will be travelling ireland this fall. there will be four people for sure, possibly 5. am looking to rent a renault grand megane and wondering if that is big enough for us as there will be one bag for each of us. not large people. anyone with experience with this car.

A Renault Grand Scenic, if that is the car you mean, would seem to be the best car for 5. It has 5 individual seats, and alot of room for bags. Being higher than most cars, the passengers will have a good view of the countryside.

Thanks Chartley, I'll check the scenic out. Not the one I was looking at though. The grand megane is more of a station wagon type. but the scenic may be an option.

If this is the car then it will be fine for your needs.

http://www.renault.com/en/Vehicules/...ne-estate.aspx

You really can;t count on getting any specific car - they will give you what they have available. Make sure that your 5 people plus luggage can fit into any vehicle they show as part of the class you are reserving. If some looke too small - then go up a size.

I wouold never rent a station wagon since then your luggage is out in the open for all to see and a big temptation to thieves.

Most modern day estates (station wagon) have inbuilt load covers

Have a look at this site: http://www.parkers.co.uk It has pics
of pretty well any car you might want to rent and included multiple photos of each model including the trunk or load space.

Since you will be pressed for space see if you can take soft luggage with you... not roller bags as they have frames. If bags can be squished and scrunched, you have a much better chance of getting things to fit.

You really will need to set an absolute limit on bag size, I would say 20"-22" maximum per person.

I rented a car ahead of time based on an agreement with my wife, my sister and her husband, that they would limit themselves to one 22" bag. My sister and hubby showed up with one each, plus a backpack, plus one more bag each.

Absolutely no room to carry all that luggage in the large rental I had pre-ordered. P*ssed me off to no end.

Many rental car websites will have popups on the each car available, showing # adults and # of suitcased of each type that will fit. Use Hertz as an easy example.

I agree about the luggage. When I was doing culinary tours, we gave participants extremely strict luggage limits. A couple of people completely ignored them and brought multiple huge suitcases. They had to sit on them on the van seats and were totally doubled over, squished against the inside roof of the van for an hour-long ride. Major PITA, and hard for the driver to see out the windows, or the back, too!

I drive a Grand Mégane.

I would not recommend it for five adults. Yes, it is specified for five, but all that means is that there are three seatbelts in the back, not that there is comfortable space for three people to sit for more than a very short journey.

I agree that you will need to limit your luggage. Yes, it can be concealed under a retractable cover.

That said, a Mégane for four adults who do not want to carry too much baggage is a very good car for Irish roads.