Did we mention you can put it in your garage and still have use of the garage! Check the photo at the end of this article.

Back to the Mariner, storage is more than sufficient to carry two riders plus all the gear they could manage very comfortably. You could fit 3 but it would be really snug. The place we ran into trouble was with the bike stands. They are bulky and don't fit into one another plus they get dirty and dirt in the vehicle is a no, no especially if you are sharing it with other family members. So we had these stinking stands to deal with, even though the interior cleaned up easily, we wound up strapping them to the trailer. Other than this it was all good.

 A little history- the Mercury Mariner is based on the Ford Escape and was originally introduced in 2005. For 2009, the Mariner gets a new 171 horsepower, 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine. We were surprised at how well the four-cylinder motor pulled the trailer loaded with two bikes. Towing capacity is up to 3,500 pounds but don't think you are going to be pulling an enclosed trailer with a four-cylinder vehicle. The idea here is not to stress the SUV until it breaks. It's about trying to save money at the pump. Our front wheel drive tester came with the optional six-speed automatic transmission that seemed like it never shifted it was so smooth, a revised suspension and re-calibrated antilock brakes round off the updates.

The optional navigation system with a 6.5-inch screen came in handy several times. GPS units are notorious for getting people lost, this one didn't. Either we went to easy-to-find locations or it actually worked, we’re still trying to work this out. It plays DVD's (moto movies on the way to the track!), and has a 330-watt stereo with a six-disc CD changer included in the navigation package. Volume and channel selection buttons are located on the steering wheel. We wished for a mute button on several occasions but had to defer to the power on off on the dash. An auxiliary input jack that supports MP3 players is standard on all Mariners. Ours also had a USB port which allows you to connect to the available 10 gig drive for music storage. ............................................Continued