This worked exactly as we hoped it would! We have an SUV, but with 2 young kids that need about a million things each for a week at the beach, we didn't have room in our trunk. We loaded this rack up with a pack and play, big graco stroller, beach cart, beach bag, towels... a ton of stuff. We basically just had our clothes in the trunk of the car. The bag zipped shut and stayed put. It rained the whole way home from vacation and nothing got wet. We did also purchase a mat for under the bag, not sure if this was necessary or not, but we figured why risk it? We'll be using this for every vacation.