rumrunn6

1994 Camry, don't know the bike details. this is how my Son has been transporting his girlfriend's bike. he's getting a new/used car & I bought him a trunk mount bike rack (for their 2 bikes). hope he uses it!

thought it was an interesting way to go, w/ the rear wheel on the back seat. obviously, the seat post is not jacked up high, like mine usually are

hope he keeps the new/used car cleaner that this one

Camilo

I've put bikes in back seats over the years, but take the front wheel off and put the fork in the back seat passenger side foot well.

As for the condition of the car.... I won't claim the high ground there, at least when i was younger.

rumrunn6

yeah that's what I have done too, wheel off, etc. ... as for the car, it's actually clean, but after a cpl moves, some unwanted stuff wound up living in the car as a kind of mobile storage unit. I helped him get rid of a cpl items, like 2 comforters in the trunk, but the rest is on him

datlas 

I always take my bike in the back of my car. Rear seats folded down, remove front wheel. Easy peasy. I suspect that would work ok in this case too.

DomaneS5

If it's just me.... I fold down the back seats and lay the bike down on it's left side. I have a SUV, so there's plenty of space without having to remove the front tire.

Broctoon

Looks like it would be difficult to get the bike in and out of there, even with the seat adjusted pretty low. At the very least, I would put down an old blanket or towel to keep the car seat from getting greasy if the chain contacts it. And I would probably remove the front wheel just to make it a little easier.

When I want to take a bike in my Sonata, I put it in the trunk. I have to remove the front wheel, but with the rear seatbacks folded forward, it fits easily. I think if I removed both wheels I could fit it without folding the seatbacks.

Calsun

I have usually removed the front wheel to make it easier to fit inside. I chose my last SUV, a Chevy Traverse, because I could fold down the far rear seat and had enough room to put two road bikes inside without removing the front wheels. "Larger" SUVs often provided less rear cargo space as they were designed to carry 8-9 passengers and replace a mini van. The SUV was replaced by a pickup that has a 6.5 ft bed and also accommodates both our bikes with the tires left on.

Out of sight makes them far less likely to get stolen and a thief that wants to get to the bike in your son's car is going to break a window and this means paying out for that repair as well as for a replacement bicycle.

flan48

Exactly what I do but lay a queen-sized bed sheet over the whole back area, "just in case".

Bet regards
Barry, 77
New Jersey

tiger1964 

Looks like it's working for him. WeatherTech makes a rear seat protector for the Camry (not cheap), don't know what the next car would be.

As I own three cars none of which have a back seat, I cannot do that. I used to go to the races with my bike in my Datsun 510, where the back seat would have been if I had not gutted the car ("weight weenies" exist for cars just like for bikes).

SurferRosa

Put some gears on that bike, and instead of toting it around, she can just ride it! Doh!

sjanzeir

This is why my daily driver is an old station wagon.

urbanknight

I do that all the time, although I have to take the front wheel off and put the rear wheel on the floor. Better than taking the time to put the trunk rack on, plus the rack scratches the bike (and the car if I cared about it), plus the bike is less likely to be stolen from inside the car than outside should I need to run errands on my way home.

genejockey 

I fold the seats down, lay a cheap blanket over the trunk opening and bumper, take the wheel off, lay the bike on the NDS, flip the blanket over the bike, and lay the wheel on top. This is in a Dodge Challenger, which has a surprisingly large trunk but still needs the seats folded down.

Polaris OBark

I wax my chain, so don't have to worry about greasing up the car. OTOH, I have 2 bike racks.

rumrunn6

that is awesome

tFUnK

With road bikes with short wheelbases, I've been able to fit the bike upright in the legroom area of the back seats (front wheel removed, in trunk) with the crank side facing the front of the car. I've gotten many scratches on the rear surface of the front seats and the arm rest/console, so I don't do this with a car that I care about (ie, wife's car). Have since gone with a hitch rack and wish I'd done so years sooner.

t2p

if the back seats don’t fold down (frown) - and no trailer hitch to use a plug-in hitch rack - sometimes this is an option

( remove front and rear wheels )

can also place the wheels in the interior on the floor behind the front seats

( I would not use a trunk rack cringe )

joesch

IMO bike in car is better than bike behind car which can be a bike car bumper
Old blanket help protect bike & car especially if stacking 2 bikes

rumrunn6

really? how come?

tFUnK

My experience is that some trunk racks take too long (and require too much care) to set up properly, they can scratch the car (where the mount touches the car, where the straps attach, and where the bike pedals might swing into the car), and I've always had anxiety over its potential failure (I feel like a failure can damage both car and bike, whereas with a hitch rack the damage to the car at least will be minimal if say the rack somehow fell out of the hitch).

tFUnK

I agree. Removing the front wheel and stowing in the backseat was always preferable over trying to get on a trunk rack. This changed when I went with a hitch rack as putting on the rack and getting the bike onto the rack was just as fast/easy and I did not have to remove/re install the front wheel.

tFUnK

This is true for minor bumps but I feel like a bike in the trunk or even rear seat is just as likely to get damaged beyond repair in the case of a serious rear collision.

rumrunn6

oh ok, yeah I get it. not my preference either, but I'm not a bike-in-the-car type either. I do the hitch thing

urbanknight

May I ask which model hitch rack you use? I plan on buying a small SUV in the near future and plan on getting a hitch rack for it, although I was just planning to use the rack when carpooling and tossing the bike on a blanket in the back with the back seats folded if going solo. But if putting a hitch rack is as easy as you make it sound, maybe I'll just use it every time.

tFUnK

I have a 1Up rack which is modular for single or double (separate add on), but I feel like most tray racks would be just as user-friendly.