Overloading our car with bikes!

Our brilliant but overloaded VW Vento

When we go on holiday we normally take Rachel's VW as it's got a bigger boot than my car.  That has been fine for all kinds of camping trips with and without bikes but this year it's just been too much.  Sometimes we've had a roof box full of our gear, adding further to the weight!

When we arrived for our Cumbria holiday this year, we managed to scrape the bottom of the car along a raised ridge leading to our holiday farmhouse.  In doing so it pulled off some kind of brace that was bolted to the underside of the car.  The local garage said it wasn't a problem but might get picked up at the next MOT.  Phew.

While we were on holiday the clutch started to slip and this now has been the final straw.  This is the orginal clutch which has lasted for 163,000 miles so we can make an allowance here.  We had in mind replacing the car this year, having bought it way back in the last century.  So, with the new school term approaching we hopefully have another car coming this week (which we haven't even seen let alone test driving).  It was the "very reliable" and "not remotely exciting to drive" reports in Which? that helped us decide.  Besides, I reckon the new car will be able to carry even more bikes but I haven't mentioned that to Rachel yet!