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coachg



Joined: 10 Sep 2000
Posts: 3546

PostPosted: Thu May 23, 2013 10:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Most small station wagons will work. I have a minivan but needed a small car that would also carry windsurf equipment. I took my boards with me when car shopping to make sure they would fit inside. I looked at the Matrix but opted for a Prius. I can put two boards up to 142 liter 85 cm wide and 4 sails up to 7.3 easily in the Prius. All the seats fold down easily and there are two recessed anchors and a set of tie downs that come with the vehicle to synch down everything. I can toss my bike in the back without taking it apart. And gas mileage is pretty good as well. The Prius is almost a mini-minivan.

coachg
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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Fri May 24, 2013 8:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

mrchocky wrote:
The Outback is a good choice too, but it's not clear to me that it offers anything over the Volvo.

Reliability, by a HUGE margin.

Resale market and value, probably by another huge margin.

Better traction in heavy winter snow or summer sand.

Probably handling, especially once you put a beefier WRX sway bar in it.

Maybe power, if you opt for the 6-cyl engine w/5-speed tranny (which sets back fuel mileage by only 1 mpg.)

Service costs, with a good dealer. The cheapest place for an oil change is my Subaru dealership, @ $20 labor vs $50 at my Ford dealer.

But less space than a wagon. I can get only three boards, 5 complete rigs, all my accessories, a cooler, and one comfortable passenger inside my Outback.
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mrchocky



Joined: 14 Jul 2012
Posts: 61

PostPosted: Tue May 28, 2013 10:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

isobars wrote:
mrchocky wrote:
The Outback is a good choice too, but it's not clear to me that it offers anything over the Volvo.

Reliability, by a HUGE margin.


Completely understood. I'm still sold on the V70 for reasons I can't quite explain. I came to the realisation that I don't have to buy something that's 100% sensible. (isn't it great being grown up?).

However, and this might be a fantasy, but is there a hard-top convertible where it's possible to fit a board inside (and the roof up), and passenger side seats folded down. I see some people fitting a 6ft surfboard in a Mustang like this (a completely unappealing car to me), but perhaps there's something else?
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bad_dolphin



Joined: 26 Feb 1995
Posts: 77

PostPosted: Tue May 28, 2013 10:39 am    Post subject: Dodge Caravan way to go Reply with quote

The Dodge Caravan is a great recommendation. We had the Chrysler version of this for 10 years. After a family car as he grew up, my son drove it through high school and college and loved it for it's reasonable mileage, ability to carry tons of passengers, or a couple of passengers and all his windsurf gear. Drives like a car with all the luxury and reasonable handling of a mid size sedan, but holds a ton of windsurfing gear with a quick conversion. Depending upon your family requirements, you can set it up with a rack on one side and a third seat that goes up in passenger mode and down in gear mode, leaving your boards permanently on the rack behind the driver seat. Great combo vehicle, and also has roof racks for even more flexibility. Decent gas mileage, too. We only didn't buy a new one because it won't tow our 7000 lb airstream over the Sierras!
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whitevan01



Joined: 29 Jun 2007
Posts: 607

PostPosted: Tue May 28, 2013 11:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

mrchocky,
I think you might have a fantasy going there for the hardtop convertible that would fit a board or two inside. maybe not.

I have had a similar fantasy for a 2- seat -convertible- sportscar -station -wagon- van !!! Smile

(hyphens added to emphasize that this would be all in one vehicle)
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mrchocky



Joined: 14 Jul 2012
Posts: 61

PostPosted: Tue May 28, 2013 11:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dennis0778 wrote:
mrchocky,
I think you might have a fantasy going there for the hardtop convertible that would fit a board or two inside. maybe not.

I have had a similar fantasy for a 2- seat -convertible- sportscar -station -wagon- van !!! Smile

(hyphens added to emphasize that this would be all in one vehicle)


Flippancy aside, and in reply to the previous poster too, I don't want/need a minivan, I don't need to hold "a ton of gear". One board and 2 sails is perfectly fine.

The fantasy part about the convertible is a serious question; since it could clearly exist - the question is if automakers would bother.

I see there are roof rack options for some hard tops too, but their practicality is in question, and I could forgo that.
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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Tue May 28, 2013 11:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

mrchocky wrote:
isobars wrote:
Reliability, by a HUGE margin.


Completely understood. I'm still sold on the V70 for reasons I can't quite explain. I came to the realisation that I don't have to buy something that's 100% sensible. (isn't it great being grown up?).

However, and this might be a fantasy, but is there a hard-top convertible where it's possible to fit a board inside (and the roof up), and passenger side seats folded down. I see some people fitting a 6ft surfboard in a Mustang like this (a completely unappealing car to me), but perhaps there's something else?

WHOA! My '88 Mustang held a couple of boards and rigs inside and would still beat out every contender in Road & Track's "Fastest Off-The-Shelf U.S. Car" shootoff." Cheap thrills, if ya overlook its kiddy car looks and run-of-the-mill musclecar handling. At least it had brakes, unlike my '65 GTO, and both of them had the phone ringing off the hook when I sold them 15 and 10 years later, respectively.

"Cerealously", though, wouldn't most hardtop (or ragtop) convertibles preclude putting a WS board inside simply because the top storage compartment usually guillotines the car just behind the rear seat?

My reliability concern is having to leave a car full of gear beside the road some dark night. These days even its tracks would be gone within an hour. Worse yet, what if it won't start some windy morning?

OTOH, people do love their Volvos (and Audis and Beemers and Chryslers and Mercedes and VWs) when they're not in the shop, and some Chrysler products seem to hold up, as evidenced here. Driving ANY of them is more fun than driving my MH ... until ya get where yer goin'. A bud commuted to Corpus Christi/Bird Island a few times a year in his Volvo wagon before the cops cared, and the 900 mile drive from Albuquerque, mostly two-lane blacktop, took him < 12 hours. (He quit only because he almost never got any useful wind.) These days performance is all but useless ... my MH goes fast enough to cost me a year in jail ... so you may as well go for the convertible if you want an un-ordinary ride. Towards that end, how about a Cadillac or Buick station wagon? Or how about my bud's Geo Metro ragtop and the hell with putting the top up with gear inside?
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mrchocky



Joined: 14 Jul 2012
Posts: 61

PostPosted: Tue May 28, 2013 12:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

isobars wrote:

"Cerealously", though, wouldn't most hardtop (or ragtop) convertibles preclude putting a WS board inside simply because the top storage compartment usually guillotines the car just behind the rear seat?


I don't know. In both of the hard tops I've driven, the roof folds into a removable tray in the top half of the trunk. One of these is the VW Eos, which I'm borrowing right now, but doesn't have foldable rear seats. The other was a Chevy, but that was pre-windsurfing.

I'd be interested in seeing a Mustang full of gear.
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swchandler



Joined: 08 Nov 1993
Posts: 10588

PostPosted: Tue May 28, 2013 12:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

"Flippancy aside, and in reply to the previous poster too, I don't want/need a minivan, I don't need to hold "a ton of gear". One board and 2 sails is perfectly fine."


How long have you been windsurfing? If you follow the normal curve and stick with the sport, ultimately you will be acquiring enough windsurfing equipment to warrant a mini-van or full sized van. Until then, you should stick with the station wagon idea, or maybe even a versatile liftback design.

Volvo wagon
VW Jetta or Passat wagons
BMW 3 series or 5 series wagons
Mercedes C or E style wagons
Audi A3, A4 or A6 wagons
Ford Flex
Subaru Outback or Forrester
Toyota Prius V wagon
Honda Element
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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Tue May 28, 2013 12:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dennis0778 wrote:
I have had a similar fantasy for a 2- seat -convertible- sportscar -station -wagon- van !!! Smile

Or drop the "sportscar" part and add serious off-road 4X4. For years I drove a big '72 Chevy Blazer with no top ... just boards strapped onto the roll bar/cage, or a desert bike or skis in the back, or just a weeks' worth of food, water, gasoline, and topo maps plus sleeping bags. The top hung in the garage, ready to drive under it and bolt it on if I ever needed it (you don't worry about theft in the workplace parking on a military base, and you don't worry much about rain or bugs in the desert SW.)

We can fit a board and rig or three in or on (my Datsun 280Z carried two big guys plus two boards each and several rigs on top, securely) almost any vehicle if we wish. The decision factors tend more towards personal choices (e.g., changing clothes, sleeping, mpg, theft protection, loading convenience) than on how much crap we can pile into or onto them.
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