7 ms·

Does anyone make a small car that safely seats 6 people with adequate storage space for doing a week worth of grocery shopping or luggage for a weekend trip?

caycep 3y ago
not a small car, but time to bring back the wagon!!!!
- santafen 3y ago
  I'm 100% here for station wagons!
codevark 3y ago
[dead]
ecshafer 3y ago
Station wagons used to fit that requirement.
JohnFen 3y ago
Maybe not, but most people don't have those requirements, and people who don't should drive a smaller car.
tibbydudeza 3y ago
I drive a 2017 VW Polo - just did my month-end shopping for a family of 3 today and in the rear I had 3 water cooler bottles to be refilled. It is indeed possible - just shop or pack more efficiently :).
- barbazoo 3y ago
  When I hear "VW Polo" I immediately think of this one: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Volkswagen_Polo_Harlekin_in_Germany.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Volkswag... Now they look so grown up, pretty much like a Golf.
  - tibbydudeza 3y ago
    The original Polo was made by their Spanish arm called SEAT - VW then took the model line further to slot in below the Golf when that became bigger and more expensive. The new Polo (2018-) is now the size the Golf 5/6 was circa 2009 and thus is priced accordingly. Their solution for our car market is to still produce the 2017 model and rebrand it as the Polo Vivo.
barbazoo 3y ago
The average family size is 3.13 in the US btw so most families could probably make due with a smaller car that doesn't fit 6. https://www.statista.com/statistics/183657/average-size-of-a-family-in-the-us/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/183657/average-size-of-a... Doing a grocery shop with the entire family of 6 sounds stressful btw :)
zip1234 3y ago
Most cars also have racks on top for when additional storage is needed for a weekend trip. A subaru with car top carrier is a fairly common sight.
helaoban 3y ago
Do large families only exist in the U.S? Why is this not an issue for people in any other country? The explosion in vehicle size over the last 10 years in U.S is off-the-scale absurd, while per-capita fatal crashes have only gone UP over the same period[1]. 1. https://www.iihs.org/topics/fatality-statistics/detail/yearly-snapshot https://www.iihs.org/topics/fatality-statistics/detail/yearl... EDIT: You wouldn't believe how many GMC Yukons I see in my wealthy SF suburb that are used to shuffle 8 year-olds from school to soccer practice. For the uninitiated: https://www.carsized.com/en/cars/compare/ford-focus-2013-5-door-hatchback-rs-vs-gmc-yukon-2020-suv-lwb/ https://www.carsized.com/en/cars/compare/ford-focus-2013-5-d...
- lockhouse 3y ago
  I fail to see a reason to buy a car that would be suboptimal for my personal situation.
  - helaoban 3y ago
    "I fail to see a reason to eat a serving that would be sub-optimal for my personal situation", said the 600-pound man before digging into a meal of 50 flapjacks and a Big Gulp.
  - noelwelsh 3y ago
    Have you ever noticed there are other people where you live? And that they have different personal situations?
    - lockhouse 3y ago
      So if they don’t need a larger car they shouldn’t have them? Small cars are available, even in the US, but most people aren’t interested in buying them. There are lots of reasons for that. Unless you plan to get draconian about it, people would need a reason to favor small cars.
      - noelwelsh 3y ago
tekla 3y ago
America is the only place I've ever heard of where the ability to haul a week of groceries at a time is a requirement. I wonder how 6 billion other people manage to eat.
- lockhouse 3y ago
  In many parts of rural America it’s not feasible to buy groceries and other supplies a day at a time. The stores are too far away to drive to that frequently. Plus it would defeat the purpose of a smaller car as more energy would be required overall.
  - ericmay 3y ago
    I think that’s a good point, and one we should acknowledge as we stop designing our cities, roads, and transportation systems to cater only to this small number of rural people.
    - FuriouslyAdrift 3y ago
      20% of the US is rural and that number has been increasing the last few years. That's about 70 million people.
      - undersuit 3y ago
        That definition of rural where the 20% comes from isn't countryside. https://www.hrsa.gov/rural-health/about-us/what-is-rural https://www.hrsa.gov/rural-health/about-us/what-is-rural "Micro area (urban core of 10,000-49,9999 people)" I apparently live in a rural area, Helena, MT. The state capital by the way. You can look up if you are the 20% Rural or 80% Urban here: https://data.hrsa.gov/tools/rural-health https://data.hrsa.gov/tools/rural-health I say all this because I walk to the grocery store and bike to work. In a rural area no less!
        ericmay 3y ago
        Thanks, and also 70 million is still a much smaller number than 262 million which would be the remaining population (continuing to use broad number as the OP did) and so the point still stands based on that alone.
noelwelsh 3y ago
It's incredible how everytime anything car / transportation related comes up on HN there is always an objection the boils down to "but that won't fit my niche use case!!1!"
NeoTar 3y ago
Does anyone make any car which satisfies those requirements? I believe you may be looking for a mini-bus.
nonameiguess 3y ago
I don't know what counts as a "small" car here, but I drive a sport SUV because I don't need the storage or seating capacity of a full size, but I do at least need enough space to fit myself. I'm not huge, about 6'2.5" 180 lbs, but I have to find a sedan I can drive without hitting my head on the ceiling and feeling like my field of view is seriously impeded. If someone made something in-between, that doesn't need to be large overall but at least large enough in the space for the driver to acknowledge we're not all midgets, I'd gladly buy that. It's the same way with airline seating. Granting I'm a little bit of a special case because I'm missing two discs and have ten screws in my spine, but I find myself only flying first class not because I'm wealthy but because if I fly economy, I won't be able to stand up straight for three hours after the flight lands. If they sold something in-between, like say, economy seats as they existed 30 years ago, I'd gladly use that, too.
santafen 3y ago
How often do people take a family of six grocery shopping? On vacation, sure, but that's an entirely different use model.
- lockhouse 3y ago
  We do at least once a week, which why we own a minivan and not a small car.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
ROTMetro 3y ago
My little hatch can do that for 5 people. And it's actually sporty and fun to drive unlike a truck.
Mordisquitos 3y ago
Yes. Ford, for example: https://www.carsized.com/en/cars/compare/ford-galaxy-2015-minivan-vs-ford-f150-2017-4-door-pickup-supercrew-5.5-raptor/ https://www.carsized.com/en/cars/compare/ford-galaxy-2015-mi...
- bryanlarsen 3y ago
  They don't sell those in North America. You used to be able to get a similar sized Mazda 5, but they recently stopped selling those too.
bryanlarsen 3y ago
Rather than 6 people AND cargo, our requirement is 6 people OR 4 people + cargo. Kind of an annoying requirement. A tiny hatchback will do 5 people OR 2 people + cargo, so it's close but not quite. 5 people + cargo is also well served and seems to be the sweet spot but those vehicles don't have a way to accomodate 6. We have an old Mazda 5 micro-van that hits our requirements, but they no longer sell that in North America. So we either have to get something considerably larger or compromise.
bradleyjg 3y ago
With six people plus a week’s worth of groceries for six, forget small cars—-there aren’t that many vehicles period. I’d think expanded length sport utility vehicles (e.g. Chevy Suburban) is going to be about it.

caycep 3y ago

not a small car, but time to bring back the wagon!!!!

santafen 3y ago
I'm 100% here for station wagons!

codevark 3y ago

[dead]

ecshafer 3y ago

Station wagons used to fit that requirement.

JohnFen 3y ago

Maybe not, but most people don't have those requirements, and people who don't should drive a smaller car.

tibbydudeza 3y ago

I drive a 2017 VW Polo - just did my month-end shopping for a family of 3 today and in the rear I had 3 water cooler bottles to be refilled. It is indeed possible - just shop or pack more efficiently :).

barbazoo 3y ago
When I hear "VW Polo" I immediately think of this one: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Volkswagen_Polo_Harlekin_in_Germany.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Volkswag... Now they look so grown up, pretty much like a Golf.
- tibbydudeza 3y ago
  The original Polo was made by their Spanish arm called SEAT - VW then took the model line further to slot in below the Golf when that became bigger and more expensive. The new Polo (2018-) is now the size the Golf 5/6 was circa 2009 and thus is priced accordingly. Their solution for our car market is to still produce the 2017 model and rebrand it as the Polo Vivo.

barbazoo 3y ago

The average family size is 3.13 in the US btw so most families could probably make due with a smaller car that doesn't fit 6. https://www.statista.com/statistics/183657/average-size-of-a-family-in-the-us/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/183657/average-size-of-a... Doing a grocery shop with the entire family of 6 sounds stressful btw :)

zip1234 3y ago

Most cars also have racks on top for when additional storage is needed for a weekend trip. A subaru with car top carrier is a fairly common sight.

helaoban 3y ago

Do large families only exist in the U.S? Why is this not an issue for people in any other country? The explosion in vehicle size over the last 10 years in U.S is off-the-scale absurd, while per-capita fatal crashes have only gone UP over the same period[1]. 1. https://www.iihs.org/topics/fatality-statistics/detail/yearly-snapshot https://www.iihs.org/topics/fatality-statistics/detail/yearl... EDIT: You wouldn't believe how many GMC Yukons I see in my wealthy SF suburb that are used to shuffle 8 year-olds from school to soccer practice. For the uninitiated: https://www.carsized.com/en/cars/compare/ford-focus-2013-5-door-hatchback-rs-vs-gmc-yukon-2020-suv-lwb/ https://www.carsized.com/en/cars/compare/ford-focus-2013-5-d...

lockhouse 3y ago
I fail to see a reason to buy a car that would be suboptimal for my personal situation.
- helaoban 3y ago
  "I fail to see a reason to eat a serving that would be sub-optimal for my personal situation", said the 600-pound man before digging into a meal of 50 flapjacks and a Big Gulp.
- noelwelsh 3y ago
  Have you ever noticed there are other people where you live? And that they have different personal situations?
  - lockhouse 3y ago
    So if they don’t need a larger car they shouldn’t have them? Small cars are available, even in the US, but most people aren’t interested in buying them. There are lots of reasons for that. Unless you plan to get draconian about it, people would need a reason to favor small cars.
    - noelwelsh 3y ago

tekla 3y ago

America is the only place I've ever heard of where the ability to haul a week of groceries at a time is a requirement. I wonder how 6 billion other people manage to eat.

lockhouse 3y ago
In many parts of rural America it’s not feasible to buy groceries and other supplies a day at a time. The stores are too far away to drive to that frequently. Plus it would defeat the purpose of a smaller car as more energy would be required overall.
- ericmay 3y ago
  I think that’s a good point, and one we should acknowledge as we stop designing our cities, roads, and transportation systems to cater only to this small number of rural people.
  - FuriouslyAdrift 3y ago
    20% of the US is rural and that number has been increasing the last few years. That's about 70 million people.
    - undersuit 3y ago
      That definition of rural where the 20% comes from isn't countryside. https://www.hrsa.gov/rural-health/about-us/what-is-rural https://www.hrsa.gov/rural-health/about-us/what-is-rural "Micro area (urban core of 10,000-49,9999 people)" I apparently live in a rural area, Helena, MT. The state capital by the way. You can look up if you are the 20% Rural or 80% Urban here: https://data.hrsa.gov/tools/rural-health https://data.hrsa.gov/tools/rural-health I say all this because I walk to the grocery store and bike to work. In a rural area no less!
      - ericmay 3y ago
        Thanks, and also 70 million is still a much smaller number than 262 million which would be the remaining population (continuing to use broad number as the OP did) and so the point still stands based on that alone.

noelwelsh 3y ago

It's incredible how everytime anything car / transportation related comes up on HN there is always an objection the boils down to "but that won't fit my niche use case!!1!"

NeoTar 3y ago

Does anyone make any car which satisfies those requirements? I believe you may be looking for a mini-bus.

nonameiguess 3y ago

I don't know what counts as a "small" car here, but I drive a sport SUV because I don't need the storage or seating capacity of a full size, but I do at least need enough space to fit myself. I'm not huge, about 6'2.5" 180 lbs, but I have to find a sedan I can drive without hitting my head on the ceiling and feeling like my field of view is seriously impeded. If someone made something in-between, that doesn't need to be large overall but at least large enough in the space for the driver to acknowledge we're not all midgets, I'd gladly buy that. It's the same way with airline seating. Granting I'm a little bit of a special case because I'm missing two discs and have ten screws in my spine, but I find myself only flying first class not because I'm wealthy but because if I fly economy, I won't be able to stand up straight for three hours after the flight lands. If they sold something in-between, like say, economy seats as they existed 30 years ago, I'd gladly use that, too.

santafen 3y ago

How often do people take a family of six grocery shopping? On vacation, sure, but that's an entirely different use model.

lockhouse 3y ago
We do at least once a week, which why we own a minivan and not a small car.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

ROTMetro 3y ago

My little hatch can do that for 5 people. And it's actually sporty and fun to drive unlike a truck.

Mordisquitos 3y ago

Yes. Ford, for example: https://www.carsized.com/en/cars/compare/ford-galaxy-2015-minivan-vs-ford-f150-2017-4-door-pickup-supercrew-5.5-raptor/ https://www.carsized.com/en/cars/compare/ford-galaxy-2015-mi...

bryanlarsen 3y ago
They don't sell those in North America. You used to be able to get a similar sized Mazda 5, but they recently stopped selling those too.

bryanlarsen 3y ago

Rather than 6 people AND cargo, our requirement is 6 people OR 4 people + cargo. Kind of an annoying requirement. A tiny hatchback will do 5 people OR 2 people + cargo, so it's close but not quite. 5 people + cargo is also well served and seems to be the sweet spot but those vehicles don't have a way to accomodate 6. We have an old Mazda 5 micro-van that hits our requirements, but they no longer sell that in North America. So we either have to get something considerably larger or compromise.

bradleyjg 3y ago

With six people plus a week’s worth of groceries for six, forget small cars—-there aren’t that many vehicles period. I’d think expanded length sport utility vehicles (e.g. Chevy Suburban) is going to be about it.