^^^Welll no need for me to replace the truck, thankfully. The Mazda will fulfill all duties for the next couple of years.
In that vein, I just ordered a roof rack off MicksGarage.com. This one: https://www.micksgarage.com/d/roof-racks-and-bars/mazda/mazda-3/3-2013-to-2018/products/3506603-11526/nordrive-silenzio-wing-bars-supplied-with-locks-and-keys
They're similar quality to Yakima/Thule, but half the price. They're aluminium, so won't rust, and aero bars, so they should be quiet. I also ordered a couple of these bike trays: https://www.micksgarage.com/d/bike-racks/products/3094480/black-aguri-acuda-ii-roof-mounted-bike-rack-carrier. Again, similar quality to Thule, but cheaper. And Aluminium so they won't rust.
It was a no-brainer to go with a roof rack, rather than install a hitch and buy a hitch-mount bike carrier. I need to be able to transport my canoe, so a roof rack and bike trays are the way to go in this case.
I was also looking for some floor liners. At Ron's recommendation, I ordered a set of the Maxpider 3D mats. It helps that they're a good bit cheaper than the equivalent Weathertech or Husky product.
If you had your time back, would you have bought something different than the Mazda 3, had you known you weren't going to have the Tundra? Not saying it isn't a great car, just maybe you would have chose something a little more roomy.
So what is going to be the plan going forward for summer vacations? I know you guys really enjoyed camping in your trailer and obviously that won't be happening now that you are selling the trailer and don't have the Tundra.
Last thing, you said that you'll be fine with one car for the next couple of years, after that do you think you'll be back in a pickup? I know you mentioned upgrading your trailer for something bigger. Would one of the new Tundra's be something you'd be high on?
All great questions.
1) Would we have bought something other than the Mazda? I dunno. I really, really love driving the Mazda3. It being a manual helps a LOT with my enjoyment of it. It's also very nice on the inside. It also get great fuel economy - better than most non-hybrid larger vehicles. As far as space, well that's less of an issue than it was in prior years. As little as 2-3 years ago, my (at the time) teenage stepson would come with us on most of the trips, so we needed enough room in the back for a fully grown adult, and enough cargo space for four people. Now that he's an adult, he makes the decision to not come on any roadtrips with us. The wife and I respect that - if he doesn't want to come on holiday with us, we won't force him to. And his character is such that he 100% just wants to stay home and not travel with us. The only time we'll go somewhere as a family with four people in the car will be shorter trips in the city, and you don't really need a large, spacious car for that sort of thing. For road trips (like our upcoming spring trip to Kelowna), it will just be my wife and I, and our 9-year old. I'll drop one of the 60/40 seatbacks, and we'll have plenty of room for cargo, if we need any extra than just the hatch. If I really find that I'm hurting for space, well I always have the option of putting a roof box on top of the car.
2) short-term Summer vacations. We've already started looking at options for next year. When we go to Blue Lake, we'll probably rent one of the on-site trailers they have there. Other trips, we'll look at Yurts, the odd tent camping trip (my daughter has requested we go tent camping sometime). We are also looking into cabin rentals. With the extra money we have, we'll also do fly vacations - I really want to head back East to visit my family in NB and Quebec. A southern sun vacation is also not out of the question.
3) As long as my spouse continues working from home (looking very likely) we'll be just fine with one vehicle. We've done it before. All through our tenure with the Altima, the Grand Caravan, and the Tundra (before we got the Civic) we were a one-vehicle family. We can definitely make it work. Now, whether we decide to buy a new truck/trailer in a few years, remains to be seen. I guess it all depends on how much I miss camping the way we used to. A new Tundra would be really, really nice, but damn, they're expensive. A new Tundra would be quite a bit more expensive than the one I just offloaded. Maybe I'll get a used one (same gen I just sold)? Same goes for trailers. If we get another trailer, we won't mess around. My wife wants one with a bathroom. Anyway, that's at least a few years down the road. We have some time to save money and evaluate options.
