Cars for Bassplayers

[cloudburst]

Folks,

Just wondering if I could get the benefit of your experiences with transporting your basses and amps etc.

What I'm looking at is to get a car which I can throw 2 or 3 basses into in their hard cases (eg. the standard MusicMan molded case) along with a small combo.

The important thing is that I can fit the basses in the boot in their large cases with minimum faffling. I have 3 cars at the moment (as I live in various places) and none of them are any good for space. They are a MINI Cooper S, a Jeep Wrangler and a BMW Z3M Coupe (odd 2 seater shooting-brake effort).

What I'm looking at is a (secondhand) SUV or an estate car. I'm going to do a trawl of the dealerships in the holidays with my biggest case, but would welcome any views on the following (only if you know from experience whether they easily accommodate a large bass case).

- Range Rover
- Range Rover Sport
- Porsche Cayenne
- VW Toureg
- Audi A4 estate
- Audi A6 estate
- Audi A3 sportback

Thanks for any guidance.
CB

Edited December 24, 2012 by cloudburst

[Pentode]

Merc E Class Estate? Can get the whole planet in mine....

[Lozz196]

Having looked into 4x4s when I was buying a new car, I found the space inside far less - without having to fold seats down etc - than a regular estate car. So I bought an Astra Estate, which I can get 3 band-mates, 3 gtrs/basses, and 3 amps in, no worries. With just my own gear, I can either put it in the load-space, or across the back seat without folding anything down.

So from the cars listed, I`d look at the estates.

[redstriper]

VW Touran works for me.

[Guest]

I'm planning to buy a Nissan Elgrand over the holidays.
I'll be able to cart the whole PA round including some stupidly large subs, lights and all my gear, 810 to boot and probably fit the five of us in it as well.
My Xmas prezzie to me hehehehe.

[Doddy]

You don't need an SUV or an estate to transport your gear. Quite frankly you could put your basses
in decent gig bags and put them in the back of the Mini. I get all of my stuff in my Hyundai Coupe
without dropping the back seats-bass on the seats,everything else in the boot.

[thepurpleblob]

BMW X3 over here. Can get a remarkable amount in the thing and doesn't get stuck in the snow.

I also have a 7-series which has a cavernous boot, but that's a bit silly unless you particularly want one!!

[lurksalot]

Zafiras are well up to the job , if I haven't got the works van

[Count Bassy]

Going on the thread Title only I was going to say..


.. Sounds like a fair swap!

[thunderider]

i got a mercedes sprinter xlwb......my bass gear fits quite well in there!!,our band bus is an old chrysler voyager,or some thing well bhad would be get a vw transporter,remap it to 190bhp!!

[mike257]

No experience of the motors in question but I'd say a people carrier or estate will definitely give more space than a 4x4. Lots of them will fold the seats completely flat into the floor these days so you can get tons in.

Alternative that's worked well for me was my old man's Citroen Picasso. It was the old shape so don't know how the new ones stack up, but the boot tool the width of my Musicman case and with the three rear seats removed I could almost get a full bands backline in.

Or just do what I did and buy a massive van

[Monckyman]

Focus estate.

[thunderider]

oh... iv got 215s a tbird n head in a fiat 500!!

[Gust0o]

I'll confirm that the A6 Avant can swallow almost anything. A bass will still need to sit in the boot at an angle, I've found - I don't think any of the modern estates have boots sufficiently deep to just slide it in, without needing to drop a seat. Angle your case across the boot, and space to spare, however. I'm easily fitting bass rig and the odd bandmate in without struggling overly, and the extra space on the A4 is a boost. That said, I've done much the same in the wife's A4 estate - and been a lot less worried about scraping the furnishings!

Of course, as Audi, Skoda, VW, etc, are all very similar you'll find the same kind of space on things like the A4, Passat, Octavia, etc - size will vary slightly by model, mind.

Also, brilliant drive and superb fuel economy on the diesels. They've just updated the rear, so you can find <2010 models going cheap, and most come with all kinds of gadgets.

Of course, if you're just wanting something to chuck the gear in, you could find something a [i]lot[/i] cheaper.

[ezbass]

Skoda Octavia estate, bigger storage space than the Audi A4. An awful lot of quality car for not a lot of cash (relatively speaking).

[Dad3353]

[quote name='cloudburst' timestamp='1356386226' post='1909898']...a car which I can throw 2 or 3 basses into in their hard cases (eg. the standard MusicMan molded case) along with a small combo...

...a MINI Cooper S, a Jeep Wrangler and a BMW Z3M Coupe (odd 2 seater shooting-brake effort)...

...
- Range Rover
- Range Rover Sport
- Porsche Cayenne
...
[/quote]

I don't see why you're asking us. Surely this is a problem for your domestics to sort out..?

[Gust0o]

[quote name='ezbass' timestamp='1356388104' post='1909950']
Skoda Octavia estate, bigger storage space than the Audi A4. An awful lot of quality car for not a lot of cash (relatively speaking).
[/quote]

Same boot space as the Passat - which is probably about the same as the A6. The A4 is definitely smaller. If you have a heavy foot, you'll like the VRS - and they're pretty cheap to pick up.

Thinking back to when we went car shopping, the only really disappointing car was the BMW 3-series Tourer - which had a tiny boot for an estate; though an upgrade to a 5 might sort that, and the old 520 was regularly touted by pundits.

[TonyBones]

second hand Honda crv, had one rescue me from snow the year before last on the way to a gig, so sold my volvo V70 and i can get a marshall VBA and 4x12 cab in it, 2 electric and one acoustic bass and still have room for padal board and PA, stands and lights

[Gust0o]

Surprised not more love for the Volvos - some bargains on Autotrader, if you're not snobbish about the mileage!

[deanovw]

I quite happily get everything I need in an N reg VW Polo

[discreet]

[quote name='deanovw' timestamp='1356388394' post='1909956']
I quite happily get everything I need in an N reg VW Polo[/quote]

Polo here, too - two ABM 410Ts, 4U rack, bass, bits and pieces, no problem.

[TomWIC]

I can get my Ashdown ABM 410 and 210, Pedaltrain 1 hard case, 2U amp in a rack case, several hard cases and several soft cases in my W reg Vauxhall Corsa with the back seats down. It's like a poorly maintained Tardis.

[paulconnolly]

Interesting thread for me. I've currently got a 3 series coupe. With the prospect of gigging again in 2013 I need something to get my gear in. Couple of basses, amp, cab and assorted odds and ends. I've thought about 4 x 4 but the usual off-roader type vehicles are too high off the floor. I'll be looking for something with a low floor line like an estate car but nwhich one

[Thurbs]

BMW 535d Touring here. Can get loads of stuff in it but perhaps not quite pa, lights, db, bg plus loads of bass gear.

[gapiro]

I can fit a ton in my Honda jazz
Could almost certainly fit a 4x15 upright if I had one ( have taken a guitarists 4x12 before )as the middle seats told up as well as down ( so you can get a big upright spAce instead of flat space )


Only downside at the moment is that my 35 inch lakland in the big gator case is about 1" too long to fit sideways in the boot ( no issue on back seats or in the soft case )