Is there a CAR that will comfortably carry 5 adults and their luggage?
Dec 5th, 2003, 10:43 AM
#1
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Is there a CAR that will comfortably carry 5 adults and their luggage?
As part of our trip to France in May/June we will need to rent cars in Nice for 10 people. (I hope we'll be flying Easyjet to Nice.) Has anyone ever rented a car, not a van, that would carry 5 people? I'm hoping to get away with only renting two cars.
Easyjet has a deal with Europcar that offers some good prices on car rental but I'd still like to have cars no bigger than necessary. They offer in their "Routiere" category a VW Passat, a Renault Laguna II, a Peugeot 406 or a Renault Laguna II Break (station wagon). These say they seat 5 adults but I am skeptical.
They also have a "Grande Routiere" category that includes a Renault Velsatis, a Peugeot 607 (both supposed to seat 5) and then two 7 passenger vans, the Renualt Espace and a VW Sharan.
Is anyone familiar with any of these cars? Can you advise as to which I would need to accommodate 10 adults?
Easyjet has a deal with Europcar that offers some good prices on car rental but I'd still like to have cars no bigger than necessary. They offer in their "Routiere" category a VW Passat, a Renault Laguna II, a Peugeot 406 or a Renault Laguna II Break (station wagon). These say they seat 5 adults but I am skeptical.
They also have a "Grande Routiere" category that includes a Renault Velsatis, a Peugeot 607 (both supposed to seat 5) and then two 7 passenger vans, the Renualt Espace and a VW Sharan.
Is anyone familiar with any of these cars? Can you advise as to which I would need to accommodate 10 adults?
Dec 5th, 2003, 11:03 AM
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Tje Renault Laguna station wagon will definitely seat five. We had four in it and there was loads of extra space. The regular Renault Laguna will seat five small to medium-sized adults, but no one will have a lot of legroom.
The 7-person Espace Van would be plenty big. It's fun to drive and parks easily.
You probably need to worry more about how much luggage you'll have than anything else.
The 7-person Espace Van would be plenty big. It's fun to drive and parks easily.
You probably need to worry more about how much luggage you'll have than anything else.
Dec 5th, 2003, 11:56 AM
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I'd second the previous comment. You need to worry more about luggage and less about seating space. It's the amount of luggage that will determine whether you can accommodate five adults. I have rented several of the cars you named, and I found the Renault Espace (with a 2.2 liter diesel) to be surprisingly peppy and spacious enough for five plus luggage. Of course, it's also normally a manual transmission. For typical travelers, I think you'd be better off with a van than an auto. However, if each person carries no more luggage than a typical carry-on bag, you could make do with one of the station wagons. Don't bother with any auto unless it's the biggest Mercedes, because no car will have the luggage room you'll get in a station wagon. Good luck.
Dec 5th, 2003, 12:05 PM
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I agree that the issue is no the people it't the luggage. We rented the large Mercedes a couple of years ago for 4 adults and while there was obviously plenty of seating room the trunk was way too small for the luggage. (This was a 3-week trip and we each had a normal size suitcase - 26" - and a smallish carry-on.) We ended up having to put one bag on the roof and putting two carry-ons on the floor in the back of he car. I would definitely go for the vans.
Dec 5th, 2003, 12:33 PM
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Thanks, St. Cirq, Wayne and nytraveler. I appreciate your comments. I will be limiting everyone to either 2 small (carry-on size) bags or 1 medium size (24" or so). We'll need to do that not only for the cars but also to conform to Easyjet's limits.
Some of you may remember that I did a similar trip last year. We were a total of eight and rented two intermediate-size cars (similar to Lagunas). They were comfortable for four each and we managed (barely!)to get our luggage in the trunks.
The difficult thing is that a larger car does not necessarily mean a larger trunk. I once rented a Renault Megane which is in the Compact category and it had a huge trunk.
We will not be touring around with our luggage except perhaps on the last day. We'll be renting a house just a few miles from Nice and will park our luggage there until the last day when we may have to clear out a few hours before our flight back to Paris. I'm wondering if the luggage would be visible from the outside if we had the Laguna station wagon or even the Espace?
I would prefer a closed trunk.
I'd probably just go with two Espaces if we can "hide" our luggage in them. Are they smaller than American vans? I drive a Ford Taurus so am not used to driving anything huge, especially on narrow mountain roads, as you have just north of the Cote d'Azur and in small villages like Eze or St. Paul de Vence.
Any other comments?
Some of you may remember that I did a similar trip last year. We were a total of eight and rented two intermediate-size cars (similar to Lagunas). They were comfortable for four each and we managed (barely!)to get our luggage in the trunks.
The difficult thing is that a larger car does not necessarily mean a larger trunk. I once rented a Renault Megane which is in the Compact category and it had a huge trunk.
We will not be touring around with our luggage except perhaps on the last day. We'll be renting a house just a few miles from Nice and will park our luggage there until the last day when we may have to clear out a few hours before our flight back to Paris. I'm wondering if the luggage would be visible from the outside if we had the Laguna station wagon or even the Espace?
I would prefer a closed trunk.
I'd probably just go with two Espaces if we can "hide" our luggage in them. Are they smaller than American vans? I drive a Ford Taurus so am not used to driving anything huge, especially on narrow mountain roads, as you have just north of the Cote d'Azur and in small villages like Eze or St. Paul de Vence.
Any other comments?
Dec 5th, 2003, 03:59 PM
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If you go directly to the auto websites, i.e. Peugeot or Renault, there are usually trunk measurements for all the models.
We've used the Peugeot 406 a couple times and it's large enough for 5 but you'd have to measure pretty carefully to see about the luggage. The two of us did get all our luggage and all our camping supplies in the 406 one year without using the back seat. (When we don't camp, we use the 206.)
I think the van idea is a good one.
Enjoy your trip.
We've used the Peugeot 406 a couple times and it's large enough for 5 but you'd have to measure pretty carefully to see about the luggage. The two of us did get all our luggage and all our camping supplies in the 406 one year without using the back seat. (When we don't camp, we use the 206.)
I think the van idea is a good one.
Enjoy your trip.
Dec 5th, 2003, 05:48 PM
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I don't recall there being any way to hide the luggage in the Renault Espace. We used them on a tour I gave, though, and except for the day we picked up the tour participants at the train station and the day we delivered them to same, there was no luggage in the car (BOY was there luggage on the first and last days, though!! MAN, some people do not understand the concept of traveling light!).
I do believe there was a way to fold down the back two seats to make more room, but I can't be absolutely certain.
Also, be advised that the Renault Espace is, I believe, only manual transmission (well, maybe they have automatics, but they're probably very expensive if they do exist). I loved driving a stick shift van, but it might not be for everyone.
In case you need some price comparisons, also, I'll add that when I first called AutoEurope, they quoted me a price of around $1400 for 10 days. A friend with a platinum Amex card called Amex and they quoted her $700 for the same. So I faxed AutoEurope Amex's quote, and they honored it! Got the van for half price, essentially!
I do believe there was a way to fold down the back two seats to make more room, but I can't be absolutely certain.
Also, be advised that the Renault Espace is, I believe, only manual transmission (well, maybe they have automatics, but they're probably very expensive if they do exist). I loved driving a stick shift van, but it might not be for everyone.
In case you need some price comparisons, also, I'll add that when I first called AutoEurope, they quoted me a price of around $1400 for 10 days. A friend with a platinum Amex card called Amex and they quoted her $700 for the same. So I faxed AutoEurope Amex's quote, and they honored it! Got the van for half price, essentially!
Dec 5th, 2003, 06:53 PM
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Betty- Definitely go with a VAN=
We were 2 people with 2 large suitcases and a wheelie and we got a Mercerdes in London to travel in the countryside..Being TOLD it was the largest trunk available...HAH! We had to put ONE of the large suitcases in the back seat- Lucky for us, we had no other passengers with us...And the extra added bonus of one of us staying in the car while the other toured -switching on and off- as we did not want to get the suitcase out in the open ripped off...
For the number of people you will have together, unless you want to split up and take 2 cars...definitely take the VAN..
We were 2 people with 2 large suitcases and a wheelie and we got a Mercerdes in London to travel in the countryside..Being TOLD it was the largest trunk available...HAH! We had to put ONE of the large suitcases in the back seat- Lucky for us, we had no other passengers with us...And the extra added bonus of one of us staying in the car while the other toured -switching on and off- as we did not want to get the suitcase out in the open ripped off...
For the number of people you will have together, unless you want to split up and take 2 cars...definitely take the VAN..
Dec 6th, 2003, 06:04 PM
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We have a 2003 Renault Laguna and find that four adults fit quite comfortably; five adults will be a bit of squeeze, but not that bad. Think of the car as a Ford Taurus hatchback. The trunk space in the Renault Laguna hatchback is pretty generous and you could probably get your stuff in there, if everyone agreed to pack light. Otherwise it's going to be tight.
Unless you really need the Espace, I would recommend against it. The new Espace is larger than the previous model and, having rented it once, we found it clunky and hard to maneuver around small village streets. Finding parking also was more difficult. We don't have any such problems with our Laguna.
The Peugot 607 is a full size sedan and more luxurious than the Laguna, but I don't think it has any more luggage or passenger space (FYI, our experience has been that the Laguna wagon actually has less rear passenger room than the 4-door hatchback).
It all depends on the size of your five adults and the size of their luggage. If they're willing to squeeze in a bit, then I think the Renault would be satisfactory and an easier car to maneuver around.
FYI, don't expect luxurious seats in the Espace or any other Euro van. They don't do the typical back seat bench seats--instead the back seats are molded into several smallish seats.
BTilke (Brussels)
Unless you really need the Espace, I would recommend against it. The new Espace is larger than the previous model and, having rented it once, we found it clunky and hard to maneuver around small village streets. Finding parking also was more difficult. We don't have any such problems with our Laguna.
The Peugot 607 is a full size sedan and more luxurious than the Laguna, but I don't think it has any more luggage or passenger space (FYI, our experience has been that the Laguna wagon actually has less rear passenger room than the 4-door hatchback).
It all depends on the size of your five adults and the size of their luggage. If they're willing to squeeze in a bit, then I think the Renault would be satisfactory and an easier car to maneuver around.
FYI, don't expect luxurious seats in the Espace or any other Euro van. They don't do the typical back seat bench seats--instead the back seats are molded into several smallish seats.
BTilke (Brussels)
Dec 7th, 2003, 09:59 AM
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Thanks, BTilke, for your very helpful remarks. It has occured to me that we might be better off with 3 cars because two of our group will have already been in Europe for several weeks before joining us. They will be coming off a cruise of the Mediterranean coast and will probably have a lot more luggage than the rest of us. We might still be able to fit into 2 vans but, given your remarks about the Espace, I'm leaning toward 2 Lagunas, or similar, and a small car for this couple. The cost of gas and tolls might be a bit more but I don't expect to be on toll roads that much and I imagine the 3 smaller cars would get better gas mileage than 2 vans.
Thanks to all for your advice. Still open to any other suggestions.
Thanks to all for your advice. Still open to any other suggestions.
Dec 8th, 2003, 04:02 PM
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The 7 seat Espace has virtually no luggage space as the two rear seats are basically in the luggage area. The only way to have room with the 7 seat configuration is to have the Grand Espace which is a stretch version of the normal Espace. If you get the 5 seat version of the normal Espace you will have loads of luggage room. The Espace has a roll out cover for the luggage area so all the luggage can be hidden. I had the Grand Espace for 6 people plus luggage and it was excellent. It drives very well and is very comfortable and car like. I think you could do two 5 seat Espace without any problem. Get a desiel and you wont spend much on gas. Keep in mind that tolls are fairly high in France so a 3rd vehicle is definately an added expense.
