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Which car model can serve as temporary sleeper? - SteeringWheel

Several days a month I have to spend a night away from home. Hotels are expensive so I keep thinking, are there car models where is is possible to lay the back (and maybe even front) seats down and have a reasonably comfy sleeping place.

And it should not look like a motor home or a van as there are silly rules not allowing to park it on British streets.

Which car model can serve as temporary sleeper? - Adampr

Loads - anything with a flat floor and loading space longer than 1800mm with the seats down.

You can buy (somewhat pricey) kits to make it quite comfortable. If nothing else, this might serve as a list of possibilities:

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Which car model can serve as temporary sleeper? - elekie&a/c doctor
Mondeo estate. Get the whole family in the back of one of these .
Which car model can serve as temporary sleeper? - S40 Man
Mondeo estate. Get the whole family in the back of one of these .

Yes I'd second that. I used to work late shift and had a blow up mattresses in the boot of my Mondeo. I"d catch a few Zz's before work started.

Privacy glass side windows might help. No-one could see you and it would be a bit darker.

Which car model can serve as temporary sleeper? - Crickleymal

Kia Sorento, Citroen Berlingo etc

Which car model can serve as temporary sleeper? - Xileno

Have you done this before? It's a fairly miserable experience and a metal box loses heat quickly in colder weather. I did it once when I lost my house keys and was pleased it was only one night.

Which car model can serve as temporary sleeper? - badbusdriver

On many Japanese import (JDM) MPV's, the seats can be arranged into a bed. Doesn't need to be a big one either, I was looking at a Daihatsu Atrai 7 (shorter and narrower than a Fiesta) the other day on Ebay which has the ability to do this;

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Of course one of them might be a bit too small and weird, but plenty others available.

Which car model can serve as temporary sleeper? - edlithgow

Have you done this before? It's a fairly miserable experience and a metal box loses heat quickly in colder weather. I did it once when I lost my house keys and was pleased it was only one night.

I assume if you locked yourself out you wern't prepared. I had two cheap (Argos IIRC) sleeping bags and had no difficulty over wintering in Aberdeen

Which car model can serve as temporary sleeper? - Will deBeast

"it should not look like a motor home or a van as there are silly rules not allowing to park it on British streets."

I park my campervan on streets all the time. Not sure what rules you refer to. Though I prefer campsites when sleeping in it overnight.

If you really want a car-like vehicle, what about an S-max or something similar.

Which car model can serve as temporary sleeper? - edlithgow

I slept in a Nissan Sunny hatchback while doing an MSc at Aberdeen University.

I took the front passenger seat out, (and I THINK the rear, can't honestly remember about that now) put an air bed in, and installed a camp bed as a "roof" to the sleeping area, between the dash and the rear parcel shelf.

Covered with a sheet, and with some household junk, including a lamp, I hoped it would look like a house move.

One feels (and is) too exposed sleeping in a standard car in an urban area.

I linked the door handles together in case of break ins, but apart from someone trying the door once when I'd carelessly left the keys in the ignition, no problems in Aberdeen.

You could probably do this with pretty much any hatchback or estate, though some would be better than others. A split rear seat might help if trying to retain passenger seating, or, as has been mentioned, some cars have "lay flat" seats, though they might be a bit high.

Probably difficult to make the "house move" aspect convincing with a saloon car.

I also lived in camper vans and trucks in London for a few years but had several break-ins.

I thought at the time the most practical platform would be something like an LDV Sherpa mail van (being sold off at the time) with no windows but a translucent fibreglass roof and a roller rear door, with "French Windows " inside, but never did that. I had a Ford Transit 1600 high top, a Honda Acty Romahome (compact and bijou), and a Renault Dodge 400 Ex-BT workshop truck (not compact or bijou)

Parking restrictions and video surveillance levels would probably make it very difficult these days, though I have reason to believe a security camera saved my ass once when sleeping in a MAZDA 626 in London

Edited by edlithgow on 18/08/2022 at 15:56

Which car model can serve as temporary sleeper? - badbusdriver

I used to have a Suzuki ST90 panel van, this was the predecessor to the Supercarry and pretty much the same as a Bedford Rascal. I slept in the back of that one time I went to visit friends in the Orkney Islands. Had to lie diagonally as I wouldn't quite fit lengthwise, but I got some big cardboard boxes from the garage I worked in and had a sleeping bag. It was absolutely fine, no problems being too cold (this would have been September or October).

In theory you could bed down in the most recent shape Renault Twingo or Smart Forfour as the passenger seat back folds down.

Which car model can serve as temporary sleeper? - bazza

Most comfortable would be something you can sit up in, and long enough to stretch out, many people convert the Berlingo to a minicamper, or a fiat doblo. Need to consider ventilation to minimise condensation. You can tint or cover the rear windows of an mpv version to give privacy. There are even kits that sit in the back that convert from a table to a bed. Google bootjump. In winter it will be mighty cold unless you fit a diesel cab heater designed for that purpose. There is plenty of discussion online if you search for microcamper etc .

Which car model can serve as temporary sleeper? - Alby Back
Used to a lot when I first started my business and times were tough. Had to travel away from home a fair bit. Mondeo estate back then. Mine had a sunroof which I used to leave on tilt for ventilation. Swimming pool car parks were my favourite, I could sleep there and then nip in for a quick swim and a shower/use the loo in the mornings. Ideal scenario was a swimming pool with a car park, that was also near a chip shop! ;-)

Edited by Alby Back on 18/08/2022 at 19:01

Which car model can serve as temporary sleeper? - Adampr

Now I think about it, I once slept in the boot of a Skoda Favorit. Would not recommend.

Which car model can serve as temporary sleeper? - Falkirk Bairn

My neighbour bought a ex-builder's VW Caddy.

He is into cycling and often goes away for weekends.

He has transformed the tatty van - he has insulated the floor, sides & roof of the van. This safely keeps the bikes (blackout rear windows) and provides a sleeping place should he need.

Other modifications are extensive - he buys VAG parts from a range of VAG cars. Over say 4 years he started off installing AC, upgraded the diesel engine output to some 180BHP, he has replaced seats (A3 leather/electric seats), A3 dashboard, Touran bumpers. Resprayed, alloys, re-carpeted............. anything from the VAG parts .

In the last winter he replaced the diesel engine with a tuned 2.8V6 engine from an A3 write-off (about 300BHP)+auto gearbox . Currently working on air suspension from some Audi.

A bit mad but it goes like stink a Qvan.

As well as buying bits, write-off A3 he sells the bits he has taken out - diesel engine, gearbox etc etc. He re-sold the complete A3 V6 without the engine & gbox - insurance write-off but all it needed was a bashed rear panel sorted and it could have been saved.

Which car model can serve as temporary sleeper? - Heidfirst

Lots of large estates. Have happily slept in Sierra estate, Carlton/Omega estate, Avensis estate.

Just check that the rear seats actually fold totally flat with the loadspace - latterly quite a few estates eschewed this & the rear seat backs would sit at a slight angle when folded.

Which car model can serve as temporary sleeper? - movilogo

Answer depends entirely on your height. Fold all seats and see if you can fit with your legs fully stretched.

Don't try to sleep with legs bent. It will be very uncomfortable very quickly.

Which car model can serve as temporary sleeper? - badbusdriver

I'm not saying I'd recommend one because their reputation for reliability isn't that great, but on the original Mercedes A Class, the rear and front passenger seat could be unclipped and removed. Because of how it was designed with a double floor (in a front end collision, the engine and gearbox would be forced between them), the cabin floor was completely flat and so the OP could lie flat on the passenger side of the car, despite it being less than 3.6m long (a current Fiesta is just over 4m)!.

Not sure if the 2nd gen (2004-2012) carried on this feature, but the 'conventional' A Class from 2012 definitely didn't.

Which car model can serve as temporary sleeper? - Xileno

I would want a small van for the extra privacy. The Berlingo size might be an option. When you say you will be away several times a month, will it be parked in the same street each time? How would anyone know someone was asleep in the back anyway?

Which car model can serve as temporary sleeper? - edlithgow

How would anyone know someone was asleep in the back anyway?

There's an unresolvable tension between parking somewhere discrete, so you don't get spotted, and parking somewhere you are less likely to get break-ins.

I’ve been sleeping in vehicles twice when they were broken into. In the fright of the moment I came pretty close to clouting one guy (who was stealing my radio in the front cab of the compact-and-bijou Honda Acty Romahome) across the back of the head with a large spanner.

This would have been awkward if he’d inconveniently died.

Stopped myself and shouted at the back of his neck as loud as I could, which unfortunately caused him to jump upright and put a large head-shaped dent in my cab roof. Then he legged it and (presumably a bit disoriented) ran into a concrete lampost.

I know that hurts cos I’ve done it myself.

After the burgler (presumably an already addled junkie before his double concussion, since I’m pretty sure the radio would have been almost worthless) bounced off the lampost, he staggered off up the cul-de-sac I was parked-up in, and quite a long time later ran BACK the other way.

Could have got out and tripped him. I suppose, but it didn’t seem worth the trouble/risk. I suppose I thought he'd suffered enough, though when I tried later to source a replacement for the window he broke, I wasn't so sure.

There’s probably a SunTzu “Art of War” aphorism that would fit that incident, if it hadn’t been pure luck.

Edited by edlithgow on 22/08/2022 at 05:43

Which car model can serve as temporary sleeper? - edlithgow

I'm not saying I'd recommend one because their reputation for reliability isn't that great, but on the original Mercedes A Class, the rear and front passenger seat could be unclipped and removed.

All seats can be removed. "Unclipping" no doubt makes it a bit more convenient, but only a bit.

The main snag with seat removal is storing the seats. I found on the Sunny the passenger seat could be stored behind the drivers seat, cotributing to the general "loaded up" look, but I THINK (not sure now) I had to leave the rear seats at home.

Flat floor is handy but an air bed and/or some foam packing can accomodate floot irregularities.

Which car model can serve as temporary sleeper? - badbusdriver

All seats can be removed. "Unclipping" no doubt makes it a bit more convenient, but only a bit.

More than "a bit" surely?. Front seats in my Caddy van need a particular 'splined' bit (not a torx), which is not something you'd find in a tool set.

As for storing the seats, I don't believe the OP intends to live in the car, just the odd overnighter to save shelling out on a hotel. So he presumably does have a house, which may have a spare room or garage, and probably has a shed. Bear in mind too that in the case of the A Class, only the front passenger seat and single section of the 60/40 split rear would have to come out which wouldn't require that much space to store.

Edited by badbusdriver on 22/08/2022 at 06:38

Which car model can serve as temporary sleeper? - edlithgow

All seats can be removed. "Unclipping" no doubt makes it a bit more convenient, but only a bit.

More than "a bit" surely?. Front seats in my Caddy van need a particular 'splined' bit (not a torx), which is not something you'd find in a tool set.

OK, so in that case, its only a particular splined bit more inconvenient.

More than a bit in the sense that you'd need a ratchet and maybe an extension as well, perhaps?

From the OP's question, he's making this capability a constraint on vehicle selection.

Nothing wrong with that, but in that context acquiring and using a tool or two isn't really such a big deal.