Which "car" do I get??!! You guys have all the answers!

[TNT]

I am in the process of determining what new car I may get, with the main purpose of "hauling my gear". And, here is what I am concerned with, or would like to have:

Just big enough to hold my gear, which is normally a 2X12 cab and/or (4X12 on occasion), (2)100w heads, (2) guitars, pedalboard, and gear bag; (oh, and a comfy seat for my wife). I have been using an suv over the years, but I would like to trim down if I can.


I would like great gas mileage, decent pickup, as small as can be though, dependable etc.... here are the cars I have in mind so far that may fit the bill:

Kia Soul & Rio, Honda Fit, Scion IQ & XD, Chevy Spark, Ford Focus, Mercedes SL600.

So, any great cars out there that fit the bill?? Tell me a little about "your" gear hauling car. In passing, the 4X12 cab may pose the difficulty here and possibly change everything??

Thanks for any input.

 

[SBMM]

Mercedes SL600??? Really? Only if you have a roadie that's gonna drag your gear around!

 

[JayDawg]

Out of those choices, I would go with the Ford Focus. My wife hit a deer last year doing a little more than 16k in damages to our car. The insurance was going to total it at first so we went and looked at new cars. We test drove a Ford Focus and had a deal in place for it but then our insurance agreed to pay for our Toyota Corolla to get fixed instead. For the day or two that we had the Focus, I ended up really liking that car and walked away very impressed with the car.

 

[TNT]

Actually the Mercedes "does" fit all my gear. Not great gas mileage though. It's the 4x12 that can make or break a car.

 

[DrKev]

Get rid of the 4x12?

 

[SBMM]

Get rid of the 4x12?

Absolutely!

My CLK convertible has just enough room for my guitar and JCM900 1 x 12 combo, but an SL would be quite a tight fit!

My bass player has a new Porsche Carrera, and it is kind of scary. He has an SWR Baby Blue, and it fits perfectly in the small luggage space up front! That, is the ultimate gig car!

 

[TNT]

It's kind of funny but, everyone has their own way of "packing" it all in a variety of cars out there.

Check this out. I love the Toyota IQ, however I can't fit my "guitar" in it!!!! lol,lol,lol,lol I'm going to look at the Focus next, then the Honda Fit, then the Hummer.

 

[TNT]

Oh, and I gotta have the 4x12 - what am I going to stand on when I play Eruption??!!

 

[RobW]

Chevy HHR - great gas mileage, drives great, good prices, not too big, back seats fold down for tons of storage space

 

[Jimmyb]

Lotus Elise and an Axe FX!!

 

[mtrejo]

Lotus Elise and an Axe FX!!

Ha. I'm with ya Jimmy

 

[beej]

Personally, I'd look at a Subaru. (We've got a Forester turbo as a second car and it's a blast, with our without a 4x12 in the back.)

 

[TNT]

thanks everyone for all the input, (and the output!! lol,lol,lol) I know you all have it pretty much "down" when you pack your own gear into your car.

But, over the years I have been amazed out how much gear some of these guys have packed into tiny cars!!!

I'm going to look at the Subaru and the HHR too. Believe it or not the Kia Soul (for it's price and size) is "awesome" - it has tons of room (like it was made for a musician!!) Plus I can still drag the 4x12 with me (to stand on.)

The quest continues.

 

[alf cockle]

The HHR is pretty decent.

 

[JDguitar]

My wife was test driving a Kia Sportage last year and just for fun we test drove a Soul. I thought it was a horrible ride. Some people obviously like them because you see them on the road, but I would definitely look at the others on your list because they couldn't have a worse ride. lol
How about a Mazda 3 hatchback?
...or get a use Flex and you'll have lots of room for your gear and feel like you're arriving to the gig in a limo!

 

[TNT]

I don't know, I just kept going back to the Mercedes S600.

I mean, it didn't have the best cargo room, and the gas mileage wasn't quite as good as most of the others, but it just seemed to fit all my gear pretty well. My wife (bass player) realy liked the little visor light and the door cubby for putting her cables and stuff in.

We'll see in the long run how it works out. Thanks for all the tips.

 

[Jack FFR1846]

I am going to suggest both a solution and then another solution.

For the gear, buy a nice small enclosed box trailer. Something with aluminum frame construction and plywood floor will do the job and not be overly expensive. The nice thing is that it allows you to buy whatever you want for a car. Heck....someone suggested a Lotus Elise. I have one......BOE makes a tow hitch for it for those guys who go to the track to put race tires in.

If for some reason, you don't want to do a trailer, look at a Subaru Crosstrek or even an Impreza. I just traded our outback for a Crosstrek and I really like it. I'm getting mid 30's for mileage, which is 10mpg more than the outback got. They really built it well and the option packages worked for me. I bought a limited which has heated leather seats, backup camera and all the electronic stuff for phone hookup. It does not have nav, a sunroof or power seats. These are 3 things that I never would pay for if given the choice, so the price was low and I only got what I wanted. With the rear seats folded forward, there's plenty of room for gear.

 

[Jamie M]

Well don't get a BMW 1 series, great cars but you cant fit sh*t in them!

 

[uOpt]

So was that a S600 or SL600. Big difference in fitting gear.

 

[kbaim]

Might want to consider a jetta sportwagen, golf tdi, acura tsx sportwagon (got one last year), mazda cx-5, or mazda 3 hatch