Bought a 2015 Countryman to be my daily driver, which also doubles as my work "service truck". It replaced a 2007 Buick Lucerne. The one place where I really miss the Buick is in interior storage. The mini has a passable glove box which I have fairly well packed and the arm rest which is reasonably full, assume the boot under the flat load floor is off limits (this is where I have most of my work stuff). Where do you put all the stuff you keep in the car?

I normally carry two umbrellas, both small folding models. One is now under the passenger front seat, one is in the space between the driver's seat and the rail.

I used to always have a trash can/bag but I can't find a good idea for that. I am thinking about a custom mod of one that hung off the headlight switch of an old car with a hanger to hang it off the side of the front passenger cup holder.

So anyway, I would love to see pictures and/or hear ideas of how you store all the things you normally accumulate In a daily driver.

Thanks!

allan

 

My first suggestion is to take inventory of everything you have in your car. Then ditch the stuff you don't REALLY need to have.

Two umbrellas? Do you really need two? How often do you even need one?

I don't have a garbage bag in my car. It keeps me from storing garbage in my car. Any trash I do acquire gets tossed out when I get home.

Unfortunately, it is very common for our cars to become cluttered with a lot of useless stuff. How many of us northern drivers still have a snow scraper rattling around the interior... IN JULY? I know folks who carry everything under the sun in their cars, for the sake of "being prepared" -- full sets of tools, floor jacks, etc. Probably costs them 200 extra gallons of gas over the life of the car to tote that crap around. An AAA membership card weighs a lot less.

Even small stuff starts to pile up and create clutter. How many pens do you have in the car? I found 5 in mine the last time I cleaned it out, along with 3 tire pressure gauges, 3 flashlights, and 2 pairs of sunglasses. One of each of those should be sufficient.

I do carry a winter "survival kit" in the cold months, just in case. It is kept in a small backpack so I can transfer it from car-to-car as required, and it is removed in the warmer months.

But if you REALLY got to have a buch if stuff in the car, then look for one of those organizers that straps to the seat or seatback. There are dozens of different styles, in all price ranges.

 

I know where you are coming from. The first thing I did was to go through and remove a bunch of stuff. Yes, the two umbrellas are a little weird but I have a habit of forgetting one and it is important that I not be drenched when I show up at a customer's site.

What I wind up carrying are things like Advil, cough drops, dental floss (until you have something REALLY stuck and you are out in the boonies you won't understand that one), a rag, tire gauge, air chuck, small sticky note pad, two pens, small containers of hand sanitizer and cream, spare USB drive, etc.

I suppose I am curious because I have found the tray in front of the shifter completely useless and the rail mostly useless. That limits me to the armrest and glove box. Just wondering what others do.

Allan

 

http://www.zoro.com/i/G5273283/?utm_...FchcMgodGyQARQ

 

There may be cheaper items, but buy once, buy right..


plenty of room, valeting items in one side, umbrellas n stuff in the other - front pockets for smaller items.

for something smaller, Sumex do a large range of various size trunk organisers, this one might suit your needs...

 

I pulled the seats and made my own rear seat delete. Cost about $40 and I still had some leftover parts.

I usually take spontaneous solo trips so it's nice to have extra storage... especially if it's for hiking/camping. I can put an EZ up, H2O containers, three tents, 2-3 full hiking packs, tons of miscellaneous supplies and two bike on the hitch.