The 10 Best Vehicles for Car Camping According to Our Customers

One of the questions we hear most often is:

“What’s the best vehicle for car camping?”

The answer surprises many people.

It’s usually the one already sitting in your driveway.

After helping thousands of customers create comfortable sleep setups, we’ve noticed the same vehicles keep showing up. Some are compact crossovers. Others are trucks, SUVs, or minivans. What they all have in common is that they work well as both everyday vehicles and comfortable places to spend the night.

That’s an important distinction.

At Pacific Adventure Works, we don’t believe you need to buy a dedicated camper, rooftop tent, or six-figure van before you can enjoy sleeping outside. We believe the best camping setup is the one you’ll actually use, and that usually starts with the vehicle you already own.

The ten vehicles below aren’t ranked from best to worst. They’re simply the models we see most often from our customers. If you’re wondering whether your current vehicle is a good fit for car camping, or you’re shopping for one that will serve double duty as both a daily driver and a weekend escape, this list is a great place to start.

What Makes a Good Vehicle for Car Camping?

A good car camping vehicle does not have to be the biggest, newest, or most expensive option available.

What matters most is usable space.

You need enough length to sleep comfortably, enough room to carry the gear you actually use, and a layout that makes setup feel simple instead of like a project. A flat cargo area helps. So does decent interior height, good fuel economy, and the ability to keep your sleeping area separate from the gear you need during the day.

But the best car camping vehicles also have something else in common.

They still work the rest of the week.

That is where many dedicated camping setups become less practical. A permanent platform, full buildout, or oversized camping system might be great on a trip, but it can make the vehicle harder to use once you are back home.

A good setup should make your vehicle more useful, not less useful.

That is the idea behind the Hideaway Sleeping Platform. It creates a flat, comfortable place to sleep while preserving storage underneath and keeping the vehicle practical for normal life.

Because for most people, the goal is not to build a camper.

The goal is to make it easier to go.

Subaru Outback

If there were a vehicle that perfectly captured the philosophy behind Pacific Adventure Works, it might be the Subaru Outback.

It’s comfortable enough to drive every day, capable enough to reach remote campsites, and spacious enough to create a comfortable place to sleep without feeling like you’re driving something oversized the rest of the week.

That’s why it’s consistently one of the most common vehicles we see from our customers.

Fold the rear seats down, add a Hideaway Sleeping Platform, and you’ve got a flat, comfortable sleeping surface with room underneath for gear. The Outback accommodates every Hideaway model except the XL, making it one of the most versatile platforms in our lineup.

Perhaps the biggest advantage is that nothing about the vehicle has to change. On Monday, it’s your daily driver. On Friday, it’s your bedroom for the weekend.

Honda CR-V

The Honda CR-V has earned a reputation for being one of the most dependable compact SUVs on the road. For many people, it’s the vehicle that handles the daily commute, grocery runs, and family responsibilities without a second thought.

It also happens to make an excellent vehicle for car camping.

Fold the rear seats down, and you’ll find a surprisingly usable space for sleeping. Pair it with a Hideaway Sleeping Platform, and you’ve got a comfortable, organized setup that’s ready for anything from a quick overnight trip to a week on the road.

Like many of the vehicles on this list, the CR-V’s biggest strength is that it doesn’t ask you to change your lifestyle. It’s still the same practical SUV you drive every day. It just happens to become a comfortable place to sleep when the weekend arrives.

Subaru Forester

The Subaru Forester has long been a favorite among our customers because it makes outstanding use of its interior space.

Its upright design creates more usable room than many people expect, making it easy to build a comfortable sleeping setup without moving into a much larger vehicle.

That’s one of the reasons we see so many Foresters equipped with Hideaway platforms.

Whether you’re heading to a campground, a trailhead, or simply taking a weekend road trip, the Forester offers a combination of practicality, fuel economy, and comfort that’s hard to beat.

Toyota 4Runner

If your travels regularly take you down rough roads or into more remote places, the Toyota 4Runner remains one of the best platforms available.

Its generous cargo area provides plenty of room for both sleeping and gear, while its legendary reliability has made it a trusted companion for long road trips and years of weekend camping.

What we like most isn’t just its capability.

It’s that when the camping trip is over, it’s still a practical SUV that’s ready for school drop-offs, errands, or the daily commute.

Toyota RAV4

The Toyota RAV4 has become one of the most popular SUVs in North America, and it’s easy to understand why.

It’s efficient, comfortable, and well-sized for everyday life while still providing enough interior space for a comfortable camping setup.

Many of our customers choose the RAV4 because it strikes a balance that’s surprisingly difficult to find. It’s easy to park, economical to own, and can become a comfortable overnight shelter with very little preparation.

For a lot of people, the RAV4 proves you don’t need a full-size SUV to enjoy sleeping in your vehicle.

Toyota Tacoma

The Toyota Tacoma is one of those vehicles that seems equally at home at a job site or a campsite.

That’s exactly why it’s become one of our favorite truck platforms.

One of the advantages of the Hideaway Sleeping Platform is its telescoping design. If you have a short-bed Tacoma, you can keep the tailgate closed while driving, then lower it and extend the platform once you arrive at camp. It’s a simple solution that creates a comfortable sleeping area without giving up the everyday utility that makes the Tacoma so popular in the first place.

A truck should still be able to do truck things. The Tacoma does exactly that while doubling as a comfortable place to spend the night.

Ford F-150

The Ford F-150 shows up often for a simple reason: it can do almost anything.

For many owners, it’s a work vehicle, tow vehicle, family vehicle, and weekend vehicle all at once. That versatility is exactly what makes it such a strong platform for car camping.

The bed provides plenty of room for a comfortable sleeping setup, especially when paired with a topper or camper shell. Add a Hideaway Sleeping Platform to create a flat place to sleep while keeping gear organized underneath.

The important part is that the truck still works like a truck. When the camping trip is over, it can go right back to hauling tools, bikes, lumber, dogs, or whatever else the week requires.

Subaru Crosstrek

The Subaru Crosstrek proves that a good car camping vehicle doesn’t have to be large.

It’s compact, easy to drive, efficient, and capable enough for the kind of roads most people actually use to reach campsites. For customers who want something simple and affordable that still works well for overnights, the Crosstrek makes a lot of sense.

The interior space is more limited than in an Outback or Forester, but that’s part of the point. If you can create a comfortable sleeping area and keep your setup organized, you don’t need a huge vehicle to get started.

For many people, the Crosstrek is a reminder that car camping is less about having the biggest setup and more about having one you’ll actually use.

Toyota Sienna

Minivans don’t always get the credit they deserve, but the Toyota Sienna is one of the most practical vehicles on this list.

It has a generous interior, a low floor, good fuel economy, and available all-wheel drive. For anyone who values comfort and usable space over image, it’s hard to beat.

That’s why we see more and more customers using Siennas for car camping.

With a sleeping platform installed, the Sienna becomes a comfortable and efficient road-trip vehicle without needing to become a dedicated camper. It can still haul people, groceries, luggage, and everything else a normal week requires.

The same vehicle that handles daily life can also become a quiet, comfortable place to sleep on Friday night.

Toyota Land Cruiser

The Toyota Land Cruiser has a different kind of appeal.

It’s known for long-term reliability, durability, and the ability to cover a lot of miles comfortably. For people who spend time on rougher roads or longer trips, that matters.

But the Land Cruiser isn’t only useful because of where it can go. It’s useful because it gives you a strong, spacious platform to build from without needing to turn it into a full-time camper.

Add a sleeping platform, keep your gear organized underneath, and you have a vehicle that can handle daily use, long-distance travel, and comfortable nights on the road.

It’s more vehicle than many people need, but for those who already own one, it makes an excellent car-camping platform.

What If Your Vehicle Isn’t on This List?

If your vehicle didn’t make the list, don’t worry.

One of the biggest misconceptions about car camping is that you need the perfect vehicle before you can get started.

You don’t.

After helping thousands of customers create comfortable sleeping setups, we’ve learned that the best vehicle is usually the one that already fits your life. If it gives you enough room to sleep comfortably and carry the gear you need, you’re already most of the way there.

That’s why Pacific Adventure Works builds sleeping platforms for the vehicles people already own.

Not the vehicle they think they need someday.

The one sitting in the driveway right now.

Because the best camping setup isn’t necessarily the biggest, most expensive, or most complicated. It’s the one that makes it easier to go.

And then makes it easy enough to go again.