Which car would you choose?
 

Our family of 5 will be traveling by car throughout N. Italy this summer. My question is should we rent a wagon or a mid-size sedan? My concerns are comfort and security. I think we would be more comfortable in a wagon but I'm concerned about the security of leaving luggage in the back. A wagon is a little more expensive. Both cars would have AC (a "must") and standard transmission (no problem). My guess is that fuel costs will be very close (but maybe I'm mistaken). We are average height and weight(no giants or little children). I welcome your thoughts - - grazie!

Either will be very tight for 5 with luggage--you may need a van. I have done 4 in a full size Volvo wagon and that was tight.

We traveled from Vienna to Prague, Poland and back - - family of five in a mid-sized wagon. I think we were pretty comfortable.

Best wishes,

Rex

I think it is insecure to tour in Europe with luggage in the car, whatever type of car it is. I try to avoid it as much as possible by setting myself at a base where I can leave the luggage and tour from. A wagon is no less secure than a car because it will have a cover that goes over the luggage space. We had a Volkswagen Passat wagon in France last year and it was very convenient. We were 4 adults; assuming your five include smaller people, a car this size should be ok.

What model wagon is the agency suggesting? Some wagons are pretty small--i.e., the VW Golf Wagon, the BMW 3 series, etc. On the other hand, a Volvo V70 wagon would be fine. But the security issue is valid--even if the wagon had a cover for its storage area, you can't hide the luggage of 5 people. And some thieves find the use of a luggage cover in the back a dead giveaway or at least a temptation.
What qualifies as a "mid size" sedan also can vary significantly in size and unfortunately, most companies won't guarantee a specific model (except for RenaultUSA type arrangements). If a full size sedan won't be too much more expensive, consider that option.

Seeing that you will be travelling in Italy, get a Fiat Multipla people carrier. Voted the best MPV in Europe, it should not be at all difficult to obtain a rental Fiat in Italy (it would probably be more difficult to not hire a Fiat!). It will fit all of you in comfortably plus the luggage with room to spare. I think that AC is standard.

we are renting an Opel Zafira through Autoeurope for 5 people. It looks like a smaller van from the pictures I've seen. I'm hoping we will have enough room (we are mostly giants and one smaller child).

An Opel Zafira would be ok for the passengers--a little tight in the back seat so rotate who gets the front passenger seat. Luggage could be iffy; ask everyone to pack light.
A bigger choice is a Citroen C8, but I'm sure you will have to pay more for that. (We have one this week-end and it's huge--someone special ordered it but never showed up for their reservation so the rental agency gave it to us for the mid-size price).

Opal Zafira will work great - Hertz has them in Italy.

Greetings!! We just returned from Italy ourselves. We rented an Opel wagon - it had the cover mentioned above so everything was hidden well. Our rental fees covered theft in the price. We parked in well lit areas and were sure to lock the car when leaving. We had no problems. The wagon was very comfortable (my new husband is 6ft 5), great pick up and go, good gas mileage (But fuel runs about 5 Euro a gallon - be prepared!!) Have a wonderful time!! Enjoy!! Caio

We leased a Peugeot 406 wagon which had plenty of room for five. The Luggage space is 19cu ft.
Usable demensions of trunk with no obstructions are:
46 inches wide
39 inches deep
18 inches high.
No problem at all regarding visibilty of luggage.
Do the math to see if it works for you.
Good luck.

We reserved an intermediate size car and got a Picasso. It was like a 4 door van. (it didn't have sliding doors like a van in the back, but regular doors). We had four adults with luggage. Behind the back seat was a covered trunk area that fit all of our luggage. Three people could fit in the back seat as well. We reserved thru auto europe. We too were concerned about having an enclosed trunk. This worked out great for us.