Interesting. We are about to get rid of our Sienna, and purchasing a more fuel-efficient car like a TCH or another HCH, and using racks to carry the bikes around. We will get worse mileage in the new car, but it will still be much better than the Sienna.

I know that was a joke and I appreciate it, because I live for jokes , but it does raise an issue which is a bit of a gripe for me in general -- not regarding this comment specifically, but regarding our general tendency to want to maximize our car's MPG.

Sometimes we can get so focused on the 'game' of maximizing our own personal MPG, that we lose sight of the overall goal. In the past, this would cause me to be tempted to use our non-hybrid car when running very short, but necessary, errands, in order to maintain my maximum MPG in my HCH. Which was good in terms of my own personal MPG, but bad in terms of the goal of using less gasoline overall.

Personally I think you should make the car as useful as you wish, for your needs... bike racks, ski racks, hauling kayaks, etc. IMO, it's better to have the two sedans with functionality enhancements (racks etc.) than to always pay the price for a bigger car.

Anyway that's just my opinion. I think you should put the racks on the car if that's what your lifestyle dictates.