What car do you have if you take the kitchen sink with you when camping?

[SpinMeRightRoundBabyRightRound]

We’re going to need a new car in the next year or so and we’ve been looking for one with enough space in the boot to try to avoid having to put on a roof box.

We’ve got a bell tent, awning, inflatable beds, sleeping bags, paddle boards and bikes. In our current car, fitting it all in is like Tetris even with the roof box. It wouldn’t be so bad if we didn’t move site when we’re away but we travel around a bit.

Do you have a car with loads of storage? Please tell me about it before I run mad and buy a lorry 😁

Ford galaxy - but we don’t take bikes or paddle boards.

Vw passat Estate with bike rack

Tiguan All Space. No paddle boards or bikes though.

Vacuum pack bags are good for reducing space, you just need an electric pump with a car adapter so you can shrink them down again when you leave. You can put your sleeping bags and clothes etc in them, basically anything soft.

I put all our kitchen stuff in a Really Useful plastic box and then use that as an extra surface, rather than taking a separate kitchen unit as well.

We have smax with roof box, and also take a second car.

I think we may have gone beyond kitchen sink 😅

Volvo v70 Estate but still have a roof box and a bike rack.

We've got a Citroen grand Picasso but packing is so stressful to make sure it all fits. We're looking at adding a roof box this year.

Our problem is that kids are getting bigger so take up more space. They need proper sims now rather than just a roll mat, sleeping bags are bigger, clothes more room - and of course I can't pack around them so much as their legs are much longer!

We take a trailer now. Previously a galaxy ford with extra seats removed was v useful.

One advantage of our Ford Galaxy was that we could picnic in the boot if it rained.

Skoda Octavia. The boot keeps going. Our tent is a ridiculous size but we manage to get it all in. No bikes or paddle boards though, my camping is much more sedentary!

Seat Alhambra/VW Sharan (same car). Absolutely massive boot if you only need 5 seats, and still the biggest boot around if you need 6/7 seats without going up to a van.

We have trailer tent, camper, call it what you will. The kitchen sink comes ready fitted.

An ordinary trailer would get rid of your space problems without too much of a compromise on the new car.

Brother camps. Their cars are usually big estates: Volvo V70 or V90, Skoda Superb, Mercedes E-Class, Audi A6.

Skoda Superb. It has a massive boot! We've had it 10 years never had any problems or reason to take it to the garage (apart from routine Mots etc).

Thanks for the replies, I’ll hold off on the lorry for the moment 😁

That issue with the kids growing is the one niggling me too FusionChefGeoff, we need to future proof since we’re hoping to hold onto the car for as long as possible.

We test drove the Dacia Jogger and it is simply enormous but I wasn’t 100% convinced on the actual driving of it and the time we’ll be driving it around home will dwarf the time spent away… Does ease of packing outweigh a nicer driving experience? 🤔

Citroen Berlingo - the huge boot is our camping saviour! We set the stove up in there and cook out of the back of the car, great for unexpected drizzle

Thing is you will still use the roof box when you get a bigger car. Camping is like keeping fish, it grows to the size of the tank. We kept getting a bigger car, adding a roof box somewhere along the line and just took more stuff, ended up with kitchen sink, wardrobe and wall to wall carpets!

I have a sneaky suspicion we did our driving tests right after they changed the rules about towing trailers so I’d have to check my licence to see what I can legally tow. It’s not something I’d thought about though so that’s useful, thanks!

@tupperwaretowers 😂

Skoda Superb. The boot is vast.

We have an XC90 with a tow bar.

Also....get a caravan!

They have since changed the rules again on towing trailers. In any case, as long as you stay below 750kg, you won’t have a problem.

That is a lot of sinks!

Before we had the kids we had a ford kuga and that had great boot space as the seats went flat. Now we have a Ford C-Max and we’ve just added a roof box. We take a lot of stuff with us but no bikes yet

We can easily fit our camping kit including bell tent in our 2019 RAV4. But that's without bikes and paddle boards and requires some thought when packing.

I think you'll still have to play Tetris with most cars. What car do you currently have?

When we were camping with 3 kids we had a Picasso Csomething - the big one but not the grand plus either/and a roof box/trailer. But no bikes or paddle boards.
Have you considered just hiring a van?

We did have a grand scenic. And a roof box. We now have a Mazda Biante. Haven't added the roof box yet. Have added a ddog to our camping extras though!