There comes an inevitable point in a road trip when you feel the need to shut the drive down for the night and get some rest. Most people do the cushy thing and get a hotel room, but if you’re a cheapskate like me, you’ll find a rest stop and lie down in your car.
I’ve noticed that some folks take this pretty seriously. If you hang around a rest stop long enough, you’ll find hotshot drivers with beds in the backs of their crew cab heavy-duty pickups. I’ve also seen families in minivans with curtains, string lights, and most of the bits you’d find in a camper van.
I’m not like that. I pack extremely lightly for a trip, so the only sleeping gear I bring is a pillow and a blanket. The vehicle’s seats function as my bed. This had led to both great and horrible sleeping experiences on the road.
The worst sleeping experience I’ve had is, without a doubt, the Scion iQ.
The iQ has a couple of problems working against it. The car is too small to actually lie down in, but that’s not surprising because, well, it’s super tiny. The little Scion makes up for it with front seats that recline pretty far back. However, these seats are about as comfortable as the ones you’ll find in a city bus. The only times I ever catch anything resembling sleep in the iQ is when I’m a drunk passenger.
Weirdly, this isn’t an issue for the Smart Fortwo (below), because the Smart has a fold-flat passenger seat. If you’re traveling solo, bring a couple of pillows, a yoga mat, and a blanket, and you should be able to achieve something resembling okay-ish sleep. Or, bring a tiny inflatable mattress and have surprisingly decent sleep.
I’m usually driving a big truck of some kind when I pick up a car from across the country, so I typically just lie down in the back seat with a pillow and blanket and achieve a decent night’s sleep.
I expected the 2025 Ford F-250 Super Duty XL regular cab loaner that I have right now to be no different.
It doesn’t have a back seat, but it does have a 40/20/40 bench seat that looks like it could be a decent bed. Unfortunately, the center part of the bench folds, but it does not recline. It also doesn’t move back. So, if the center of the bench is in the way, there’s not much you can do about it. This makes the regular cab F-250 one of my least pleasurable sleeping experiences.
My favorite road trip sleeping experience yet was in the 2025 Ford F-350 Super Duty Platinum Plus. Ford went through a lot of work to make its flagship Super Duty as comfortable as a luxury car. The F-350’s seats do an amazing job of soaking up huge bumps. A byproduct of this is that the rear seat is almost as comfortable as the bed I have at home.
I was able to get a full eight hours of sleep in the back of the F-350, and I felt as refreshed as I would have sleeping at home. That was with nothing more than using my clothes as a pillow and a truck stop blanket.
Here’s where I turn things over to you: What car has the best seats for snoozing? For the purposes of this exercise, the cargo areas of vans and wagons don’t count, we’re strictly talking seat-sleeping. Recline and relax, stretch out across the rear bench … what cars are most comfy for a night?
I’ve got a mate in Japan who travels all over the country in his Mazda Bongo van, and like many other Japanese folks he sleeps in the car to save on accommodation. Futon on the cargo floor, add an electric blanket for winters or ice pillows for summers, and it’s usually enough for a great night’s sleep. Tried it once and I slept so good it felt like I had time-skipped 8 hours ahead!
Of course this being Japan, the roadside stations (michi-no-eki) where people park overnight are incredibly well equipped (with electric bidets!) and kept spotless. The parking lots are almost dead silent too; the noisiest thing you hear would be the diesel Hiaces and Coasters idling to keep their ACs on through the night. Crime is almost non-existent as well, though locals would often nick loo rolls from the toilets, so much so that the roadside stations now have their names and addresses stamped onto the rolls!
Uh… any of the full-size conversion vans of the 70s, 80s, and 90s where the rear seat folds down into a bed.
The best one I’ve been in at least was the rear seat of my Delta88 Holiday Coupe. Soft seat that sort of leans in towards the back so you don’t fall off.
Weird as it sounds, but the question of sleep comfort has been a part of my vehicle purchases for a number of years.
My old ’78 Bronco has ample floor space with the rear seat folded, but the rear bench is also a comfortable place. Last I slept there was on a trip to Denver.
My Saab 9-3 had a comfy seat once reclined, but it was a manual adjust so turning the knob was tiring. With the back seats folded forward there was just enough room to stretch out into the trunk.
My Polestar 2 has very comfortable front seats and when reclined and lowered makes a good place to fall asleep. The rear seats fold forward making a great shelf to put a sleeping pad on and zonk out without a dashboard in the way.
I know I would have only been 7 years old when she sold it, but it would be difficult if not impossible to beat the backseat of my mom’s 1974 Buick LeSabre. That brown and gold paisley/brocade bench seat was like a rolling Sealy PosturePedic. Others were also comfortable through the years, but they only got smaller from there. The back seat of a full-sized 70s land yacht sedan is damn near the size of a twin mattress.
Of course, then there’s the 1949 Nash AirFlyte, whose entire interior collapses into one gigantic bed. Probably not the greatest road trip car for about 40 or 50 years by now, though.