the standard one Machka's father has. I never thought I would praise a Chrysler product, but there you go.

At home, we have a Mitsubishi Delica 4WD (I won't go into the reasons we bought it). The bikes all fit OK along with a huge swag of gear. But it is very heavy on fuel, and while it is a capable off-roader, we don't bushbash very often now. So we are considering sellling it to get something smaller and more economical.

Rowan

Or just hook it on the back like all those cars being towed around by monster RVs across North America.

DnvrFox

Get the "Stow and Go" option on the Chrysler T&C and you never have to remove the seats. They fold into the floor. Both the 2nd and 3rd rows.

I have the 3rd seats permanently folded down, which leaves me plenty of room for the bikes upright, front wheels on. The 2nd row of seats are up, so I can carry 4 people (bucket seats) easily. Since there are only two of us, we only use the 2nd seats if we have guests.

volosong

My lady puts her bike inside her Prius. Think she has to remove the front tire, but I'm not sure. I use a Lexus hybrid SUV myself. Two bikes will fit inside, but I normally use a hitch rack. One of those Yakima racks that swings away so you can open the rear hatch. It will even swing with bikes attached. My other car is an old Mercedes diesel with a ball hitch rack. It works ... but not as elegant as the Yakima rack on the Lexus.

fietsbob

How about a Skoda, Buy an Ex TdF team support car?

get then to leave the Custom Made bike and spare wheel racks on the top


Or a Mercedes - Grumman delivery Van that you can stand up in
and Build the interior like the Team's mechanical support trucks for the Pro Race circuits.

marmot

A nice feature of the Grand Caravan and T&C is that there's a huge, deep cargo bay at the back when the the third row of seats is in use. We took a full load of visitors out to the cottage last month, and there was plenty of room for their luggage, groceries, coolers, water toys etc. It reminds me of my pontoon boat: not very flashy, but amazingly roomy, comfortable and versatile.

JimF22003

I have a 2003 Honda Element that is still going strong. I've removed the rear seat, so I have a huge flat storage area in the back. Bike goes in and out in 2 seconds. I've even "camped" overnight a couple of times in the back of the thing, with me in a sleeping bag and the bike right beside me keeping me warm

Too bad they've discontinued the model. I hope mine lasts another 10 years.

Nightshade

You can't use what you don't have so look ahead a few years to see that the space offered in a mini-van will always beat the space offered in any smaller car anytime.

dahut

I always liked the Element. If I could find a nice one, Id buy it.

northernlights

the Honda Fit has the most unique cargo design I have seen, and seems to be ideal for carrying your bike inside. the rear seats fold up so you can put the bike upright inside the passenger compartment. honda calls it the 'magic seat.' I wonder why someone didn't think of it sooner. its a brilliant idea.

this is really convenient for me because I can simply roll my bike into the car without removing the wheel or having to flip it sideways to store in the back which is rather awkward and time consuming especially when you're trying to take it out. which can be somewhat of a struggle and pain to do. but with the Honda Fit you can simply roll your bike in and out on its wheels, quick and easy. which is the most natural way to do it. I use bungee cord to secure the bike to the rear door handles so it doesn't get tossed around while driving and braking. the car gets great gas mileage too at 30 to 40 mpg.

Bikey Mikey

The car is wide enough to just roll it in without removing a wheel?!?

bruce19

I use an Audi A4 Avant that takes two road bikes without taking wheels off but if I was looking for better gas mileage I'd give serious consideration to a Jetta TDI Sportwagon.

John_V 

What the heck, I might as well get into this one as well. 2012 Ford Transit Connect. Plenty of room and the gas mileage is much better than we expected. It was purchased specifically for hauling our bikes and trikes when touring the state and the country. We still have some work to do on the inside so that we can put all our gear in the van and not have to carry it in our gear bags.



From the side, with the small rear seat folded up and the larger seat with the back folded down. I had to build a rack to put the wife's trike wheels into so it doesn't shift around and also to keep the weight off the rear seat.

bruce19

No doubt an excellent choice for hauling.

Dudelsack 

You may have sealed the deal. My wife wants me to get one because it will have a more comfortable ride than my VW Passat. I think it's more car than I really need, but I can install a trailer mount and then a Hollywood-style rack and carry my recumbent without having to jack my shoulders and back. And the car gets 30+ MPG.

david58

The minivan is a great approach. The Chrysler has been the most innovative of the bunch over the years, and the stow and go seating is wonderful. I haven't had one yet, but did have a Vanagan and a Ford Aerostar. My inlaws have driven the Caravans since they came out in 88 or so.

I like to cycle, hunt, fish, shoot, and travel. The minivan does it all, except maybe for the hunting (actually, the vanagan was a super hunting rig, with great ground clearance and tons of room with the middle seat out).

Funny, now with the kids moved out, we look to buy a minivan after being without for about 4 years.

tcs

Yep, bike - without removing either wheel - in the car with the seats erected.



Note: While they look cute together, neither the car nor bike is serviceable right now. The Mini has a broken connecting rod (gotta love that BMW quality!) and BikeFriday tells me the steerer on the tikit can snap off without warning and kill me (gotta love BikeFriday's complete and utter lack of vibration and shock testing before foisting this dangerous design off on customers!)

rydabent

My new Chevy Equinox has a rear seat that slides 8" forward so there is a lot of room then the seat back is folded forward too. The base LS get really good mileage too, and doesnt cost an arm and a let. Another big plus is it is an American built vehicle.

Terex

I'm with Denver on a mini van. I know most people never want to see another mini van after they get their families raised, but they probably have the most practical utility of any vehicle. Tons of room, tons of options, can carry the whole family when needed, seat heights are mostly at the perfect height for older folks to get in and out (cars too low, trucks & SUV's too high). The only real draw back for the 50+ crowd is rear vision, but most come with back-up cameras now.

Although I use my Buick SUV's interior for hauling my bike most of the time, I have had problems with bent deraileur hangers occasionally. I think the safest, easiest bike transport is a hitch mounted tray rack like a Thule T-2.

Turbo231

Seems like a silly question...reversed, it would be "What bike would best fit in my car?" I mean, sure, folded ones will fit but if you are a hardcore biker, you get a bike made for your style of biking. Buy a car for what you need a car for...if it just hauling a bike, get a truck. Get a bike for what you do with your bike...and figure out a way to make them work together. Getting a car because its hauls a bike great kinda misses the point of having a car. If your needs for a car are that general, get a truck.

Terex

1984 - we had one of the very first ones. It was the short wheel base, gray, 4 cylinder, and manually operated rear side vent windows. People told me it looked like a "space ship" because it was so different. Then a Plymouth Voyager w/ a 6 cyl., finally a fully tricked out Caravan with a nice Yakima roof rack, box and hitch. The transmissions always went out at about 100K miles.

AzTallRider

Trucks get lousy mileage, and don't protect the bike.

northernlights

absolutely.

the way I do it is to roll the bike into car. and then remove the front wheel after it is in the car which allows you to roll it in and out. which makes more sense then taking the wheel off beforehand because if you do it that way of course you cant roll it.

its possible to get the bike in the car without removing the front wheel by tilting the wheel sideways. at least with my hybrid bike. I also ride a folding bike which is very easy to roll in and out of the honda fit, no wheel removal necessary. I prefer to roll it in the car unfolded because its much quicker than having to fold it and unfold it. I put on heavy duty seat covers on my seats so the bike doesn't potentially mess up the back of the front seats.

eja_ bottecchia

My entry for Best Car for Biking.

The "princess" rides shotgun with me.