What car would your bike live in?

[SlowButSteady]

Honda Ridgeline truck. Fits in the back seat without taking the front wheel off.

Before that I had a Honda Element. Fit in the back without taking the front wheel off!

[Skierchickie]

VW Jetta TDI wagon. Mid-40s (but diesel fuel is more expensive now), but great mileage anyhow, & lots of room. I can fit each (but only one at a time) of my 3 bikes in with both wheels on.

[Beane]

VW Jetta TDI wagon. Mid-40s (but diesel fuel is more expensive now), but great mileage anyhow, & lots of room. I can fit each (but only one at a time) of my 3 bikes in with both wheels on.

+1 best. car. ever. I don't put bikes on the inside, but we did fit 4 bikes and a thule box on the roof with nice wide load bars. But most importantly, my car hasn't depreciated in the 4 years I've owned it-- no joke!

[Blueberry]

Love my Element for bike storage - not great on mileage - but, I'm riding more and driving less. Also have a VW Golf. With the seats down, my road bike will fit (with the wheel off). It's a squeeze. Don't think my touring bike would fit.

CA

[Tuckervill]

All three of my bikes love the Element. They beg to go on long trips to ride in new places, so I had to take the back seat out to make room for them all the time.

Fun,
Karen

[FlyingScot]

Forester! Forester! Forester!

[NbyNW]

Since my Dahon folds up, it will fit in pretty much any car.

[bmccasland]

My bike lives in a PT Cruiser with the back seat down. Shoes, helmet, gloves live under the shelf in the "trunk" space. Although I admit if I know I'm not riding the next day, the bike comes out and gets parked in the garage.

And I really like my PT Cruiser!

[KSH]

My bike lives in a PT Cruiser with the back seat down. Shoes, helmet, gloves live under the shelf in the "trunk" space. Although I admit if I know I'm not riding the next day, the bike comes out and gets parked in the garage.

And I really like my PT Cruiser!

I drove a PT Cruiser for 2 months while my car was in the shop (someone hit me to the tune of $7,000 worth of damage).

I have to say, I didn't really like that car. It had no get-up-and-go, compared to the Mazda. And the gas mileage was aweful. I did a road trip in it, and it got MAYBE 25 mph. For as slow as it was, I really expected better gas mileage.

Now, I know, to each their own...and obviously that car works great for you. Hey, my bike fit in it great! But the performance was pretty dismal overall.

Yep, love my Mazda.

[bmccasland]

I drove a PT Cruiser for 2 months while my car was in the shop (someone hit me to the tune of $7,000 worth of damage).

I have to say, I didn't really like that car. It had no get-up-and-go, compared to the Mazda. And the gas mileage was aweful. I did a road trip in it, and it got MAYBE 25 mph. For as slow as it was, I really expected better gas mileage.

I traded a Dodge 4x4 PU for the Cruiser, 6 years ago. I did not test drive a variety of cars prior to picking out the Cruiser, as I had decided I that was the car for me. As for handling, my comparison was to a truck. I constantly have to remind myself that I'm not driving a 4x4 (especially on ground clearance issues). Still driving my 2002 Cruiser, she's been a good car, and I haven't left the oil pan behind yet!

[tulip]

Amy, you might want to look at the Nissan Versa, Honda Fit, and Toyota Yaris. I understand that the Yaris now comes in a 4-door hatchback in the US (it was available in Canada but not the US). All get very good mileage, are hatchbacks, and are reliable. The Honda Fit has the most cargo space of the three.

[aly]

I just came across this post, I don't know how I missed it earlier. You're my favorite riding partner, too! 45 minutes sucks, but we can do it.

I actually posted recently for car suggestions as well. Maybe we should go out and do some testing together. I've been leaning towards a CRV, but the vibe or Matrix may be an option as well. Problem is that I'm trying to keep it really cheap. Shoot, I can't believe we're both considering moving on from the pickups. I feel like I'm cheating even looking at other cars, but it makes sense right now. I'm so far in the hole now that I bought the house, why not add a car, too!!

[Irulan]

I just came across this post, I don't know how I missed it earlier. You're my favorite riding partner, too! 45 minutes sucks, but we can do it.

I actually posted recently for car suggestions as well. Maybe we should go out and do some testing together. I've been leaning towards a CRV, but the vibe or Matrix may be an option as well. Problem is that I'm trying to keep it really cheap. Shoot, I can't believe we're both considering moving on from the pickups. I feel like I'm cheating even looking at other cars, but it makes sense right now. I'm so far in the hole now that I bought the house, why not add a car, too!!

unless you can find used, be prepared to pay top dollar for Matrix or Honda right now. My friend just priced a FIT, $3K over invoice with no budging. When we were shopping, Toyota was unwilling to negotiate and that was months ago.

[amy]

I just came across this post, I don't know how I missed it earlier. You're my favorite riding partner, too! 45 minutes sucks, but we can do it.

I actually posted recently for car suggestions as well. Maybe we should go out and do some testing together. I've been leaning towards a CRV, but the vibe or Matrix may be an option as well. Problem is that I'm trying to keep it really cheap. Shoot, I can't believe we're both considering moving on from the pickups. I feel like I'm cheating even looking at other cars, but it makes sense right now. I'm so far in the hole now that I bought the house, why not add a car, too!!

Haha... yeah, we both buy houses at LA prices and then decide to buy cars... but I can one up you... as Josh got laid off and your man is still working. Thankfully, I can still laugh at that, but I will probably wait to actually buy until he has regular work. But I think that will happen very soon, so I can test drive. I'm bringing my bike so I can stick it in all the cars!

[mayanorange]

Yay, the gen vibe forum is back up! Here's the post about fork mounting bikes in the Vibe:
http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=28162

And one of his pics:

Looks like he has a rubber mat down over the plastic.

PS- you want an 08 or earlier. 09 gets worse gas mileage (tho is more fun to drive), is smaller (less head room for my 2 Bernese) and the rear glass won't open (how am I supposed to get a 2x4 in there then??). Oh, and my mileage quotes are for the base manual (cause manual rocks!)