Jenny in Florida Posted May 14, 2011 Share Posted May 14, 2011 My daughter is graduating next weekend, and we need to move her and four years' worth of dorm stuff out of her room. I drive a VW Golf, which would not absorb all four of us (my husband and son and I are going up for the commencement ceremony) and all of her stuff. I looked into renting a cargo van, since I think that's about the right size. But I can't find any company that will rent me one for a one-way move from her location to ours. The smallest vehicle truck rental places will rent to me is a 10-foot truck, which is bigger than I need and will consume enormous amounts of gas for the 800-mile drive. Finally, it occurred to me that a plain old minivan might do the trick. However, it looks like everyone else already thought of that, and all of the car rental places in my daughter's college town are sold out. The closest I could get is a Toyota Rav4. It costs less to rent than the smallest truck and will, of course, use a LOT less gas to drive home. Can someone tell me if the rear seats in this vehicle fold down? Can you give me some estimate of how roomy it is inside when and if they do? I'm thinking that, if we load up the back of the Rav4 with the large stuff (a small bookcase, for example) and put boxes and smaller stuff in the back of the Golf and have just two passengers up front in each vehicle, we might have enough room. Thoughts? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SailorMom Posted May 14, 2011 Share Posted May 14, 2011 A very good friend of mine bought a used Rav 4 about 3 years ago - she loves it. Nothing but good things to say. It had about 30,000 miles on it when she purchased it, and I believe she has it up to about 50,000 now (long commute). BTW - I have a Golf also... love my Golf :) We just went on a week long cruise and drove all four of us to Port Canaveral (about 7 hours away) - we managed to cram all of us and our luggage in! It was like a puzzle.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra in NC Posted May 14, 2011 Share Posted May 14, 2011 We had to move both boys in the same weekend to two different schools. We fit everything for both boys in the RAV4. For extra storage, we bought a rooftop cargo bag (used it for bedding). You can fold one or both seats down. It's roomy. It's the largest vehicle we've owned--all of our other cars have been Toyota Camrys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Florida Posted May 14, 2011 Author Share Posted May 14, 2011 A very good friend of mine bought a used Rav 4 about 3 years ago - she loves it. Nothing but good things to say. It had about 30,000 miles on it when she purchased it, and I believe she has it up to about 50,000 now (long commute). BTW - I have a Golf also... love my Golf :) We just went on a week long cruise and drove all four of us to Port Canaveral (about 7 hours away) - we managed to cram all of us and our luggage in! It was like a puzzle.... I agree the Golf is a lot roomier than you'd expect. We moved last week, and I kept telling my husband I could fit things in the car. He didn't believe me until he saw it loaded up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth S Posted May 14, 2011 Share Posted May 14, 2011 Maybe you can rent a small pull-behind Uhaul trailer for the way home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Florida Posted May 17, 2011 Author Share Posted May 17, 2011 Maybe you can rent a small pull-behind Uhaul trailer for the way home. I did think of that, too. However, I would have to have the trailer hitch installed before Friday morning, which looks like it could cost as much as $300. Also, the maximum towing capacity on my car is only 1,000 pounds, and the smallest U-Haul trailer is 850 pounds empty. Plus, then we'd have to have all four of us in the car. I was really hoping that would be a solution, since it's significantly less expensive than renting an extra vehicle. But it won't work with my car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lailasmum Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 I have a golf, well I did, it died a couple of weeks ago and is sitting on my drive waiting to be scrapped, but yeah its small. I understand there are two sizes of Rav4, we have been looking at getting one of these. There is a tiny one that really only seats 2 and a longer version with back seats. Might be worth checking which version they have. How about an estate car-I had a big estate up until last year and it absorbed 4 adults and a ton of stuff easily. the big square boot area is ideal for book cases and boxes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mejane Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 (edited) I love my Rav4. It's very safe (curtain airbags, 4-wheel drive) and also roomy. We put our bikes in the back, and haul all sorts of things. We bought ds new bedroom furniture, fincluding a loft bed, shelves, a desk, a big lounge chair and some other things in big boxes, and they all fit into the back of the Rav, so it can definitely haul a lot. Edited May 17, 2011 by Mejane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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