How do you haul skis & kids to the mountain?

[AlpsSkidad]

 

[skiki]

Loving my new AWD hybrid Sienna, but the cargo space is not as good as my old mini van by far. Part of it is that the 2nd row seats have a more solid base, you can't slide ski tails under them.

 

[snwbrdr]

Loving my new AWD hybrid Sienna, but the cargo space is not as good as my old mini van by far. Part of it is that the 2nd row seats have a more solid base, you can't slide ski tails under them.

The price you pay for side airbags mounted in the second row seats

 

[Tom K.]

The price you pay for side airbags mounted in the second row seats

The price escalates from there. You also can't remove the second row seats. Saved me a bunch of money when we realized this.

 

[Mel]

Loving my new AWD hybrid Sienna, but the cargo space is not as good as my old mini van by far. Part of it is that the 2nd row seats have a more solid base, you can't slide ski tails under them.

What van did you have before?

I have a 2017 (non-hybrid) AWD Sienna and love it - just got a hybrid AWD RAV4 as our “other” car and I’m really wishing the hybrid siennas were available when we bought ours. Here in Canada the Sienna was the only minivan available with AWD when we bought ours, so we didn’t look around much.

I am debating getting a ski Thule box for it - more just to get the clutter out of the back of the van, and in case I ever take the RAV4 skiing instead. The RAV4 feels big until I try to put skis into it! I have 2 kids (teen and tween) so we are getting into large sized gear for all three of us. I can see how even a van might not have much room if you have 3+ kids, though.

This is our Sienna with all the emergency gear, boot bags, 3 pairs of skis, food cooler, and the portable BBQ for lunchtime parking lot burgers.

 

[Tom K.]

I have a 2017 (non-hybrid) AWD Sienna and love it - just got a hybrid AWD RAV4 as our “other” car and I’m really wishing the hybrid siennas were available when we bought ours.

We had one ordered, then discovered that the second row seats were not removable. Killed it for us. So bummed. Our 2011 spends 90% of its time without the second row seats in place.

 

[skiki]

My last was a 2001 Honda Odyssey. I didn't take the 2nd row out too often, but it was nice to be able to. I put that thing through the wringer for a good 2 decades- kids, dogs, sheets of plywood, loads of rocks and bricks heavier than I really should have loaded in there. But now the kids are grown, we are down to one dog, and the current house is pretty much renovated (there might be some rock wall building this summer though). But getting around 35 mpg is worth the trade off of lesser cargo space for me at this point in time (and still seat 7 when needed.)

 

[Mel]

we’ve never removed the second row in 3 1/2 years, so not a deal breaker at all for me. I’m impressed with the mileage of the hybrid RAV4 so far - I’ve had it a month and only used half a tank of gas driving to and from work every day. And I’m never buying a car without a heated steering wheel again!

 

[Uncle-A]

I just want to jump on this thread instead of starting a new one.

I have the opportunity to pickup a car top carrier for a very cheap price. The reason it is so cheap is that the lid has a dent in it and it looks like someone put too much weight on the top of it when it wasn't on the car. My question is can this dent be pushed back out from the inside or are they in for good.? There is no crease in the lid just a large bow in the lid. What does the community know about these car top carries? I don't know the brand or the type of material it is made of and sorry but I don't have any photos of it to share.

 

[Philpug]

I just want to jump on this thread instead of starting a new one.

I have the opportunity to pickup a car top carrier for a very cheap price. The reason it is so cheap is that the lid has a dent in it and it looks like someone put too much weight on the top of it when it wasn't on the car. My question is can this dent be pushed back out from the inside or are they in for good.? There is no crease in the lid just a large bow in the lid. What does the community know about these car top carries? I don't know the brand or the type of material it is made of and sorry but I don't have any photos of it to share.

Heat gun? Leave it out in the (hot) sun and pop it out from the inside?

 

[Uncle-A]

Heat gun? Leave it out in the (hot) sun and pop it out from the inside?

Thanks, I will have to see if it is still available.