Today my muffler decided to declare it's independence from the rest of my exhaust system and given that my beloved 02' RAV4 is like 3k away from hitting 200k miles, I think it is time to get a new car.  

 

I think I have settled on getting a Subaru as everyone I know who has one loves it and they seem to consistently be able to hit 200k with little to no major system failures.  They are also AWD, nice and low for easy kayak loading, and have reasonably good cargo space.   I know an Outback will be able to fit a 7'-7'6" rod with little issue but I am wondering about the smaller (and cheaper) Crosstrek.  I don't have time to hit up a dealership with a rod in hand to try it out myself due to a busy work project but I want to start looking at cars asap and though I would ask and see if anyone here has one and can speak to it's suitability as a rod-hauling vehicle.

 

 

My wife has a 2014 crosstrek xv that we have taken on fishing trips...great ride to it. The longest one piece rod I have gotten in there was a 7' inshore rod. I tried putting a 7'6" rod in it but with everything we were carrying and the 2 of us it was a little bit too long. If you were riding by yourself and have the back seat laid down you may be able to fit a 7'6" rod in there but it would be close.

Cool, thanks for the info.  I am alone in the car like 90% of the time and the bacl seats would be down (or removed) about 100% of the time, so it sounds like it’s worth grabbing a long rod and heading to the dealership to give it a try.  Thanks again. 

Most automobiles can fit a couple 8 foot fishing rods so you should be ok with a typical bass rod.