Opel/Vauxhall cars with integrated bike racks - any comments

[garethrl]

Hi folks,
First posting over here in Off Topic. My car lease is up in May and I've been advised to start looking around now to decide what I want next. Ease of transporting bikes is an important consideration for me.

The Opel/Vauxhall Flex-Fix system has caught my eye:

http://media.opel.com/media/intl/en/ope ... x-Fix.html

Does anyone have any direct experience of using it? And does anyone know of any other manufacturers who offer a built-in bike rack option for their cars?

Opel is the only one I've seen so far. They offer it across that range, though for city parking I'd likely be looking at the Astra/Corsa models rather than an MPV. SUV or faux-SUV is out of the question.

Cheers,
Gareth.

 

[DegsUk]

Re:

Hi Gareth I had a Vauxhall Meriva with the flex fit carry system and the work great holds the bikes real steady , better than a boot mounted strap on IMHO ..Just remember to close the door before loading the bike on

 

[s_zigmond]

At over £400 why would you choose this over a towbar and thule rack? The racks can be moved out of the way with a bike on, so the boot can still be opened. I agree this would be more useful if you ever needed to carry a bike you weren't expecting to carry, but how often does that happen?

 

[brocklanders023]

Re:

Don't know about the bike rack but having driven the current Astra (pool cars at work) I'd advise against them. The 2012 Ford Focus I had was better in every single way, as are any number of VAG cars.

 

[DegsUk]

Re:

Currently driving a 2.0 SRI Astra diesel and never had a problem with it but then its well looked after and not used by everyone .

 

[brocklanders023]

Re:

It's not a case of anything going wrong with them, simply that for the same money you can get better.

 

[cce]

thing is with cars these days, they all just work. They start every time, they drive consistently and reliably up hill and down dale, so people use smaller and smaller differences between them to differentiate, and Vauxhalls just tend to feel a bit less nice than the equivalent ford

a genuinely bad car in the old fashioned sense is a rare thing these days,

 

[hamster]

IIRC the rack uses up the space otherwise occupied by the spare wheel. All you get is a can of Anchor spray UHT cream or similar. Personally I'd take the spare wheel and as said a towbar rack.

The strap-on racks are dreadful, moreso nowadays that many rear doors have lots of plastic. Alternatively a cheaper alternative is a roof rack and San Remo mounts...remember the extra height though.

 

[Tad52]

Hi Gareth,

Sorry for late reply to your post.

The Integral bike rack on the Corsa is absolutely fantastic. I have been using it regularly for 7 years. I would have changed my car earlier, but at one time the Corsa was no longer available with the bike rack. It is now available on the Corsa, Mokka and Adam, but not as far as I am aware say an Astra.

The advanatges of the Vauxhall/Opel system over a tow-bar system are firstly that it takes no storage space, say in your garage, when not in use, and secondly it slides away out of sight when you park the car and go off on your bike.

Have you found any other car manufacturer with a similar offering please?

 

[hamster]

IIRC you lose the spare wheel if you select the rack option?