Often the rear seats fold down and forward, and you can put the bike in the car through the trunk. That's the best way to got in my opinion if you're only transporting 1 bike. Sometimes you need to take the front tire off and put it back on again.

There are also racks that attach to your car using straps like the saris bones:
https://www.amazon.com/Saris-Bones-B...dp/B00AW6XL8K/

But the most convenient racks (2nd to putting the bike into the car through the trunk) have you installing a hitch then putting the rack on the vehicle:
https://www.amazon.com/Swagman-Cross...dp/B0001VO1YY/

Sorry, I've never tried to haul a Honda Civic on a bike rack.

I've actually hauled a bike in a Civic trunk (and other compact cars like Sentras), and it's quite a headache to get one to fit, and you pretty much have to empty everything else out of it, first. It's definitely not necessarily "the best way to go".
And, you don't "sometimes" have to remove the front wheel, you absolutely have to remove it, every time, and sometimes even the seat post too. And even then it's difficult to finagle the bike around, and position the crank and pedals, so that the trunk will close, and you often risk banging up your shifters, as well.
I think the OP is on the right track looking for advice on a good rack.

Which is why I said "often" the seats fold down etc. That's how I carry my bike in my Prius. I do not leave stuff just sitting in my trunk (other than emergency backup stuff in the under-the-trunk compartment) so for me that's not an issue. Cars vary though in how easy it is to do this, some are great, others just seem to be a little to small everywhere and it's a pain. On some the back seats do not fold forward and the bike will not fit in the trunk.

It depends on the model of car you have. Even just among civics it then depends on the year, and sometimes the exact trim package you got as the cheaper packages sometimes doesn't have folding fordward seats.

If your car has a trunk and trunk passthrough that accomadates a bike well it's the way to go, in my opinion. But some cars definitely do not and other options are better.

You'll notice my post also includes specific rack suggestion in case the in the trunk option is not feasible for the OP.

It's a forum man, I can suggest the options available and what works for me, but I'm not going to put in the effort to ask for exact dimensions on their bike, trunk space, exact car model and trim level, a weekly spreadsheet of what they do and do not have sitting in their trunk, etc.

When I was looking to buy a car and thought I wanted one, I actually brought my bike with me to see if it would fit in the trunk/trunk passthrough because it was important to me. There were certainly a few cars it just wasn't going to fit into without disassembling half the bike though.

1upusa

No worries bro, as you said, it's a forum, so I was just adding my .02 cents, which just happened to counter yours . But the guy is asking about a bike rack for his car, and you were telling him the best way to go is to cram the bike into his tiny trunk, an option which has surely already occurred and been dismissed by him, hence his request for advice on a car rack !

I find that trailer hitch racks tend to be a lot less hassle if you don't mind getting one on your car.

I've got a semi-custom set up on the tow ring mounts on my FRS. Used a cheap rack I got off craigslist...I'm probably going to cut most of it apart and re-weld/drill so that the whole assembly comes apart quickly and can be hidden in the car itself. I'm not really worried about theft, I'm just more concerned about some jerk torquing the living crap out of the mounting point with the setup I have.

As others have said, going the trailer hitch mounted bike rack is the best. I've tried both, and while I was able to make a cheap-o removable rack work on the back of my neon, when I broke down and got a hitch and the cheapest Allen 2 bike carrier I wondered why I ever bothered with those annoying removable racks.

If nothing else, the piece of mind that there's a sturdy rack back there holding my overweight babies is SUBLIME!!!

Don't know how well the hitch mount would've worked on the neon though, it's pretty low to ground (like the civic) so maybe one of those trunk mount jobs is the best you can do... But if you CAN, go for the hitch mount, it's worth it!

Sure, I meant it's best option if the car had room for it...

But your assumption that the OP already tried it is amusing. It took my dad's girlfriend (I'm in my 30's btw) over a year to realize that she had a 3rd row seat that popped up in her SUV! You know, the one she bought, and drove every day. It was understandable as the 3rd row was folded flat into the floor but it was still pretty funny. I personally didn't realize there was a storage space under the rear trunk floor in my car for several years. Handy place to put emergency tools and car stuff like a portable air compressor or jump starter.

The rear seats don't fold forward in all cars, but a lot of people have cars where they do and don't even realize it. I've made assumptions about what people had tried in the past and turned out to be...rather incorrect...

At least with my Toyota Camry and Matrix, trailer hitches are not recommended by Toyota even to carry bikes. Honda may or may not be same, check your owners manual. Then of course you have to purchase the hitch assembly then the rack. With all that costs, you might as well purchase a roof rack with attachment for one bike. I bought used Thule roof racks off my local buy and sell (Kijiji in Canada). They were half the price of new and the only part that I had to buy new was the rubber feet for each specific car. The added bonus if you need to carry something larger on your roof, you at least have the rack rails to do this.

Inside. A road bike fits in my 2018 Impreza and also fit in my old 2011 Civic.

Saris is always a good option. Choose between over the trunk mount or a hitch mount.

Interesting point. I suppose it depends on how much you think you'll remember that you have a bike on top of your car. I've known more than one person - and they have better attention to detail and a better memory for not forgetting things than I do - forget they had bikes/kayaks on the roof rack and pull their car into their garage with their stuff still on the rack on top of their car. Bikes collided with the top of the garage. Didn't go well for the bikes or the rack.

If you are confident your brain will never make a mistake and forget it's there that's cool. I am not at all, my prius isn't rated to handle any hitch, but I still went with a hitch from uhaul and a hitch rack (for when I'm carrying more than 1 bike) because of that. It's worked well as well.

This is the correct answer. I've had a Saris Bones trunk rack for 10 years - it takes literally seconds to install or remove it. See them on CL for $50 fairly often.

How this thread got beyond more than 2 posts I have no idea.

I use a roof rack on my honda civic. It's a Thule rack and I use Yakima bike rack on it. Just don't drive into a garage with the bike on top.

I was using a trunk mounted Allen rack but it was starting to cause damage to my car. Had a hitch installed on my VW Beetle Convertible. The rack locks to the hitch and the bikes lock to the rack for decent security. And it takes me 5 minutes to load up 2 bikes and go. They don't move at all when driving.

They did ask me what I intended to tow behind my beetle before installing the hitch. I get a lot of smiles and waves as I ride by with the top down and bikes on the back. I guess people didn't know they could have a fun car and still carry their stuff.

​​​​​​Why don't they recommend it?

Because compact cars are made of unibody pressed sheetmetal and are not designed or engineered for it.

Got it, makes sense. I was curious, I drive a Honda Pilot and use a Honda rack that fits in the hitch. Sucker weighs a ton.

That's not say you can't buy aftermarket clamp on/bolt on receivers with markedly reduced capacity, but the car manufacturers won't willingly warrant the car, given their CYA legalese in the owners manual. Hard on their little transmissions to.

If I'm hauling them by car (mine=09 Corolla, wife's=05 Civic), and not in the back of my pickup, then it's a Saris Bones rack. They are very adjustable for fit--never had a problem with the Saris rack.

Ha ha... fair enough!

Thanks everyone for the responses, I have been hauling bikes with the seats down, but sadly I will now need my seats up... I am not going to have time install a car seat and booster every day I love my Civic but since it is just for me to commute to work in I can't justify a larger car/SUV in the future. I leave my seats down in my car. When I ride in the mornings, I don't have to drive far luckily to where I start my rides.

I flat towed my VW Beetle behind my 01 Civic with a automatic. My old problem was leaving enough room to apply the brakes.