OT: Ever slept in your car?

Mr Benevolent

I've done it once or twice in other people's cars - supremely uncomfortable mostly. However, the gf and I are planning to tor Europe in an (undecided) car in the next few years, and I'm a big proponent of sleeping in the car to save money on the trip - something like an Accord estate.

So have you slept in your car, and if so how did you make it comfortable? And if the recession gets worse this could be a useful thread

Eoin

Would you not be sick of the sight of the thing after a few days of sleeping and driving in it?

blinding

Confab wrote: »

I've done it once or twice in other people's cars - supremely uncomfortable mostly. However, the gf and I are planning to tor Europe in an (undecided) car in the next few years, and I'm a big proponent of sleeping in the car to save money on the trip - something like an Accord estate.

So have you slept in your car, and if so how did you make it comfortable? And if the recession gets worse this could be a useful thread

If you are not careful the gf will find more comfortably sleeping arrangements.:P

Jemmy

Something you could stick a mattress or a piece of foam into to sleep on in the back would be perfect.

I travelled around the north island of NZ in a mini camper with just a piece of foam to sleep on. More space in the van of course was 3 of us tho but the bit of foam was comfy enough. Some sort of estate car I suppose would be best.

A few times after a night on the beer. Sleeping in the car is not comfortable but once or twice was in the back of a carvan which wasn't too bad. Its gets very cold in a car a night.

antodeco

eoin wrote: »

Would you not be sick of the sight of the thing after a few days of sleeping?

Im sure his missus wont like looking at him either :P

Cookie_Monster

Once, never again, one of the more uncomfortable nites of my life.

Sleeping on the floor of a coach wasn't particularly nice either, don't think i slept for more than half an hour despite 3 times the recommended no of sleeping pills:(

Owen

Plenty of times after gigs up the country and trying to make it home. I normally sleep on the passenger chair though - there's some myth that if you're asleep in the driver's chair you can be done for it, no idea of it's true.

Now that I've the Rover as well as the MINI, I usually sleep on the back bench of that. Much more comfortable.

Long Onion

There's a 2004 E class hearse on carzone for €100 - kinky;)

antodeco

Ive slept in my car a few times. Mainly at festivals. Really comfortable. Im only 5'7, so push the chair right back and lean all the way back. Thermal sleeping bag and tinted windows! Always cosy and fun!

mike65

A coupe of times when camping. Hey it was more comfy!

mike65

PaintDoctor wrote: »

Plenty of times after gigs up the country and trying to make it home. I normally sleep on the passenger chair though - there's some myth that if you're asleep in the driver's chair you can be done for it, no idea of it's true.

If the keys are in the ignition you can be done (or something)

EPM

Buy a small camper. WILL be more comfortable than any car

R.O.R

Slept on the back seat of an Orion a couple of times and that's a bit cramped.

I was stretched out in the back of a Focus van last week and was surprised at the lenght of the load area.

Advantage of commercials is the totally flat floor. A lot of estate's will have a bit of a lip where the seats fold and that wouldn't be comfortable.

Had a Mitsubishi Grandis on demo a few months ago and you could organise all 3 rows of seats to a more or less flat level all the way through the cabin. That must be at least 10 foot long.

Murt10

Often slept in a car in my youth. Wake up very very early because of the brightness and freezing cold.

Suggest you throw a small tent into the boot. Can't do any harm and it doesn't cost much. After a right feed of beer/curry/garlic or having a row etc., all of which invariably happens on holidays, G/F might not wish to share your personal space.

Also cooking from a tent would be preferable to cooking from a car.

kwalshe

I've done it more than once. My current Mondeo Est. I can put one side of the seats down and it's cosy as hell. Do get cold in winter. Bring a hot water bottle and you'll be grand

I've done it with my family also when on road trip across Europe when I was younger. Only 1 or 2 nights in filling stations in Germany and Denmark, but only when no hotels around. It was great craic. Only 4 of us in the car old peugeot estate (not 504!) so no too bad

neilthefunkeone

Road tripped from Toronto - Vancouver in a chevy 20 van.. 6 of us in it with luggage and snowboards.. The morning light was the killer if you slept in the front!! Did it for 12 nights i think bar 1 night in a hostel!!! Sleeping bag and plenty of beer!!!!!:D

peasant

have a look at this:
http://www.gdargaud.net/Hack/Kangoo.html

bonzodog2

neilthefunkeone wrote: »

Road tripped from Toronto - Vancouver in a chevy 20 van.. 6 of us in it with luggage and snowboards.. The morning light was the killer if you slept in the front!! Did it for 12 nights i think bar 1 night in a hostel!!! Sleeping bag and plenty of beer!!!!!:D

One of those black sleeping masks might come in handy for that.

Many years ago I slept in a Cortina estate around Europe over a month. One night in Italy we were woken by 3 different types of armed police, on separate occasions through the night. Nearly shat ourselves when one of them dropped his automatic rifle/machine gun !

iggypops

Heya, I travelled around Oz and slept in the back of my car for most of the trip. it was really comfy. all you have to do is buy a a piece of foam and get it cut to the size of the back of your car, when the back seats are flipped down that is. when you put the seats back up the foam will just fold in half in the boot. we had a fitted sheet over the foam and a sleeping bag as a duvet, real comfy and warm!!
For cooking we had a little gas cooker and fold up table..... handy!!!

Encoder1970

A few times when travelling and a few times at festivals/fleadhs.
Very uncomfortable and cold but worst is waking up the next day without a shower etc and just keep driving, no fun.
I'm too old for that sh*t.

craichoe

15 euro a night for a hostel will save your sanity

Forget the comfort, its the not showering i couldn't handle.

corktina

european cops will take a dim view of it if they spot you....so im told...

cortina esates very handy for kipping overnight at shoews, miles better than a tent..but as for the question about sleeping in a car the answer has to be " not a lot and not well"

alias no.9

Bring a tent, a pitch in a campsite will not cost much and there'll be toilets, showers and some security. Have you discussed the toilet and shower situation with your girlfriend yet? She's likely to have a much greater expectation of what minimum levels of creature comforts (running water, privacy) are than you.

BlackWizard

Only for about 30min. Then we drove off. :pac:

Landyaddict

I did it a few times.
Once in the driver seat of my car, in the passenger seat of an Iveco Truck and then on the back seat of an old stinky Range rover

After that never again, the Range rover took the biscuit(the smell kept me awake)

Now if I'm traveling, B&B or cheap hotel.

Landy

Oh, nearly forgot, In an old 109" Land rover series 3 on the side of a mountain when it got too dark to complete a recovery of another stuck vehicle, but it was planed and heater and sleeping bags were available

Lauder

Done it loads of times this summer. 4 of us in a VW Polo during the Mongol Rally, no chance of reclining the seats, though only when either it was too dangerous to set up a tent or when we couldnt find suitable land to pitch a tent. Horribly uncomfortable, freezing at night and roasting in the morning.

conneem-TT

I've done it once, in a rental Golf in the center of Geneva. Yeah, I know, big spender . We were 4 up and I had just driven across Switzerland from Zurich and arrived back in Geneva for our flight early the next morning. We got into town just 12 and could not get a room for under 400 euros, so we decided to just stay out as long as possible and then have a nap in the car. The most uncomfortable 6 six hours, I was alright as I can sleep anywhere but the guy next to me coudl not get comfortable and did not stop hoping and jiggling around.

The best part of it though was been viscously awoken by an DB9 blasting past on full throttle at around 4am

cian1500ww

Yep, done it for Wales rally GB, side of a mountain in winter weather in wales. It was absolutely freezing and really uncomfortable but we got a good spot on the stage the next day

pete4130

I've done it loads of times on road trips, surf trips etc....
I've got a Focus estate and the seats fold flat and once your ft or under it sleeps 2 people in comfort (relative comfort....lack of headroom). It can be a bit awkward getting everything into the front seats etc. I use the canopy/boot cover in its place so its not so obvious there is someone sleeping in the car if they walk by.
The easiest way I've found it a nice double duvet as a mattress and another one as a cover and no harm having a couple of tiny camping sleeping bags if things do get cold. The duvets can easily be folded/rolled up in the morning.

The downsides are that in the morning if the sun starts to shine into the car it heats up ALOT in there and the windows will be grimey from all the condensation from your breath. If you have smelly farts, the other half won't appreciate that either (trust me I know!). You can leave one or two windows ajar to counter the condensation a little and get some sun screens for the windows too.

bladebrew

i only did it once before in a fiesta,i wouldnt reccomend it for any long periods of time,in an estate you would have the space but i id say it would drive you mad,plenty of hiaces around for sale throw a mattress into the back of one of them;),

this may be illegal though

jameson4me

did this a few times at rallies wen i was on sh1t money. had a focus van and was quite comfy, mainly due to the coma i was in from alcahol:D

not advised thou as a mate of mine sat in his car in town after a night out to eat a burger before gettin a taxi. he was even in the passenger seat and lost the licence for 3 months..

got done for been incharge of a vehicle while intoxicated:mad::mad:

ddarraghh

have you put any tought into this it is a bad idea
lke you have been told cold night hot mornings no privacy ,trouble with the cops ,property and personal security issues.
buy a cheep van a transit maybe make sure its diesel,
get a panel van and you have a perfect stelth camper
a matress or pull out sofa bed in the back
sorted
and you can sleep in city center and no one knows

kingspan insulation will regulate tempratures

HashSlinging

Stealth camper ?

Plug

I drive a saloon mk1 focus and i've slept in it 4 times since I got it in June or July. I knock down the back seats the the whole back is almost flat. If I put my feet at the rear right lamp I put my head at the left side of the car where the seat usually is, throw in a pillow and covers if I go parting in another county.

One morning I woke severely dehydrated and absolutely baking hot! It was very nasty that times but hey it stopped me drinking and driving.

niallb

Mitsubishi Space Wagon.
Back seats go back, middle seats fold flat and makes a space that takes a double inflatable camping mattress - plus there's a roof light for reading at the back,
and a stereo. Most imports at least have tinted windows and some even have curtains.
We've had three of them over the last many years. The best was a 2.0 litre diesel '97 .

Voodoomelon

7 series, great place to sleep! I was once waiting on a delivery at a locked premises and had no idea what time it was arriving at, so brought my duvet and pillow and drove on up.

Reclined the seat (leather armchair should I say) to nearly flat, stuck the TV on, pulled the duvet over and dozed off after 10 minutes. I had set the heating to come on an hour later as i expected it to get chilly by then and woke up with the Fedex man knocking on the window 2 hours later. He wanted to know if my girlfriend had kicked me out of the house...

Mr.Boots

Buy a hiace, line the rear with kingspan, put a roof vent in the roof, make up some simple curtains for the front and rear window, put a matress in the back, buy a portable shower, a porto loo and a fire extinguisher and away you go.
forget the car idea.

congo_90

Slept in an almera when at a house party once. I had to get some sleep so went out. Reclined the seat and left the window a lil open and locked the doors.

Woke up to at 7 am to drunken friends 'washing' the car with a muddy brush! :mad:

Other time was on a road journey where I was falling asleep. I carried a blanket in the boot so i reclined the passenger seat and kipped for 2hours

Berty

Jeez OP, nothing says marraige material like sleeping in your car on your holidays. :eek:

I have slept in my car out of neccesity at nights away with the lads and during the matchmaker festival in Lisdoonvarna. The entire car park is full of legs hanging out of cars. Its mad.

CJhaughey

I would rather sleep rough in a good sleeping bag or tent than sleep in a car.
On the shower issue, I only recently took out the shower from my TLC.
It is a miniature heat exchanger that runs off the cooling system and uses a boat washdown pump to provide the power. I fitted mine in about 3hrs
Glind is the maker IIRC.

Neonjack

Have you checked out Couchsurfing.org? It's a network of people from all over the world who take in foreign travellers and give them a bed for the night for free. You get a bed, a shower and someone local who can show you around. Brilliant way to see the world. I've had people from all over Europe stay with me and I'll be staying with locals in Morocco next year. Great site. And there's no obligation to host visitors if you don't want to.

ToxicPaddy

If you do intend on sleeping in your car for this trip, get one of these

Previa

Big enough to stretch out in, seats fold flat or just take them out altogether, all the nice bits, aircon, most have tinted windows and some of the jap imports even have curtains in them.. add to that its diesel, 4wd for most and cruise control in most models, its perfect for touring around in.

Seriously though, I'd only sleep in one if I had to, otherwise stay in hostels, they are cheap as chips.. Id hate to have to drive for hours on only a few hours kip in an uncomfortable van/car/whatever you choose if it isnt kitted out right..

ToxicPaddy

Neonjack wrote: »

Have you checked out Couchsurfing.org? It's a network of people from all over the world who take in foreign travellers and give them a bed for the night for free. You get a bed, a shower and someone local who can show you around. Brilliant way to see the world. I've had people from all over Europe stay with me and I'll be staying with locals in Morocco next year. Great site. And there's no obligation to host visitors if you don't want to.

A mate of mine uses that site and says its class..

2 Espressi

That Glind system looks great I've never seen that type of exchanger system before. Then again, I'm not a regular in R.M.M&C.

We took the Caddy on holidays this year, and slept in it a couple of nights with an air mattress, some of the best night's sleep I've ever had!

CJhaughey

I'm not a motorhomer or caravanner, I had it for when I was diving and wanted to have a quick shower to wash the salt off.It would be a great thing on a camper though.