Thank you one and all!and a question!

[newtowdw1]

First let me say that you all made my trip this August truly great! If you want to read all about it, I'm slowly putting it up over on trip reports. I've pretty much just lurked on this board, but I've re-read the FAQs at least 20 times!

Now, for my question...DH and I want to buy a beetle and put Herbie stickers on. We want to take him on the Autotrain next July. Suddenly we realized that we might not be able to fit an ECV into Herbie's trunk well, actually, I'm pretty sure we won't. Herbie will have 340 L of cargo space, while Sue M's taurus has 447 L. I'm not a car buff, but that seems like a big difference. FYI, Sue has great instructions for packing the trunk of a taurus, and it seems like a tight fit.

Ok, Q1, does anyone have any opinion about a broken down ECV fitting?
Q2, is it possible to rent a car lift/ramp that fits into a hitch receiver?
Hope someone can help me out

 

[videogal1]

Now, for my question...DH and I want to buy a beetle and put Herbie stickers on. We want to take him on the Autotrain next July. Suddenly we realized that we might not be able to fit an ECV into Herbie's trunk well, actually, I'm pretty sure we won't. Herbie will have 340 L of cargo space, while Sue M's taurus has 447 L. I'm not a car buff, but that seems like a big difference. FYI, Sue has great instructions for packing the trunk of a taurus, and it seems like a tight fit.

Ok, Q1, does anyone have any opinion about a broken down ECV fitting?
Q2, is it possible to rent a car lift/ramp that fits into a hitch receiver?
Hope someone can help me out

My Sundancer scooter, broken apart, fits in the trunk of my Honda Del Sol...mostly...I have to put the seat of the scooter in the passenger seat of the car... My old scooter, a Bruno Cub, fit in the trunk of the Del Sol but I had taken the arm rests off the scooter first... I just bought a Toyota Scion and had a hoist fitted into the back. The Sundancer has plenty of room to ride when hoisted in in one piece.

 

[SueM in MN]

Actually, the ecv instructions from the FAQ is from Cheshire Figment.
But, as it turns out, I know a lot about VW Beetles. In fact, we have 2 of them, my DH's (Mickey red) and my older DD's (Tinkerbell green).
My oldest DD wanted to take her sister (and her sister's wheelchair) along with her on a little drive. We had a real tough time finding a way to get it in and were not actually able to get all of it in, even with the back seat put down. The problem is that the back area has a rather low and sharp roofline. So, anything very tall can't fit in it.
I would be willing to do some measuring for you.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

One major problem is AutoTrain may not allow a lift on the back. I know they do not allow anything on a factory installed roof rack and they don't allow any other roof racks. Also I was looking into a Bruno Outsider lift for my Taurus and found it requires a Class 3 hitch which cannot be handled.

It would be very unsafe on a Beetle as the lift is over 100 pounds and a scooter (other than a small one) is over 150 pounds and it is all hanging out past the rear bumper; It would put the center of gravity of the car way to the back and there is a strong chance that the front wheels would come off the ground in a bumpy road.

 

[newtowdw1]

Sorry for the incorrect citing of packing instructions! Thanks for the replies. We may have to rethink this. I agree with Cheshire Fiment's assessment of the risks of a lift.

Hmmmm...well.
Thanks anyway!!

 

[newtowdw1]

Scootaround's transportable ECV looks very small to me. If the pillar were down, do you think we could avoid the height issue? I'll do some more reasearch on sizes of parts and maybe you can help me later. Pretty please?
Oh, and do you love them? Is your gas mileage great? We're hoping to find one, but have to drive over 50 miles to get to a dealer...how is the repair/reliability situation with yours? Sorry, I know, off-topic!

Actually, the ecv instructions from the FAQ is from Cheshire Figment.
But, as it turns out, I know a lot about VW Beetles. In fact, we have 2 of them, my DH's (Mickey red) and my older DD's (Tinkerbell green).
My oldest DD wanted to take her sister (and her sister's wheelchair) along with her on a little drive. We had a real tough time finding a way to get it in and were not actually able to get all of it in, even with the back seat put down. The problem is that the back area has a rather low and sharp roofline. So, anything very tall can't fit in it.
I would be willing to do some measuring for you.