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I currently drive a 5 door 2.0 2010 Mondeo without roof bars. I take delivery in two months of the same model with roof bars. I need to carry an extra passenger when we go camping shortly and this will take up valuable space for the essentials that we take as well as the crap that I vow we'll never take cause we don't use it.

Is there or can I get a box that I can use on my current car and on the new one coming in two months or will I have to wait till the new car turns up?

Over to the learned TEF.

Roof box attaches to roof bars, you can use it on any roof bars (size dependent).

So your current car is going to need roof bars too, you're looking at £100 for cheapo ones.

Can't you put all the sleeping bags etc on the passengers laps? Mondeos have huge boots

Ok, so, there are no kits that will enable me to secure bars to the underside of the roof where the door recesses as well as utilising them for the new model? does that make sense? In other owrds i have seen top boxes fitted to a structure that "clips" into the recess where the door closes and the bars straddle the car. My thought process was that as the new car bars run down the side of the car the style I'm thinking could be adjusted to lose the bits that clip into the recess and with a new fixing gadget just clip onto the bars and hey presto a dual fixing for both cars. 

They do you're correct. The smaller back seat split stays upright and my lad it sat there behind the front passenger. The other half of the split is folded down. Now we have to take another passenger therefore we won't be able to utilise that extra space so much hence the top box question. We don't do sleeping bags, we do duvets on top of a nice blow up bed. I am sure we could cut the crap down just not sure how.

Don't blow the bed up until you arrive?  :)
Is the split in the back a 2/3  and 1/3? You'd still have a third you could fold down.

No we won't and yes the split is correct, however that extra space lost will make a massive difference.

We took 3 kids camping, car was a Honda civic, we rolled out the sleeping bags, air beds and had the kids sit on them, roof boxes are shit IMO they don't hold that much

When you say roof bars are you meaning the rails that run front to back? You should be able to get roof bars that clasp onto the bodywork ( inside doors) so as long as you've got the clearance to go above your new cars roof rails you could then use for both cars. Roof bars that attach like this are normally cheaper than fixed pin ones. Think I've got most of That right?

Why not stick on an old fashioned roof rack with some good old rope? Cheaper option.

Excellent, that was what I was alluding to. Yes Roof Rails, factory fitted. Funnily enough, my budget was for a Zetc 2.0 140 bhp Mondeo. Fortunatley now that the new one is coming out all be it delayed until qtr 4 2014 i keep getting my order canceled and up graded. I'm now taking delivery of a Mondeo Titanium x business 2.0 163 bhp with a reduced co2 out put of only 119 v 129 on my current one. Not only that I still have budget for loads of extras. In fact I'll have more bells and whistles than the star ship Enterprise, happy days.

In a word? No.

Exactly the same as mine

I have had it about 6 weeks and I am very very impressed

Enjoy

Just the person to help fatbasher then, if you've got roof bars for it?

What do you take me for


Some kind of pikey ?

 :D

Come of it Fred, I'll bet you got the detachable tow bar as an option didn't you  :D :D :D

Some very well to do folk turn up on camp sites in their flash cars/4x4's Some even have Halford roof bars and boxes !

Sorry but camping is definitely not for me

That takes me back...I went from being able to carry everything I needed, on a couple of panniers on the bike, to something like a military logistics operation when having a wife and 2 kids. I used to lash a collapsible table to the bars, then a various bits to the table.

Never failed to amaze me though, some of the kit people would turn up with on a camp-site...more electric appliances than I've got in the house.

Too fucking right. This is why I never understood caravans. Why go on a camping holiday if you just want to sit in a smaller version of your house? The whole point is getting away from conveniences. Some of the best holidays I've been on involved collecting everyone's phone batteries so they couldn't use them. Roughing it for a few days is the point of the bloody exercise...

I've always felt with caravans, that it's a statement that you don't want a camping holiday...hence the kit.

As you say camping should be about minimalism....my ex wife though would always insist that a site should at least have a bog. When I first started out camping in the 60's, it wasn't uncommon for a farmer to stick a notice up advertising camping when the facilities were essentially a tap, in the farmyard, with maybe an outside lav.

Passage of time and planning regs etc meant things changed.  The best camping is always fly camping setting up somewhere, where you may or not be welcome. Get permission if you can...don't hang around too long if you can't.

Scotland is the place for you Reg. Very few restrictions on where you can pitch a tent.

I've been...tent nearly got blown apart on Shetland. Trouble with Scotland is that it's full of Scots.

Yeah but it's also full of Scotch......

Can't remember the last time we went away for a camping weekend without having words  >:( about the amount of gear I was/am expected to fit into the car. If I had a roof box and a trailer I reckon the wife would still be able to find enough kit to take to fill both ! Not unusual though, I reckon most couples have WORDS whilst packing for hols  :)