Will a Desk Fit in My Car? Here’s How to Know

Moving can be a hassle, especially if you have big furniture, such as desks or office chairs. It’s always nice to be able to move with your own car. That being said, you might be unsure if you can fit your desk in a sedan, SUV, or hatchback.

A desk will fit in your car if you can remove the legs or if it’s smaller than your vehicle when you lay down the back seats. Most SUVs can fit small to medium-sized desks, whereas most sedans and hatchbacks can only fit small desks. Trucks can fit desks of all sizes, though.

The good news is that there are many ways you can find out if your car has enough room to fit a desk in it. All you need to know are your vehicle’s internal dimensions, the desk’s dimensions, and whether or not you can take the desk apart.

How to Find Out if Your Car Can Fit a Desk

To find out if your car can fit a desk, consider these details:

• Figure out how many parts you can remove from the desk since it lets you save a lot of space. If you can take off the drawers, legs, cross beams, and other parts, you can drastically reduce the desk’s square footage. This makes it much easier to transport in a car.
• Auto Trader recommends marking your vehicle’s interior square footage. You can check the available space in the back of the vehicle, the headroom, and many other dimensions that let you know if there’s enough room for you to fit your desk in the car.
• Measure your desk’s length, height, and width at the longest parts of each dimension. If you can’t remove any of the aforementioned parts, you’ll likely end up with dimensions that are extremely close to your car’s internal measurements.
• Check if you can remove your rear seats or passenger seat. Removing all of the unused seats will make it much easier to fit your desk in your car. If you pull the front passenger desk out of the vehicle, then remove the rear bench seat, you can point the side of the desk toward the front of the car.

Moving often puts a lot of your furniture and other belongings into weird positions. These items can bend, scratch, and so on. Never try to squeeze your desk into your car if you think it could damage the seats, scratch the paint, or crack the desk.

Another suggestion is to roll a rug and place it next to your desk after putting it in your car. You can unroll the rug when you get to the destination, then place the desk on top of it since rugs flatten slowly.

How to Fit a Desk in Your Car

To fit a desk in your car, follow these steps:

1. Lower all of the rear seats (or remove them if you have a large desk). Almost all modern vehicles let you lower or remove the backs of each seat. Pulling off the backs of each seat frees the trunk for you to place part of the desk.
2. Remove the desk legs if they’re attached by screws. Tape them under the desk or toss them in the trunk, the floor, or the front passenger seat. You can replace the screws when you get to the destination.
3. Open one of the rear doors and slide the desk into your car, with the top of the desk facing the bottom of the seats. If you removed the passenger seat, you can slide the desk through the front passenger door. This makes it much easier if you can’t remove the legs since you can turn or rotate the desk while moving it into the car.
4. If you can’t fit the desk into your car yet, pull out some of the drawers and put them in the trunk. I’ve often removed every part of my desk before putting it into my vehicle. I have a compact Toyota Camry, but I’ve been able to move my desk that’s 23.6″ x 55″ x 30″ before removing the legs (I unscrewed the legs to make it much easier).

According to Go Fortem, you can also attach your desk to a mounted roof rack. Place the drawers and legs in the car, then strap the desk to the top of the vehicle with a blanket under it. It’s important to pad the roof rack to prevent scuff marks on the desk.

No time is better to make your desk sturdier than right before you fit it into your car. Adding cross beams, screw glue, and wood glue can prevent your desk from cracking when you’re moving it. Additionally, it’ll ensure the desk doesn’t wobble or shift too much in the back seat.

What to Know Before Putting a Desk in a Sedan

Before putting a desk in a sedan, you should know that the legs and screws can damage the seats, your desk might not fit if it’s too tall, and most sedans can’t fit extra-large or large desks without removing some of the parts. Removing the rear seats can help you slide the top of the desk with the legs removed and placed elsewhere.

Here’s a quick list of other things you should know about fitting a desk into a sedan:

• You can make room for a desk in most sedans by pulling the seat retention clips at the top of the seat or in between the back of the seat and the seat cushion.
• Some desks have leather tops, and they shouldn’t be moved with sedans that can compress the fabric and warp it.
• The desk might be the only thing you can fit in your car at a time, so you’ll likely have to move chairs, decorations, and other desk accessories with another trip.
• Hatchbacks are much easier when it comes to fitting a desk in a car.
• Make sure the desk doesn’t block your view through the rearview mirror or scratch the windows.