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Is there a 3 seater bongovan?
I was thinking of getting a second hand bongo van or similar vehicle for the MTB trips and surfing etc, since the family car seems to be filling up with child seats.
Thought a courier style van would be a good option because you can carry the bikes internally.
Anyway, I usually ride with two other mates, so I'd be looking for something that seats 3. Most of the vans I see like the Hiace, Mitsubishi Express etc seem to seat two.
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Get a people mover and remove the back row of seats? Thinking Tarago or Chrysler kind of thing.
Alternatively, one of those holden crewcab utes and get high fibreglass cover to enclose the bikes in a lockable space - depends on whether you ride shorties or mals.
A old (ancient!) Kombi with a front bench seat? That could be cosy
We have a hi-ace as a work van and it has 3 seats across the front.... sorta.
I reckon have a look at the new Hyundai Vans as well. I traveled to southern highlands in one with three across the front and it worked out nicely.
Mates back in NZ had a Hi-ace with the first row of seats in the back still there, with this setup they could carry 5 people and bikes with the need to remove a wheel. you can do 6 peolpe and bikes with removing a couple of wheels.
There are lots of ways to make it work.
Yeah I thought of a people mover, but one of the things I like about a bongo van is that people can't see the gear in the back, so I can stop for a pie or a coffee and not be too worried about the bikes.
The vans are a fair bit cheaper too. Looks like sparkies, courier companies etc put about 100K on the clock and then flog them off and replace them for tax purposes. Many of them are diesel, so the motors should have a lot of life left.
Sure hardcore crooks may still break in, but its a lot less tempting than having three dually's on full show!
As for the boards, I've got shorties and a mal (8 foot). I once carried the mal inside a Corolla (!), so I figure a van should swallow it no problem.
a Nissan Elgrand ,more comfort than a Tarago & cheaper
But i think that is 2 across the front if I am not mistaken?
His is a new Hyundai though and he had built a nice sleeping area for it as well as storage for the bikes, I was quite jealous while he was sleeping on a duvet and I was in the back seat of my MPS lol.
In the Hyundai Iload. Great van, I'll be buying another one!
saw some guys at Mt Buller in a transporter, 2 in front and 1 in the back on what looked like a split seat. Plus 3 bikes, a mini fridge and other gear in the back. no external windows except for the front ones.
I've had a couple of these vans (they are all the same with just trim changes between the makes) back in the UK where they've been around for years. Feels like driving a car, but you can get 2 * MX bikes or 5 mountain bikes plus all the gear in the back, and they come in a 3 seat option. Not seen any older ones over here but have seen the newer ones - 2008 onwards I think. I'd definately recommend them if they are within budget, and if I end up staying here I'll be getting one.
Looks like this Fiat Scudo is the go. Only issue I can see is that the examples on the used market aren't yet old enough to come down to the price I want to pay
But yeah, 3 seater, large flat cargo bay, and 2.0 turbodiesel, so should be cheap to run.
Pregio, 2.7 Diesel with 3 seatm. Not sure how well its holds 3 blokes though
http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/private/details.aspx?Cr=6&R=9928845&keywords=&trecs=14&__sid=12D84896E8BB&__Ns=pCar_RankSort_Int32|1||pCar_PriceSort_Decimal|1||pCar_Make_String|0||pCar_Model_String|0&__Qpb=true&tsrc=allcarhome&__Nne=15&seot=1&__N=1216%201246%201247%201252%201282%204294964895%204294964835%20898&silo=1011
Thanks for all the suggestions guys. Looks like there's a few options available.