Car rental size for Scotland (4 people)

[SGAgolfer]

My wife and I are going to the Scottish highlands this summer with another couple. It will be a mix of sightseeing and golf. Two golfers and two non-golfers. When I'm looking at rental cars, I'm seeing options for either a station wagon or minibus (9 seater). Will a station wagon be large enough for 4 people, 2 golf bags, and 4 suitcases, or should I look at the minibus? Thanks

[Hawkeye77]

We had four door Rover Discovery Sport on our first trip to Scotland - two bags, four suitcases (all smallish carry on), all sorts of other crap.  Was packed to the gills, and our daughters were fine with it, but at times a little crowded in the back.  Once we established our bases in Dornoch for a week and then in St. Andrews, all the stuff was in the rental houses - just a matter of comfort level for airport to base, etc.  If you are going to be moving around daily or every other day you probably want a minivan, IMO.  Four nice seats for you all and fold down the rear for the luggage, etc.

 

 

Edited March 18 by Hawkeye77

[hammergolf]

The station wagon or a standard size SUV will be big enough. 

[Olson12]

On 3/18/2024 at 5:36 AM, SGAgolfer said:

My wife and I are going to the Scottish highlands this summer with another couple. It will be a mix of sightseeing and golf. Two golfers and two non-golfers. When I'm looking at rental cars, I'm seeing options for either a station wagon or minibus (9 seater). Will a station wagon be large enough for 4 people, 2 golf bags, and 4 suitcases, or should I look at the minibus? Thanks

Were going in June with 4 golfers , 4 bags, etc and opted for the 9 seater.  Even the 7 seater 'van' they have are smaller in size and I was worried about 4 full grown adults squeezing into a smaller car for 9 days. 

[scott_Donald]

luggage space is the worry and comfirming what Carr you are actually getting from the rental comapany.

 

Scottish cars are smaller than USA cars.... F150 are giant and few and far between. Audi Q5 is a normal SUV here.

[sabram]

I've done both station wagons (BMW 3 series sport wagon) and mini vans ( Honda Odyssey) The mini van had three rows of seating, but the back row folded down and provided plenty of space to accommodate your needs . The wagon was okay, but cramped. If your 4 bags are carry on sized, you can do it, but if they're full size you wont fit 4 of them and clubs 

 

I liked the 328 sport wagon so much I bought one when I got home from Scotland. They don't sell them in the US any longer 

[Chanceman]

I think you are wise going for the 9 seater. We had one of those on our trip to the UK last year and it was perfect - but it is larger than most so just be a bit careful especially on tight corners.

[Hawkeye77]

On 3/28/2024 at 8:11 AM, sabram said:

I've done both station wagons (BMW 3 series sport wagon) and mini vans ( Honda Odyssey) The mini van had three rows of seating, but the back row folded down and provided plenty of space to accommodate your needs . The wagon was okay, but cramped. If your 4 bags are carry on sized, you can do it, but if they're full size you wont fit 4 of them and clubs 

 

I liked the 328 sport wagon so much I bought one when I got home from Scotland. They don't sell them in the US any longer 

Good comparisons.  An Odyssey would be perfect for four.

 

Our first trip to Scotland we owned a BMW3 SUV and my girls didn't have a fun 3 1/2 hour ride to the airport with our two bags and luggage for 4. As mentioned above the Rover Discovery Sport was nice (larger than the BMW) but still just made it for 4.  The bags had to be out of the Club Gloves and those folded over nicely - why I'll never take a hard case for golf clubs.  We had reserved a different vehicle and on arrival they showed us the huge SUV that looked designed to be a "bus" for driving tourists around and I declined as it wasn't what I'd asked for and it was massive (probably the nine seater) - the agent took me around and let me look at several other options until we found the Goldilocks size.

 

The flip side?  When just the wife and went to Ireland I'd reserved a medium SUV VW from Sixt.  When we made the walk to the garage and found our vehicle it was some other model and sure seemed small, but everything fit (it was the devil for me to get out of, lol) and I'd ordered a manual and it was fun.  Made the drive out to the coast from Dublin and the next morning played Connemara - pulled into the parking lot and parked next to a VW and ....... it was the one we were supposed to have and it was definitely a much bigger vehicle.  Later did some research and sure enough - was given a class down in terms of size.  Settled up with them at the airport two weeks later when it was returned - price difference was significant and they were a little embarrassed by the "bait and switch".  There were just two of us and I really did enjoy driving that smaller vehicle around the roads and the afternoon a large semi tractor trailer came screaming around a corner on a road it wasn't supposed to be on that was barely wide enough for a car the little one came in handy with a quick dart into a farm yard that literally saved our lives - if there had been the stone wall that was along the rest of the road and not the place to duck in, we'd have been goners. Can still see it in front of me, lol.

 

 

[sabram]

1 hour ago, Hawkeye77 said:

 The bags had to be out of the Club Gloves and those folded over nicely - why I'll never take a hard case for golf clubs.

+1  This is why I sold by hard case and switched to the soft/foldable Club Glove  many years ago.

 

 

[ALTSean]

Last summer, we had 4 guys, 4 sets of clubs, and all our luggage and rented a Volvo XC90. It worked well and was big enough to fit all of us and our gear, but still reasonable enough to drive on the roads and park in town.  

[El Gringo]

On 4/2/2024 at 1:23 PM, sabram said:

+1  This is why I sold by hard case and switched to the soft/foldable Club Glove  many years ago.

 

 

I have known guys who parked their hard cases in airport lockers! Cheaper to rent a locker than a bigger car I guess.

[SGAgolfer]

Thanks for the replies. I have been searching car rental sites for Edinburgh. It seems like it would be cheaper to rent 2 smaller cars (~450 pounds each) than a single 9 seater (~1200 pounds). Would definitely have enough room for luggage. Once we have arrived at the places we are staying, we could ride in 1 car to the courses/sites. I am going to reach out to the other couple and see if they feel comfortable driving in the UK. Otherwise, we will go for the 9 seater.

[hammergolf]

3 hours ago, SGAgolfer said:

Thanks for the replies. I have been searching car rental sites for Edinburgh. It seems like it would be cheaper to rent 2 smaller cars (~450 pounds each) than a single 9 seater (~1200 pounds). Would definitely have enough room for luggage. Once we have arrived at the places we are staying, we could ride in 1 car to the courses/sites. I am going to reach out to the other couple and see if they feel comfortable driving in the UK. Otherwise, we will go for the 9 seater.

You won’t need a 9 seater. Even a standard minivan would be overkill unless you each have 3 or more bags. A standard suv would be plenty of room. I use a 9 seater for my groups trip that has 8 guys with clubs and suitcase. 

[tad950]

11 hours ago, SGAgolfer said:

Thanks for the replies. I have been searching car rental sites for Edinburgh. It seems like it would be cheaper to rent 2 smaller cars (~450 pounds each) than a single 9 seater (~1200 pounds). Would definitely have enough room for luggage. Once we have arrived at the places we are staying, we could ride in 1 car to the courses/sites. I am going to reach out to the other couple and see if they feel comfortable driving in the UK. Otherwise, we will go for the 9 seater.

In our group it’s hard to find even ONE person willing to learn to drive on the opposite side of the road.  Also I think traveling in one vehicle would be a better shared experience for your group. Unless you start to fight, then two would be better😄. 

[ALTSean]

11 hours ago, SGAgolfer said:

Thanks for the replies. I have been searching car rental sites for Edinburgh. It seems like it would be cheaper to rent 2 smaller cars (~450 pounds each) than a single 9 seater (~1200 pounds). Would definitely have enough room for luggage. Once we have arrived at the places we are staying, we could ride in 1 car to the courses/sites. I am going to reach out to the other couple and see if they feel comfortable driving in the UK. Otherwise, we will go for the 9 seater.

One SUV will be plenty big enough, especially with only 2 golf bags.

[Olson12]

After reading some of the replies and checking out the cars online I've switched from the passenger van and booked the XC90 with Alamo.  I will have to take the train to Waverly station since they were sold out at the airport but I'm saving $700 at least and will happily spend 30 min on a train for that savings.  

Thanks for all the help!

[hammergolf]

4 hours ago, Olson12 said:

After reading some of the replies and checking out the cars online I've switched from the passenger van and booked the XC90 with Alamo.  I will have to take the train to Waverly station since they were sold out at the airport but I'm saving $700 at least and will happily spend 30 min on a train for that savings.  

Thanks for all the help!

Good choice. Have a GREAT trip!