Best Cars for Sleeping In: Our Complete Guide to Most Comfortable Cars for Sleep

If you travel a lot, go on road trips or camping trips, or want to have a good sleep before hitting the road, you know how important it is to have enough space. In these situations, your car is not a means of transport for your short commutes. It's the storage space for your luggage and equipment, where you can rest (for a nap or overnight), and likely the space where you'll spend long hours on the road.

These situations call for the best cars to sleep in. This article lists 12 models with all the requirements you need to know.

There is something we'd like to share before diving into the topic at hand. Suppose you're shopping around for a car, head to Carplus's online tool for a smooth and effortless experience of getting car finance. We'll help you find the best car for your needs and budget!

1. Subaru Outback

The Outback made it to our list of best cars to sleep in because of the spacious back seats, which have been made even more prominent in the newer generation. Passengers in the back got an extra 1.4 inches, to be exact.

The room in the driver's and front passenger's seats is also something worth noting. You can enjoy a good nap there if you're short on time. For those who have more time to rest, the Outback allows folding down the back seats completely flat. Using the handles in the boot, you can push them down in the 60/40 split.

If you're carrying a lot of cargo, there's deep underfloor storage you can use. Although, we don't recommend taking the spare before a long rise to free up the space.

2. Honda Jazz

While it's hard to squeeze in the fifth person in the back (as with most compact cars), the other two will sit comfortably with their knees clear of the front seats. The middle seat has unobstructed floor space, but it's still best left for children. The redeeming factor is that back passengers' heads will be way below the roof.

The boot is decent, easily fitting a couple of large suitcases. However, a hatchback doesn't offer much for bulky equipment.

Those planning to sleep in their car overnight can flip up the base of the rear seats or fold them down flat (60/40 configuration). The former is usually used to increase boot capacity. If you don't want to connect the boot space and the back, you can drastically recline the seats and sleep sitting down with your feet stretched forward.

You may also be interested to read - Hatchback vs Saloon

3. Volvo XC90

You can look at the XC90's interior from two perspectives - with all seats up and with all rows folded down. Since we're talking about the best cars to sleep in, let's focus on the latter.

The seven-seater makes the ultimate bed for a good night's sleep. You will ensure massive boot space if you fold down the middle row. But things change when you also remove the third row. By themselves, the rearmost two seats are only comfortable for children or "smaller" adults. When taken out, they essentially create a full-sized bed, albeit a tough one.

The middle seats can be slid in two directions. So, you can bring them backwards and accommodate three people sleeping while maintaining some boot space. If you don't need to store cargo in the car overnight, you can slide seats forward and fold them.

4. Seat Ateca

The Ateca is one of the best cars to sleep in for short periods. For one, the driver and the front passenger can reasonably slide back and recline their seats. It should be comfortable enough for a power nap.

The back seats aren't meant for overnight stays, either. They don't recline or slide, so it can cause an issue if you need to accommodate a few sleeping adults. Also, the seats leave a noticeable lip when folded down.

But you can remove the rear seats altogether to create a van-like arrangement. Or, if there is only one looking to sleep – for example, the driver – their comfort level in the back is something to be envied.

5. Nissan Note

Practicality is the Note's strong point. It has a surprisingly spacious interior for a small car and offers plenty of room for front- and rear-seat passengers. Of course, the shared space created by the boot and the back row makes it one of the best cars to sleep in.

The rear bench, which has decent headroom and legroom in the normal position, slides towards the front seats. This ultimately alters the boot size. If this arrangement doesn't suit you, you can split-fold the rear seats to create an almost flat bed.

Unlike some of its rivals, the Note doesn't have removable seats, but the sliding rear bench makes up for it. In the morning, you can leave the seats folded down for massive cargo space (if you're travelling alone or with one companion).

6. Mazda CX-5

Passengers won't ever have to bend their necks sitting in this car. They'll enjoy a generous gap between their knees and the front row in the back, just without much room width-ways. But that's not what qualifies the CX-5 as one of the best cars to sleep in. It's the folding mechanism that does.

You can fold the back row in a three-way split (40:20:40), creating a completely flat floor. The reclining mechanism is normally two-stage and can require an extra pair of hands.

If you're in for extra convenience, a handy feature allows you to free up the space in one motion. As you pull the handles in the boot, the seats will go in by themselves. This makes up for the fact that the seats don't slide in either direction.

You may also be interested to read - Crossover vs SUV

7. Honda Civic Tourer

For a mid-size car, the Civic Tourer offers its owners much more space than they'd initially expected. The classic combination of decent legroom, headroom, and reclining seats. But Honda developed a trick known as the "magic seats". Here is how they work.

When you travel, you can fold the back seat squabs upwards for additional space in the middle of the car. This can be a spot for a nap for one backseat passenger.

Once you get to camp (or any other location where you'll spend the night), you can fold the seats forward into a large hidden compartment. The automaker moved the fuel tank frontwards, which freed up the space under the boot floor. Luckily, the seats can be moved in one swift action, but you'll have to do it from the passenger compartment, not the boot.

8. Citroen Berlingo

Vans are some of the best cars to sleep in, and the Berlingo is no exception. Even more, it's one of the most comfortable vans to be in.

The boot, which has as much "headroom" as the rest of the car, can swallow an armchair and a suitcase. As for the backseats, there are two standard arrangements - a five- and a seven-seater - and a less popular two-seater. If you are the only one travelling and sleeping in the car, consider removing all back rows in advance.

The seats in the second row can fold flat individually. This is convenient for situations when you need to sneak one bed in an otherwise crammed car. You can even fold the front passenger seat in a jack-knifes position to lengthen the space for sleeping.

9. Volkswagen Golf Estate

The Golf Estate's rear seats are slightly limited in flexibility - they don't slide, recline, or move in any other unusual position. But there are other priorities. It's more important that they fold down in a 60/40 split if you pull the levers on the sides of the boot. And just like all cars on the list, you can take a nap in the front seat by sliding it back and reclining to the maximum.

The back row folds down in the usual manner. The magic happens thanks to the height-adjustable boot floor, which removes the space between the two compartments. In other words, you'll sleep on a completely flat surface with no gaps. Just make sure to adjust the floor to the highest possible setting.

10. Skoda Superb

If you're after as much interior space as possible, you need Superb's latest models. The new version is an excellent vehicle with more legroom, elbow room, and headroom - in the front and the back - than any other product line. But you're going to be sleeping in it, so the fact that you can sit five adults with space to spare is not the priority.

With the back seats folded down, the boot space becomes wide and extremely long. If you're travelling in a small company of two, you'll be able to fit a couple of bikes during the day and sleep inside at night. You can move the rear bench by pulling the levers inside the boot.

You may also be interested to read - Saloon vs Coupe

11. Jeep Cherokee

Jeep Cherokee is a type of large SUV that you need for long trips. Given its size on the outside, anyone would expect a spacious interior - and they would guess correctly.

In Cherokee's two-row version, you can slide the back bench forwards. This will reduce the passenger space, which you would only need for sleeping. The main thing is that you can move and fold the back seats to expand the boot space - thus, creating a bigger bed.

The three-row specification only offers a little space because the car size stays the same. You'll just need to make more modifications to convert the two rows of seats into one single-floor space.

Conclusion

Some models have yet to make it to our selection of the best cars to sleep in. But we want to sign off with eight honourable mentions:

• Volkswagen Polo
• Vauxhall Meriva
• Toyota Corolla
• Hyundai Kona
• Volkswagen Touran
• Toyota Prius
• Skoda Superb
• SEAT Ibiza

Your personal "best car" will be different from other person's. So, consider other requirements besides having your rear seats folded and plenty of storage space. In any case, car camping will not only help you save money but also contribute to memorable experiences. Hopefully, you have your sleeping bag or sleeping bag ready.

Whether you've made up your mind or not, we encourage you to contact Carplus. Not only can we help you locate the best vehicles, but we'll also help you get them financed on incredible terms. Let's talk!