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I'm after some advice re: boot liners, specifically for a 2021 Berlingo Flair M with three seperately folding rear seats. Whatever liner I end up with I am going to further protect the floor with some 3.0mm rubber matting. The back of the car is generally used as a van. Tools, bikes, firewood, chainsaws etc make for quite a bit of wear and tear on the floor.
Rhino come in at £110 for the configuration I'm after. Hatchbag are wanting £190.00 for similar in a preferable colour (orange, to match the local Brecon Beacons mud).
Has anyone any experience of these or other liners they'd care to share?
And also, grasping at straws, a recommendation for a decent coffee cup holder for the Mk3 Berlingo?
I owe you, ta.
I have a rhino, not for your car but for my subaru. It's bloody good. Fits well, not perfectly I have to say, the base is a little undersized but only marginally. I went for the padded base and would recomemnd it- not just for comfort, it gives the whole thing a bit more substance and basically means it stays in place. I've carried all sorts of crap on it- a whole gearbox, 2 house moves, a dead tree, trailbuilding tools, and bikes of course. The autobox was the biggest test probably- it was super heavy, got pretty much dragged out, leaked horrible transmission fluid everywhere which just wiped off. I'd buy another like a shot. I did poke a hole in it by forgetting to put up the bumper cover flap and closing the boot on it, oops.
IIRC it came with a load of sticky back velcro which turned out to be ****-all use and wouldn't stick to whatever plastic they used in the car, but ymmv. Getting these things to stay in place is probably the biggest challenge.
Thick rubber boot liners are great and all, but also heavy and clumbersome.
You could buy some good quality tarp for a lot less?
+1 for tarp. I got some custom sized tarp which is seam finish for durability. It also has ring renforced holes around the edge which I’ve attached some small bungee hooks. I can then clip it to various anchor points in the car creating a bathtub effect for transporting really wet/muddy stuff. Had this one for 10 years through 3 cars and showing no signs of peroration. Added bonus is that it folds down and easily fits in the under boot floor space when not needed.
Got rhino one, red, to cover floor, sides and backs of the split fold down seats of the estate boot. I think it is excellent.
almost all the standard inside of the boot is fuzzy carpet stuff, so the Velcro on the rhino makes attaching and repositioning dead easy.
Did not get padded floor, maybe should have, but I like that when I take it out as is it folds up nice and easy and very neatly.
2 things i would change - there is really strong Velcro connecting the rhino flaps of the split seat back covers. I reckon that’s point less, would been better just having those connec to the base only so that dropping 1/3 or 2/3 seats individually doesn’t cause a whole lot of Velcro ripping faff. Also bought the cover for the inside of the boot lid, but it covers the lights which makes it unusable in the dark.
Offcut of kitchen lino cut to exactly the right size. £10, does the job perfectly, and allows the bike to be slid in without catching, unlike rubber or tarp
I use builders ton bags and large yellow hippo bags , if you unstitch one end you can use that as a bumper cover etc and with removable zip ties you can fix it to various places if required
I've had hatchbag liners in four out of our five most recent cars. I bought the fourth one about the weeks ago.
Expensive, but worth it, fit and forget, can be resold after you sell the car.
Two of my liners were second hand to begin with.
All the above also applies to travall dog guards if dogs are a thing for you.
Spent years using tarps, blankets and even Hippo bags (putting the bike in the bag then sliding it into the boot) to stop the back of the car getting muddy and damaged
When i bought my Focus ST3 i decided to bit the bullet and buy a Hatchbag, went for the full coverage model including bumper cover which came in at over £200
Have had it for 3 years now and have been very impressed with it, i tend to let any mud dry and sweep or hoover it out, easy to wipe clean also
All the velcro mountings have stayed in place, nothing has really moved or become damaged
The only niggle was the bumper cover isnt padded on the underside and as the bumper is made of thin plastic i was worried it could get damaged when unloading/loading so i place a folded blanket underneath it just to give it a bit of a cushion if i need to put the bike down mid way through loading
I went 'cheap' on mine (Passat estate) from UK Bootliners. Does everything I need it to, plus I had a boot 'tray' from my old Insignia which fits in there as well. Think mine was c. £60
6 years in with my current Hatchbag and very happy. I’m sure diy versions work but these just fit and secure so we’ll, it was worth the investment. Sold the one for my last car for half of what it originally cost.
Thrown all sorts of manky, wet stuff in the back and never leaked through.
If you have split rear seats, make sure you get the version that splits. Top Velcro tabs for the seat back panels are a bit short though. Got fed up of undoing them every time to fold the seats down, so used the small Velcro straps from my bender fender mudguard to extend them.
Supplied sticky Velcro tape has stuck to boot plastic no problem on mine.
We have a hatch bag. Looks good so my missus got an old towel in it to protect it from manky buggy wheels and boots