Do I just bite the bullet and get a Jetta wagon?

I had a plan, it was to sell my Mazda5 and buy a Mazda3 touring 5-door. Reasons being I want better seats for road trips and I need an automatic so my wife will stop putting miles on our aging Sedona. This was all supposed to happen this summer.

Two things happened, though. One, I failed to save as much money as I would have liked, and two, my daughter started playing bass. So now the Mazda3 hatch isn't big enough and a used wagons that might appeal to me (e.g., TSX) are out of my price range.

The looming option has always been the Sportwagen, but I have an irrational hatred of VWs. Unfortunately, it's the one wagon that I can readily find in my price range and still get a decent interior package. So, talk me into it?

And I mean upright bass, so I need to get to school with 3 kids in a car plus a giant string instrument.

Can you just take the aging minivan when you need to haul all of your brood/stuff at once?

Are we talking new? If not I would suggest looking at a 9-5 wagon.

I can not see the Jetta Wagon doing a good job of hauling 3 kids and a stand up bass.
I suspect that one side of the rear seat will need to be folded to get the bass into the Jetta. This will leave you with just room to seat one kid in the rear and one up front.

Are the kids all so small that they need to be in the rear seat?

In reply to STM317:

Hmm, it'd complicate the logistics some but it might be worth considering.

In reply to JohnRW1621:

The Jetta has a 60/40 split, if I can't just rest the neck on the back seat I can squish two of them in the back and put one in the front.

Solve this problem a different way.

In reply to JohnRW1621:

Agreed. My Jetta wagon could do it, but the two kids in the back (one would need to ride up front) would be very cozy on the 60% side of the 60/40 seat.

Even then, I'm not 100% sure an upright bass (with or without a case?) would fit lengthwise in the back. Especially in the more recent versions where the hatch has more rake (my Mk IV is more of a traditional box) which cuts into cargo room.

+1 for the minivan. My '08 GC would do this job without thinking about it.

Ugh, thanks for the feedback Ian. Stupid bass.

What is your budget? Used Volvo V70 or XC70?

Forget the V50 - it's not substantially larger than my Jetta; possibly even smaller (my mother has a V50). The new V60 also suffers from the substantial rear hatch rake problem cutting into cargo room.

Oh - another thing to consider with the Jetta. I'm 5'10" with a 34" inseam and rear seat leg-room behind me is tight at best. Newer Jettas are only marginally better here.

steronz wrote: And I mean upright bass, so I need to get to school with 3 kids in a car plus a giant string instrument.

From what I know of my brother-in-laws Jetta wagon and having seen a stand-up bass, I'm going to say they are mutually incompatible. I think you're looking at a second minivan.

My Passat wagon is miles larger inside than the Jetta but I still wouldn't recommend it for what you want. Three kids and giant instrument school run is minivan territory.

Buy your Mazda.

Buy this or similar.

/problem.

While not a cheap option... Could you use something like this for the Bass?

https://www.thule.com/en-us/us/cargo-carrier/car-top-carrier/thule-hyper-xl-_-1680020

Seems that you are suggesting that the body of the bass would remain in the "trunk" area of the Jetta and just the neck would go into the seating area.

Seems that "B" represents the length of the body which is 50"- 41"

How much room is in a Jetta wagon?

The roof box makes a lot of sense, and you can find them for far less that the uber luxurious Thule. I load tons of stuff in mine. The nice thing about wagons is that they are not too tall so you can easily reach into the cargo box.

I have never seen a roof box that is even close to being large enough to fit an upright bass, in any way shape or form. Additionally, music instruments - and especially acoustic ones - do NOT like huge the temperature and humidity swings that would be present in an unconditioned roof box.

Bear in mind - the dimensions John posted above are the interior dimensions - the case itself will add a few inches to those.

Didn't Jed's Wife have a similar dilemma with trying to find something to haul numerous kids and a larger musical instrument and end up with an Outback Wagon? Paging Jed to the white courtesy phone..

In reply to 92dxman:

Tuba and kids resulted in CTS-V wagon purchase for MazdaDuece

Get her a fiddle

Rockabilly is the answer. Crew cab rat rod truck.

Its the natural progression of stand up bass playing.

Good clean sensible family hauler.

92dxman wrote: Didn't Jed's Wife have a similar dilemma with trying to find something to haul numerous kids and a larger musical instrument and end up with an Outback Wagon? Paging Jed to the white courtesy phone..

Don't think there would be any problem fitting a bass and 3 kids in my 2015 Outback as long as the kids weren't high school football players. Outbacks have been the same size as mine since 2010 and older ones are rather roomy also.

Ian F wrote: I have never seen a roof box that is even close to being large enough to fit an upright bass, in any way shape or form. Additionally, music instruments - and especially acoustic ones - do NOT like huge the temperature and humidity swings that would be present in an unconditioned roof box. Bear in mind - the dimensions John posted above are the interior dimensions - the case itself will add a few inches to those.

Yakima makes a 20 cu.ft. box.

In reply to Aspen:

Looking at the dimensions, I'm not sure even that is big enough - mainly the depth. An upright bass is merely huge. And that still doesn't fix the environmental concerns.

While I'm sure to some of you guys, putting an instrument in a hot or freezing box doesn't seem like a problem, but I've been a musician most of my life now. I wouldn't subject the cheapest, crappiest guitar I own to that kind of abuse.