I have old but very good Toyota Landcruiser and can fit:
- 2 bikes in the back with wheels on no problem
- 3 bikes in the back without removing front wheels, if I slide the rear seats forward. Passengers can still sit there with less legroon
- 4 bikes in the back with front wheels removed and rear seats slid forward.
I have never needed to remove seat posts.

I also have a rack on the back for our family mountain bikes but prefer keeping my nice road bikes in the car for security and protection from rubbing on each other.

Have owned it since 2003 and it is extremely reliable. (My dad also has one and has over 350,000 miles on his all pretty much original and it's done a lot of heavy towing).

In addition the front, middle and rear seats can be folded flat to make a very comfy bed...sometimes handy fpr sleeping in before bike races to save taking a tent.

We've got a small CD01 and a medium CD01. We can deal with the front wheel being removed, but cannot take the seat post off anymore due to the carbon being placed under stress (even if I undertorque the seatposts when I put it back).

Then buy a van and you wife can choose to drive the other vehicle.

He mentioned earlier that they're a one vehicle family.

Fixed it.

Fixed it.

Anyone tried a new 4Runner without the 3rd row seat? I visited the dealer to look at the 4Runner with this specific criterion (bikes upright) in mind. I agree that it probably won't work with the 3rd row down but the sales guy told me you can order one without the 3rd row and you gain a couple of inches.

My situation is that my wife has a minivan but she is getting a little tired of me stealing it every weekend so I am looking for something a little more friendly to my lifestyle (I also camp, etc) than a sedan. I'm currently mulling over a smaller SUV with a hitch mount.

Transit Connect 2015 might be an option, cross between a a SUV and a Van.

Currently, I drive the BMW X3 (2006) which allows me to use the standard issued interior bike rack. Back when I bought the car, we had road bikes with metal seatposts. We loved the rack as it kept our bikes secure, and the metal seatposts were durable enough so that we could remove them and stick them back in every weekend without worrying about damaging the seatposts itself.

We have since upgraded our bikes to QR CD01's, whichhave full Carbon seatposts. I have been told that constantly removing and putting back the seatposts is a bad idea and it wears down the carbon on the seatposts. In fact, I had to replace both seatposts this year (not cheap) because they had both cracked, despite my using a torque wrench everytime I reinstalled the seatposts after transporting in the car.

It's about time to replace the car now so I'm doing a bit of research as to what kind of car to get. Short of a van, which is what my wife will NOT drive, what other cars allow me to transport my bike vertically (with the front wheel off) but the seatposts on?

Two cars, sadly, is not an option. So I can't get a beater van and keep the X3.

Tell your wife to get over it

We can easily fit two bikes standing up in the back of our Honda Fit. Rear seats folded flat and front wheels off.

If we have to, we can fit three bikes and three people. Both wheels off the third bike and half the rear seat folded.

My saddle is 76cm high and close to the roof. Jane's is 72.

That said, I'm looking at buying a minivan next. It's just sooooo easy to haul bikes around. And we can toss our tandem in the back too.