Frequently Asked Questions

BootSized is a free tool that lets you compare car boots by what actually fits, not just litres. Pick two cars, choose a real-life scenario — family holiday, pushchair and luggage, weekly shop, golf day — and see side by side which boot handles it better, with a clear FITS, TIGHT, or NO FIT verdict for each.

It uses real manufacturer dimensions and 3D visualisation so you can make a confident decision before you buy, instead of guessing from a single number that tells you almost nothing about shape, width, or depth.

No sign-up, no paywall — just pick your cars and compare.

It depends on what you carry regularly. As a rough guide: a folded pushchair takes up about 80–100 litres of space on its own. Add a couple of shopping bags and you're looking at 150–200 litres just for the basics.

For a family holiday with two suitcases, a pushchair, and a bag of toys, you'll want at least 400 litres — and the shape matters as much as the volume. A wide, shallow boot handles suitcases laid flat much better than a deep, narrow one.

Rather than guessing with litres, use BootSized to compare your shortlisted cars against your actual scenario. It's the quickest way to see which boot fits your family life.

Most manufacturers use the VDA method — filling the boot with standardised 200 mm × 50 mm × 100 mm blocks and counting how many fit. The result is reported in litres.

This gives a single number, but it hides important details. It doesn't tell you the width between the wheel arches, the height of the boot lip you have to lift things over, or whether the floor is flat. Two boots with the same VDA volume can feel very different in practice.

Some brands measure to the window line (seats-up volume), others to the roof. Always check whether a quoted figure is seats-up or seats-down, as the difference can be hundreds of litres. On BootSized, all dimensions are seats-up — the space you actually have with passengers in the car.

A boot quoted at 400 litres means 400 one-litre blocks fit inside using the VDA method. In real life you're loading oddly shaped bags, not uniform blocks, so usable space is always less than the headline number.

Seats-up capacity is the space behind the rear seats with the parcel shelf in place — this is what you use day to day. Seats-down capacity folds the rear bench and measures the full load area up to the roof, useful for moving furniture or bulky items but not a fair comparison between cars for everyday use.

Seats-up is the boot space you have with all rear seats in their normal upright position — this is what you use every day with passengers in the car. Seats-down folds the rear bench flat and measures the full load area from the front seatbacks to the tailgate, usually up to the roof.

The difference can be hundreds of litres. A car might quote 400 litres seats-up and 1,200 litres seats-down — but the seats-down figure only matters if you're moving furniture or loading without rear passengers.

On BootSized, all comparisons use seats-up dimensions. That's the space that matters when you're choosing a family car — you need the back seats for people, so the boot is what's left behind them.

Different sources measure differently. One site might quote seats-up volume to the parcel shelf, another quotes to the roof. Some include under-floor storage, others don't. Facelifted models within the same generation can have slightly different dimensions too.

Regional specs also vary — a car sold in the UK might have a different boot floor height than the same model in Europe due to battery placement or spare wheel options.

On BootSized I note the generation and year for each model so you can tell which version you're looking at.

Manufacturer dimensions are measured in controlled conditions and are generally accurate for the numbers they report. The catch is what they leave out.

The quoted width is usually the widest point of the boot floor, but wheel arches narrow things considerably at the sides. Depth is measured along the floor, but a sloped tailgate means tall items won't fit at the back. Height might be measured to the parcel shelf or to the roof — it varies by brand.

That's why BootSized exists. Instead of trusting a single litres figure, you can load specific items into a 3D model and see whether they actually fit given the real dimensions.

Head to the compare page, pick two cars from the dropdown menus, and choose a scenario — like family holiday, weekly shop, or golf day. BootSized will show both boots side by side with a 3D visualisation and a clear FITS, TIGHT, or NO FIT verdict for each car.

All comparisons use seats-up boot dimensions, so you're seeing the space you actually have with passengers in the car. If you want to test your own items instead of a preset scenario, switch to custom packing and enter your dimensions.

The preset scenarios cover the most common use cases: cabin and checked suitcases, pushchairs and buggies, golf bags, weekly shopping, and combinations for family trips and weekends away.

If your item isn't in the presets, switch to custom packing and enter the width, depth, and height in millimetres. You can add as many items as you like and see in real time whether they fit together.

Yes. Switch to custom packing on the compare page and enter the width, depth, and height of each item in millimetres. You can add as many items as you like and the 3D view updates in real time.

This is especially useful if you have a specific pushchair model, an oddly shaped bag, or anything else that doesn't match the standard presets. Measure your item, punch in the numbers, and see whether it fits.

Yes, completely free. No sign-up, no paywall, no limits. I plan to keep it that way.

Honestly — it's an approximation. Real boots have wheel arches, uneven floors, sloped tailgates, and all sorts of quirks that I don't capture yet. The 3D model is based on the manufacturer's width, depth, and height, so it gives you a useful sense of scale, but it won't match the exact shape of the boot.

I'm still in the early days and improving things as I go. If something looks off or you have ideas for making it better, I'd genuinely love to hear from you.

Reach out on X (@bzbislawski).

The packer uses real dimensions but assumes perfect rectangular stacking. Real life has soft bags, odd shapes, and the "just shove it in" factor. Use it as a guide, not gospel.

The packing algorithm places items as rigid boxes and never overlaps them. In real life you tilt a suitcase, squash a soft bag, or wedge something into a gap — the algorithm can't do that. It will always be more conservative than what you can achieve with a bit of creative loading.

You might also notice a "tight fit" result — that means the items technically fit but only with a small tolerance that isn't guaranteed in practice. Think of it as a maybe rather than a yes.

This is exactly why the custom packing option exists. If a preset scenario says something doesn't fit but you know from experience that it does, try custom packing with your actual item dimensions. It gives you more control and a clearer picture.

Yes! Drop me a message with the make, model, and year and I'll add it for you.

Reach out on X (@bzbislawski).