How do you roll? :)

[Justin]

I'm just curious how most of you guys "get around". What kind of vehicle do you use for transporting your equipment? How do you cram everything in? Room for passenger(s)? Do you consider these things when shopping for a vehicle? Do you have a separate vehicle specifically for this purpose?

Personally I don't have a ton of money to be too picky, but I have an '08 PT Cruiser that works well. I load everything in a very specific way so that everything lies flat enough that I can see out the back window, and not risk things flying up at me if I have to stop suddenly. Having broken two rear windows on two different vehicles over the years, I learned to NEVER stand speakers up during transport. Fool me twice...

It's also nice that since I use the front seat for the computer and two of my totes, I have a perfectly polite and reasonable excuse not to give anyone a ride home (it comes up a lot in my little town). Side note, back in 2011 I was DJing about 2 blocks from my house (driving a Ford Windstar at the time) and an old friend was stuck with no ride... and he lived on the other side of town. Let's just say the ride back home after dropping him off was... eventful... and expensive... my own fault of course, but had I not given him a ride home I would have only been on the main road for exactly one block. I know I should have gotten a ride home myself, trust me lesson learned...

When I was working with Alicia (former business partner) she did the driving (partly due to my... indiscretion in '11). She has a Chevy HHR (side note: GM poached the designer of the PT Cruiser to design the HHR) which is a bit roomier and had the benefit of tinted windows (my PT does not -- yet).

Also: do you "brand" your vehicle in any way? I personally think that's risky, but I know some local DJs with a Trailblazer and a Minivan (two particular friends) with vinyl logos that, to me, basically scream "BREAK INTO ME I HAVE DJ EQUIPMENT!"  I have another friend with an Explorer and a trailer - he does larger gigs and sometimes sound reinforcement for bands, and his logo is plastered all over the trailer (but not the explorer, and he keeps the trailer in a garage when not working).

I don't do that, and I plan to tint the rear windows because when spring/summer hits I'll likely keep the equipment in the car full time rather than unloading and reloading it at home every weekend. The Windstar was nice for that, very inconspicuous, but that was my ex's... The PT does have a factory alarm of course.

Down the road I would like a larger vehicle - another former business partner had a Blazer that was nice for that - so that I can keep even more "spare" stuff on hand. The PT barely holds my absolute necessities, an extra speaker would be out of the question (I use the 2 Harbingers and one old S3 brand speaker I know not much about, other than it handles my no-name amp quite well as an extra bass speaker, facing backwards in the corner). And my folding table won't fit, I rely on (and sometimes forget to ask) that the venue has a table for me.

Ideally my next car/van/SUV would be a "second" vehicle, so I could keep the equipment (and table!) in the "DJ" vehicle, and keep the PT for grocery shopping and other day-to-day stuff (and have more room/less weight).

I like my two-thousand-and-late PT Loser (great mileage, low deck height, inconspicuous) for now... got it dirt cheap and replaced a blown head myself, so less than $1000 total investment... but I'd like to keep it as my daily driver and get something else just for DJing.

So I guess my real question, out of curiosity and completely unrelated to VDJ, is: what do you drive?

[Justin]

Just for fun, pics. The first one is during the tear-down. Then there's the old cylinder head vs the new one, and finally the car itself. Slight front-end damage but overall everything works and it drives like a dream. For a PT Cruiser anyway...

[Justin]

Stupid 4 attachment limit... who runs these forums!!! 

[vcationguy]

Good job on your cylinder head! 
I drive an 06 GMC Envoy.  I've had that car for a long time and really like it.  Don't want to get rid of it until I really have to.  Also have a 2001 Lincoln MKX.  I only use that as a backup for gigs.  Anyway, I do/did consider what a car can carry when shopping for them.  My Envoy works out perfect.  Still have the passenger seat available for my girlfriend to go with me.  Definitely get tinted windows.  Half the time I just leave my stuff stored in the Envoy.  I also agree with you about putting signs on your car.  I don't because it CAN be a sign that says ROB ME or at least have people trying to look inside your car.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY! 
I hope 2017 is a great year for all of you (and we see the new VDJ released!  lol).!!!

[Justin]

I don't because it CAN be a sign that says ROB ME or at least have people trying to look inside your car.

I never understood why people put large "ALPINE" or "Kenwood" stickers on their window. I remember in the early 90s, people had the annoying habit of hanging a CD from their rear view mirror. First it advertised that they had a CD player (a highly stolen item back then), and secondly it blinded people in the right light!

I hope 2017 is a great year for all of you (and we see the new VDJ released!  lol).!!!

I hope everyone is safe this weekend, and definitely hope next year turns out better than 2016... but VDJ will be here very soon. Since I'm not working this weekend (probably the only DJ in the world without a gig on NYE, but I'm still "recovering" even though I feel fine) I will be working on VDJ. At least during the day... I do have plans to have fun tonight of course

[Fabio]

I had a Chevy Blazer which my son would use on a semi daily basis, as I drive a Miata...which very good with gas, but not very good for carrying....though it was quite well on my Friday and Saturdays, as most of the gear I use is permanently there (a 2nd set of Peaveys and a 2nd Europower pmp2000 mixer and most of the cabling already there...even a small TV I use for the singer.  So I carry the wireless mics and some books and pens and of course the laptop.  Since this is a convertible, I never leave anything of value in the car.  Anyway, my son crashed and totaled that Chevy Blazer a few months ago (luckily not a scratch on him!), so after that I was forced to use my wife's Prius and you'd be surprised how much stuff fits when you put the back seats down.   

As far as Branding, it's exactly what Ron mentioned...it would be exactly like putting a "rob me" sign 

I don't do much gigs outside of my regular gigs as my day job keeps me pretty busy, so I mostly I avoid getting more gigs, unless they're the regular kind...not the one off type.  Most of the gigs I get are by word of mouth or they see me at one of gigs and then they ask me.  About the only thing I do is advertise with pens.  I customized the pens I use for my gigs with my info.  on every gig a "loose" a couple of them.  I figure people take them.  Sometime people ask me if they can take one and of course I let them take them.  I find these work better than business cards.

As far as leaving stuff in the cars,  even before the Blazer got totaled I never liked leaving my gear inside, even on those gigs where I'd get home at 3am, I'd take the time to unload all my gear.  I've heard of other people leaving their gear and then got their car broken into, so I decided that was not going to be me.