No! But close. A Dodge Sprinter would allow Jen to carry her harp, her ensemble’s instruments and the entire ensemble, even if its an octet! A used Sprinter with the 5-cyl turbo-diesel gets almost 30 MPG on the highway, and can be had for less than $15,000.
Just stay away from the Chevy Aveo/Pontiac G3 hatchbacks. They’re rebadged Daewoos and aren’t really worth the effort.
In addition to their many engineering shortcomings, the Aveo/G3 twins are too small to accomodate a harp.
The best one IMO is the Pontiac Vibe. It’s a rebadged Toyota, and sells for much less than one.
The Vibe/Matrix twins are essentially Corolla wagons, and do not have a whole lot of cargo room. While it is possible that one of these could accomodate a harp, I am skeptical.
I think that the best two candidates would be a Honda Element or a Mazda 5. The Mazda 5 has never sold in large numbers, so there are not a whole lot of them out there, but it is a fairly unique vehicle–a mini-van that really is mini, yet has a decent amount of cargo room.
My niece plays the harp and my sister mentioned awhile back that they consulted a very helpful website or forum that was devoted to info on vehicles that are good for transporting harps. In my sister’s and niece’s case, through the years they’ve had success with a Nissan Quest minivan, a Nissan Murano and a Honda Element.
I’m sorry I don’t have the website but with a little searching you should be able to find it.
Way cool!-Kevin P.S who makes the bread vans,Grumman? I think they are powered by the 4BT Cummins engine(super reliable)
If you like the Saturn, they did make wagons.
A minivan would be overkill unless you need to carry more than 2 harps, and it’ll cost you a good 5 mpg or so versus most wagons. A wagon is what you want, assuming the ability to carry one harp is your only constraint. Many hatches won’t have cargo spaces 5 feet long, or if they do, they’ll be cutting it close.
How wide is the case? I presume the base just won’t fit through the trunk aperture? That it would in fact fit between the wheel wells? If so, a wagon is what you want.
I’d say find a late 90s Honda Accord wagon. If you don’t need FWD, that’s the best balance of economy, reliability, and serviceability you will find. They’re not the most common vehicles, though, so it may take some looking.
Apart from maybe some 90s Hyundais, VWs until about 03 or 04, and anything Daewoo made (including the Suzuki Forenza, Verona, and Reno…whichever one came in wagon form, if any…the Esteem is fine, if it’s big enough for you) I don’t think there are any wagons made since the mid 90s which are to be avoided for reliability reasons (there are some that handle like crap, though). So generally, just get what you like. A Craigslist search for only the word “wagon” will yield you good results.