A quick guide to buy a car to transport bicycles
Some time ago I had to buy a car. Since I am a passionate biker one of the most important assets of the car was: being able to transport bikes (plural!). So I started this project. I’d like to share how I selected my car as I was also researching a lot for real life experiences of other bikers to make this task easier.
Stage 1: Defining the criteria
I was looking for a vehilce meeting the following criteria:
- Used vehicle, max 3 years old — I don’t want to burn 30% of the vehicles value directly then leaving the dealership AND I don’t want the car to break down often. Thus 3 years old seemed reasonable to me.
- Running on petrol — given the discussion in Germany on Diesel and traffic bans.
- Navigational system and hands free telephony
- Transport at least 2 bikes INSIDE — I love my bikes. Thus I do not want to put them on any bike carry outside. Neither on the roof top, nor on the tow-bar. First of all it is protected from rain and from theft. I am travelling alone at times thus I want to be able to leave the car with my bike without fearing that my bike is gone once I return. And I still wanted to be able to fit some luggage as well so the bikes should be transported standing. So I checked what amount of space my bike needed. Without front wheel it needs 142cm lenght (bar until end of rear wheel) and 73cm hight (end of rear wheel until saddle).
- Easy way to lay down the rear seats — I totally accept laying down the rear seat(s) in order to get my bike in. However it needs to be easy without tools.
- Max. Budget 10.000–14.000€
- No Go: cheap brands such as Dacia, Hyundai — this is perhaps not a reasonable criteria however I just don’t feel comfortable with these brands.
Stage 2: Doing the research
With these criteria at hand I started my research. Both on the web and at dealerships. Always with me a measuring tape. On the web I’d check the vehicle manuals. Most of the time they show the measurement of the vehicle. Thus I could decide quickly if the car would be able to take a bike inside. In the dealership I’d simply take measurement of the vehicle’s trunk. Moreover I checked how easy it is to lay down the rear seats. For sure price also did matter so that would narrow down the choice as well. I came up with the following list of vehicles:
- VW Touran
VW Touran is a great car. It is VW quality. It has a huge trunk. Rear seats can be laid down and take off altogether easily. Downside: it is quite expensive.
- Mazda 5
Nice car as well. Fits bikes easily. Downside: only little offer on the used car market.
- VW Caddy
A lot of room. Take off or lay down rear seats easily. However it offers little comfort in the given price range and feels a lot like a utility vehicle.
- Ford C-Max
I love the sliding doors. Easy rear seat handling. However quite pricy.
- Ford S-Max
Even more spacious as Ford C-Max, however even more expensive as well.
- Seat Altea XL
Huge enough to take my bikes. Rear seats can be adjusted easily. VW quality inside. However only little offer on the used car market.
- Scoda Roomster
Offers enough space at a reasonable price. Downside: only small engines available.
- VW Sharan / Seat Alhambra
Sliding doors and a real huge trunk. However really out of my set price range.
- VW Transporter
I don’t have to line out that this car definitely takes more than 2 bikes. It offers VW quality. However first of all it is a really huge car. You need to check if it still fits your garage. Plus it is really, really pricy.
Too small are (surprisingly):
- Scoda Yeti — it is simply to short to carry a bike straight
- Ford Tourneo Courier — too short too as it is based on Ford Fiesta
Dacia would offer some models with enough space. But I couldn’t overcome my resentiments against Dacia.
Stage 3: Choose and buy
Luckily I set the criteria in the first place since it really was not easy to opt for a car. In the end the available offers in combination with price and mileage have been the determining factor. At the time back then the offers of VW Touran have simply been to expensive. The ones of Mazda 5 to little. The ones of VW Caddy to utility car like. I removed Ford C-Max and S-Max from my list because I just don’t like their cockpit design. In the end I chose the Seat Altea (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SEAT_Altea). The deciding factor was the availablity of that one offer for a reasonable price and mileage.
Living with my Seat Altea
I am really satisfied with my choice. Loading and unloading bikes is quite quick and easy. It fits 4 bikes (2 MTB and 2 Roadbikes) + luggage + 2 people. Taking down the rear seats only takes a few seconds. It runs on petrol. 125PS is fast enough for the highways. It has never broken down so far. The only drawback (there are always drawbacks): it doesn’t look fancy or sportive. I like to call it my ugly duckling and I give it a huge amount of love not to feel ugly or fat. And it pays me back with taking me to all the nice bike places reliably.
