Which Budget 'Utility' Car for bike racing/events and other outdoor adventures?

pblakeney

The obvious (to me) solution.
Bikes in the back. One sleeps across the front seats, one sleeps across rear seats.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/van-details/202201101184754?advertising-location=at_vans

First.Aspect

pblakeney said:

The obvious (to me) solution.
Bikes in the back. One sleeps across the front seats, one sleeps across rear seats.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/van-details/202201101184754?advertising-location=at_vans

You didn't get the part about not wanting a van?

daniel_b

First.Aspect said:

pblakeney said:

OP Issue 1 & 3 - sleeping in the vehicle with the bikes inside appears to have been forgotten.

OP must be a Dr Who fan. Only options are panel van, tent or a camper, none of which he wants.

In the Tourneo Connect there would be ample room for one person to sleep with a bike in there, and if it was two slimline road bikes top to tail, you'd at a push, be able to have two people (They would need to be very friendly) sleep in there as well, with the novelty of headroom to sit up even
You can also buy window blind things for privacy, to keep the light out if you are bothered.
Realistically with 2 bikes, you'd either need to sleep in a tent, or have the bikes in a tent - you can buy tailgate tents for extra space.

I'm considering some longer trips in mine, solo in the van with the bike, a stove, sleeping bag etc, to find some other interesting routes.

First.Aspect

Guess you could go with a 1950s Cadillac. Bench seats front and back for sleeping, and a trunk large enough to carry several corpses and a couple of spades.

dannbodge

Skoda Yeti?

pblakeney

First.Aspect said:

pblakeney said:

The obvious (to me) solution.
Bikes in the back. One sleeps across the front seats, one sleeps across rear seats.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/van-details/202201101184754?advertising-location=at_vans

You didn't get the part about not wanting a van?

Although it is included in the vans section I wouldn't call it a van.
It would be called a truck in the States. They are (were?) more commonly used as tax efficient company vehicles here. 😉

First.Aspect

pblakeney said:

First.Aspect said:

pblakeney said:

The obvious (to me) solution.
Bikes in the back. One sleeps across the front seats, one sleeps across rear seats.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/van-details/202201101184754?advertising-location=at_vans

You didn't get the part about not wanting a van?

Although it is included in the vans section I wouldn't call it a van.
It would be called a truck in the States. They are (were?) more commonly used as tax efficient company vehicles here. 😉

It looks better in black, with lights on the roof.

daniel_b

@voicycle my original thread from a few years back:

https://forum.bikeradar.com/discussion/13086642/does-anyone-use-a-decent-sized-van-in-place-of-a-car-bike-transport/p1

Not exactly your criteria, but might be some useful stuff in there.

MattFalle

pblakeney said:

OP Issue 1 & 3 - sleeping in the vehicle with the bikes inside appears to have been forgotten.

standard estate, unless you wind the fronts seat down they'll be no room, non?

pblakeney

MattFalle said:

pblakeney said:

OP Issue 1 & 3 - sleeping in the vehicle with the bikes inside appears to have been forgotten.

standard estate, unless you wind the fronts seat down they'll be no room, non?

Not enough space for 2 people sleeping comfortably and 2 bikes with the rear wheels on in my experience.

daniel_b

MattFalle said:

pblakeney said:

OP Issue 1 & 3 - sleeping in the vehicle with the bikes inside appears to have been forgotten.

standard estate, unless you wind the fronts seat down they'll be no room, non?

My Tourneo is about 2050mm (Front seats not pushed forward) load depth with the seats folded down, room enough to sleep in for most people.
Superb appears to be slightly more, and the Octavia I guess would be around the 1850/1950 mark.

pblakeney

My wife and I once slept in a Legacy estate with all the seats folded flat.
That worked. Wouldn't have done it with 2 bikes in there though.

DeVlaeminck

I mean it sounds like he needs a camper - but a decent camper is not budget - so really he just wants a car - surely taking a front wheel off is not an issue so it's any biggish car that doesn't cost too much.

The choice is so large I'd just go down to a car supermarket and look round - even if the budget doesn't stretch to newish it gives you an idea. If you want the bikes upright then a Doblo or similar do that with front wheel out .

MattFalle

pblakeney said:

My wife and I once slept in a Legacy estate with all the seats folded flat.
That worked. Wouldn't have done it with 2 bikes in there though.

sleeping with back seats down and fronts in normal driving positions has been done loads in the Ananananaconda

tbh, if you can't comfortably sleep in the back if an estate car with the back seats down then its a bitshit.

MattFalle

DeVlaeminck said:

I mean it sounds like he needs a camper - but a decent camper is not budget - so really he just wants a car - surely taking a front wheel off is not an issue so it's any biggish car that doesn't cost too much.

The choice is so large I'd just go down to a car supermarket and look round - even if the budget doesn't stretch to newish it gives you an idea. If you want the bikes upright then a Doblo or similar do that with front wheel out .

or an estate with a top box so he can have the bikes in there and sleep in the back.

pblakeney

MattFalle said:

pblakeney said:

My wife and I once slept in a Legacy estate with all the seats folded flat.
That worked. Wouldn't have done it with 2 bikes in there though.

sleeping with back seats down and fronts in normal driving positions has been done loads in the Ananananaconda

tbh, if you can't comfortably sleep in the back if an estate car with the back seats down then its a bitshit.

Are you wilfully ignoring the part about bikes being in the car at the same time?

MattFalle

Your post said that wouldn't have done it with two bikes in the back so nothing to miss.

tbh, take wheels off, thread the sideways across front seats may work but its all getting a faff now.

pblakeney

MattFalle said:

Your post said that wouldn't have done it with two bikes in the back so nothing to miss.

tbh, take wheels off, thread the sideways across front seats may work but its all getting a faff now.

I think that is why the OP raised the thread. 😉

voicycle

daniel_b said:

@voicycle - apologies, only just noticed you were sending me a message re the GTC, and I have just now sent you a long reply

No worries, thanks very much!

First.Aspect said:

OP must be a Dr Who fan. Only options are panel van, tent or a camper, none of which he wants.

First.Aspect said:

You didn't get the part about not wanting a van?

I actually DO want a van. I just can't really get one in budget right now, mainly due to the differences in financing options (no PCP on commercial vehicles and significant deposit required, which doesn't really suit a freelancer at tax time!) Dream purchase would be a camper van, but there was no part of me that ever thought I might be able to justify that cost.

In my initial naivety I thought I could pick up a secondhand workie-van with 60k on the clock for £7-8k but that is Very Much Not The Case.

I drove a Duster yesterday and really liked it. It's the clear winner in the short term in terms of both hassle and being pleasant to road trip in. Yes an Octavia is better VFM with about the same interior space, but actually it seems like they're so popular as secondhand cars that you've got to get in pretty much as soon as they're listed if you have any specific requirements (cruise control is a must for me and is absent on even a lot of hi-spec Skodas).

Also zeroed in on the one and only Grand Tourneo Connect that fits my budget. It's on one of those online-only dealers where you buy unseen and then once they deliver to your house you get 14 days to reject and send it back. It is about the closest thing I've found to my original spec and seems incredibly well suited to adventuring. As @daniel_b says, it makes a good bike transport and tent for one, or a pretty generous transport option for up to 3 cyclists if you don't need to sleep in it.

So I slept on it and realised it was head vs. heart: heart says Duster for simplicity of ownership, pleasantness whilst driving, and vanity(!) but head says GTC is pretty much everything I initially wanted.

Planning to get an insurance quote and then put in for the GTC later today.

Cheers all!

(I wrote this a couple hours ago and posted it, but then tried to edit and somehow deleted it instead - just in case you got something through in email notifications or whatever!)

First.Aspect

Camper van prices have gone stupid because of Covid. They'll normalise.

OP did you know you can get PCP deals on a wider range of vehicles via your bank? I can via Lloyds anyway. Obviously the residuals are lower for chitty chitty bang bang, so payments higher, but it is still worth a look. Interest rates tend not to be as high as from a dealership.

me-109

Used van prices are through the roof due to the increase in courier workforce.
I had OE cruise fitted to my Octy when I bought it. Main dealer screwed it up - it was supposed to be part of the deal - but a local specialist did the job right.
If you get to thinking a 61 plate 1.4 turbo petrol hatch is what you're looking for, shout up

voicycle

First.Aspect said:

Camper van prices have gone stupid because of Covid. They'll normalise.

Aye, but certainly not in time for any of this season's events. Can always make that leap in a few years' time and use the GTC as trade-in.

First.Aspect said:

OP did you know you can get PCP deals on a wider range of vehicles via your bank? I can via Lloyds anyway. Obviously the residuals are lower for chitty chitty bang bang, so payments higher, but it is still worth a look. Interest rates tend not to be as high as from a dealership.

I did not know this. Thanks. Have also been told it might be worthwhile just taking out a personal loan. I could even buy outright but would have to tap an account that's meant to be for emergencies rather than toys, so that seems irresponsible (and incredibly unpleasant to explain to my better half if it all goes south!)

Probably just as well I worked within the constraints I did as it means my overall spend likely stayed a bit more conservative. Now I've been approved for the dealer's PCP finance I've got the van held for up to 5 days before I have to sign the agreement, so I'll have a look around and do some number crunching to work out my most suitable/responsible option.

I'm in an odd situation with my freelance work as I can never really count on my next paycheck so I have to keep my payment commitments down as much as possible just in case I hit a dry spell. There's every chance that in 16 weeks time I can go pay down a significant chunk of the principal to save on interest, but I can never be sure until the jobs are all done and the invoices are all paid!

Will be sure to report back with any updates that might be relevant to future readers of this thread!