Help me choose a car?
 

I am traveling with my husband and son. We will have 2 med suitcases, 2 back packs, stroller and carseat (which my son will use while in transit).
Worst case scenerio we would have one more rolling carry on suit case.
We are spending all of our time in Umbria and Tuscany.

My options are
Fiat Croma
Alpha Romeo 147
Opal Wagon
Nissian primera

I want the smallest car that will comfortably fit all of our stuff.
thanks for your thoughts.

With the 2 of you, a child with carseat and all that luggage you will need a very large car to fit everything.

Unless you get a full size car the trunk will hold no more than 2 medium susitcases - dependng on what you mean by medium - and everything else will have to go inside the car. (We rented a Mercedes C and the trunk held 2 26" suitcases and two very small carry-ons - we had to get a roof rack for the luggage for the other 2 passengers.)

If you go to the car rental web sites it will show you how much luggage the trunk will hold. And - they are generaous if anything.

And - if you plan on stopping anywhere while carrying the luggage it SHOULD all fit in the trunk - and NOTHING should show in the car - not a map or newspaper or anything.

you are taking too much luggage imo.

I guess whether or not they are taking too much luggage depends on the definition of "backpack" - which I read to mean a daypack/bookbag sized pack. For 3 people, 2 suitcases and 2 daypacks sounds pretty light to me.

My husband and I rented a VW Golf in Germany - not sure how it compares to the others, but it is a small car. We fit 2 rollerboards (max allowed carry-on size), 2 daypacks, and a duffle bag in the trunk.

wc, I rented a car in Florence It was suppose to be a Nissan Primera, but like everything else they gave me a ford wagon,don't be disappointed if this happens to you,just take pictures of the car to show minor scratches etc.What I would suggest if your driving in Italy ,if you drive an automatic shift rent that ,I drove a standard shift and pulled into one of the hill towns and had to hold it on the hills , going into an area where there was only foot traffic . I burnt that clutch it was over 20 years since I owned a standard transmission very frustrating,also ny made a excellent point if you don't have a conventional truck makesure they have a liner hiding anything you would put back there .

I would take the Opal Wagon. It should be equiped with a trunk cover that pulls back to the rear gate, covering all belongings so that they aren't visible. Go for an automatic which will USUALLY include air conditioning, power windows, and remote controlled locks with ALARM. You aren't driving that far so you don't have to worry about the economy of the vehicle. If they give you a diesel (gazol or gasoil), thats a good thing. Look for comfort, security and safety. Be sure to inspect the car that you get.

With that amount of luggage you'd need one of the bigger models. That would be the Fiat Croma or perhaps the Nis<b>sa</b>n Primera.
The Op<b>e</b>l Wagon might work, too, although I am not sure what Op<b>e</b>l model you mean. The Zafira or Astra Caravan would do. The Agila would be too small.
The Al<b>f</b>a would be the nicest car out of these, but as it is in the Volkswagen Golf category, would be too small for the amount of luggage mentioned.

Thanks for the replies. To clarify, by &quot;med suitcases&quot; I mean we will have 2
26&quot; bags. And by backpacks, I did mean small &quot;book bag&quot;, or &quot;day pack&quot; type bags. Of course on top of that we will have the stroller.
I'm still not sure what will be the best option for us, so if there is any other input I would appreciate it.

I suggest a Compact Wagon(VW Golf Wagon or similar).

I also suggest that you reach out to Andy Bestor Gemut.com 800-521-6722, http://www.gemut.com. He's your best bet to get your question answered...

Hi W,

&gt;by &quot;med suitcases&quot; I mean we will have 2
26&quot; bags. &lt;

That's 2 large bags, plus a car seat and a stroller.

The Alfa 147 and the Fiat are too small.

The Opal Astra or a Renault Megane would be OK - just barely.

Check www.autoeurope.com

You can click on the car icon and it will tell you what you can pack into it.

((I))

ira,

the Fiat is definitely not too small. We are talking about a Croma here - Fiat's biggest model - which comes in a caravan style only. It's the same category as roomy models like a VW Passat etc.
An Op<b>e</b>l Astra would indeed be too small - except if it is the Astra caravan, a station wagon model.
A Renault M&eacute;gane would be too small, too, unless it also came in the station wagon variety.

Hi HS,

Thanks for the clarification.

I checked the cars at AE.

The Fiat Croma is a 5 seater, but it has a rather small trunk.

I did mean the Renault Megane Wagon.

((I))

PS,

AE is offering a free upgrade on the AR147.

WC, you can get the Croma for the price of the 147.

((I))

If you are speaking of the Opal Zafira, that would work. Plenty of cargo space for luggage and stroller, easy to load the little one in his car seat, and lots of comfort for you and your and husband. And yet, for its size, it drives quite well - we were able to manuever quite well through small hill towns, no problem! The cargo area had a retractable cover, so no fear about leaving luggage in that area, either. The one we rented was a diesel and surprisingly kind to us on fuel costs. It was a standard transmission, but that worked out fine for us. For a size comparison, the Zafira came very close to my own Honda CR-V (just a smidge smaller). The Zafira looks like a really big vehicle, but handles and drives like something much smaller.

Good luck!

Will an OPEL ASTRA 1.4-1.6 5DR/5PSG accommodate 4 adults each with their own large piece of luggage plus a couple of additional small carry-ons?

Also, does anyone know of additional (from what the companies are qouting online) fees for pickup at airport in Amsterdam? I will be renting for ONE day on a day when the off-airport sites are closed and wish to enter into this contract informed.