<p>Our old Ford Escort wagon is hitting 200 miles , a lot of rust and has not a heater for years . It’s our " double bass " carrier for many years and we are looking at small station wagons ( used ) that can fit the double bass . The beauty of our Escort ( now discontinued ) wagon was that it had fold-down back seats side - by - side so little brother can ride in back when we go to lessons .</p>
<p>With auditions coming up ( and S may eventually get this car himself ) , what are your preferred models ?? NO VANS !!! NO SUVS !!!</p>
<p>Since you don’t want to hear about the van, our other bassmobile is a 1995 Volvo 850 wagon. With one of the rear seats folded down, it can carry the bass, a stool, much music, three people and a reasonable amount of luggage. If you fold down both rear seats and only take two people, it can carry all of the above plus an unreasonable amount of luggage.</p>
<p>We once managed to fit three people, two basses, two stools, two bags of music and two backpacks filled with high school books in this car when a section mate needed a ride to youth symphony rehearsal.</p>
<p>In a pinch, we have fit two people, the bass, the stool and a few essentials into a Honda Civic. It was cozy, but we got there.</p>
<p>For anyone else reading this thread who does want to hear about the van, we use our Honda Oddyssey with a rooftop rack to take daughter back and forth to school. It holds everything she needs for a full year at school, including the bass, the stool, lots of printed music and an electric bass guitar with amplifier and assorted accessories, plus enough luggage for mom, dad and younger brother to continue on for a week’s vacation after dropping her off at school.</p>
<p>We’re violin people, not double bass, but our “music car” is a Pontiac Vibe and I bought it because I needed many of the same things you do. The back seat folds completely flat and has two sides, so little brother can ride and we can still put long items in the back. It holds a ton - I thing the most was three girls, violin, viola, cello, music, stands, and assorted other stuff (plus driver). It’s “cooler” than a station wagon (according to D-who also drives it). It also gets great mileage and wasn’t terribly expensive. I bought mine used in October 2004 with 20K on it. It’s now has over 60K and we haven’t had any trouble. The Toyota Matrix is a twin, but will probably cost more. If you want to pm me with the dimensions of your bass, I’ll be happy to measure the back of my car and see if it would fit.</p>
<p>We are a 2 tuba family, not a double bass family, but have similar needs.</p>
<p>Our son STILL mourns his rusty old Escort wagon!!! We thought it was sentimental attachment to his first car but actually it was convenience of those split fold down back seats for hauling tubas!</p>
<p>Now, he borrows Dad’s Town and Country minivan or my Sable wagon…both work well.</p>
<p>I remember having a chuckle while walking by Symphony Hall in Boston several years ago with my wife. There was an enormous station wagon illegally parked with the emergency flashers on and a license plate that read 7PEDLS. We knew immediately who owned that one.</p>
<p>Our local “Bass Dad” has just acquired a Toyota Matrix and is gushing over it! Fits the bass no problem and several, large humans. It’s also available in AWD for you northern inhabitants.</p>
<p>I believe that the Matrix and Prius share the same body type, and, if true, would make the green option available too…</p>
<p>I have a Prius which my son uses to take his bass to gigs. The back seat splits, but both sections have to be down for his bass to fit. His bass is rather large (7/8) and the neck ends up between the front seats. It also works this way in the flight case. Unfortunately, the top is not high enough to turn the bass sideways so that one passenger can still fit in the back. In my wife’s SUV, we can put the bass on it’s side (of course, in the flight case) and only put down 1/2 of the back seat, leaving room for a passenger. She has the Mercedes SUV which is not very large compared to an Explorer or those full-size SUV’s. So far, we haven’t had any problems with the flight case at airports, except for the $80 charge for being over-sized. But I’ve heard horror stories from others.</p>