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Cars To Fit The Dogs?


Sail_Away
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I bought a new Rav4 last year, had the previous Rav4 model before that. Once again I test drove everything similar and once again the Rav4 had hands down the most room in the back. I have a cargo barrier that's fitted behind the front seats. Huge amount of room in the back.

We have i35's at work I drive them a lot. Easy to drive but tiny boot. Crappy tiny rear window too. Build quality is nothing like the Rav, you can tell they were made cheaply. If you have big dogs I wouldn't bother even looking at it. Cx5 is the same. It drives great but very small inside.

If you need space go the Rav.

Perfect thanks thumbsup1.gif Nothing really compares to Toyota build quality does it, that's why I'm always drawn back to them! Ravs seem to be getting bigger and bigger lately!

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I have one of these: http://www.peugeot.c...offer/new-4007/ . It is seriously fantastic! I have fit many large dogs in it with no problems, it's is extremely economical and lovely to drive. I researched for ages! I needed a farm car that could fit feed bags, hay bales, dogs, crates etc and the Peugeot was the end result. Had it two yrs now, done 50,000k's and I'm still in love with it. I loved that it had the boot lip folding down so I could slide my car hating, giant sized dog and my elderly large dog in to it more easily. Also good for sliding in heavy feed bags etc, easier on my back.

That looks nice - I looked at the Peugeot 2008 and it is soooooooo sexy! But I thought maybe too small? And.. I wasn't sure about Peugeots... don't know much about them... http://www.peugeot.com.au/showroom/2008/suv/

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We have a Volvo Cross Country. Great station wagon and plenty of room. Good to drive (except for the seatbelt. OK for OH but for somereason it doesnt adjust down far enough for shortarse me and cuts into my neck!).

My 'dog car' though is a VW Caddy Maxi. I love the way it drives for the space it provides. Plenty of power and very comfortable.

Of course I am carrying big dogs so I got a car that would do that specifically....if we take the Volvo we are usually only taking one dog (smaller dogs you would fit plenty!)

It may be worth looking at a Skoda wagon too as they seem to be pretty roomy.

I desperately wanted a VW caddy but when I was looking they only came in manuals. Wah! :cry:

Mine is an Auto - love it to bits :) They are very popular with dog people. I swear half the vans at the dog show I was at yesterday were Caddys :laugh: (of course the fact that VW was offering 0% interest finance on them late last year didn't hurt things! :D )

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have been looking closely at the Subaru Forester after going to see some of the makes in the flesh, I was pleasantly surprised with the Foresters cargo space. So after some research I also found out that Subaru advertising in the US uses the slogan "Dog tested. Dog approved" and a family of Golden Retrievers called "The Barkleys" in their TV ads... pretty funny videos, thought I would share laugh.gifhttp://www.subaru.com/dogs/

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I now have a 1998 Toyota Prado GXL and my four fit in with room for another four!

Though we have a ramp for the older Lab as he can't jump that high to get in. It also has push out rear windows, so the dogs get the air flow, while staying safe.

I had a Rav 4 previous but the Prado kicks arse!!!!

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I have been looking closely at the Subaru Forester after going to see some of the makes in the flesh, I was pleasantly surprised with the Foresters cargo space. So after some research I also found out that Subaru advertising in the US uses the slogan "Dog tested. Dog approved" and a family of Golden Retrievers called "The Barkleys" in their TV ads... pretty funny videos, thought I would share laugh.gifhttp://www.subaru.com/dogs/

My parents have a 2007 model and while it's not as high as my xtrail I do like to take the Forester out occasionally (in the name of resetting the transmission computer) and fang it around corners, it's much more stable and responsive. :D

I did a 'build your own' on the Subaru site- got to $51k without leather trim and heated front seats. Bahahaha....oh well, one can dream...

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I have been looking closely at the Subaru Forester after going to see some of the makes in the flesh, I was pleasantly surprised with the Foresters cargo space. So after some research I also found out that Subaru advertising in the US uses the slogan "Dog tested. Dog approved" and a family of Golden Retrievers called "The Barkleys" in their TV ads... pretty funny videos, thought I would share laugh.gifhttp://www.subaru.com/dogs/

My parents have a 2007 model and while it's not as high as my xtrail I do like to take the Forester out occasionally (in the name of resetting the transmission computer) and fang it around corners, it's much more stable and responsive. :D

I did a 'build your own' on the Subaru site- got to $51k without leather trim and heated front seats. Bahahaha....oh well, one can dream...

Haha Yeah I did 'Build your own too' and laughed out loud thinking yeah right! However, you can get the base model Forester in Auto for approx $33,000 drive away which is on par with the other small SUV's in that class - and with the bonus of it having AWD standard. The good thing about Subaru models is that the base model is pretty stacked with features so you don't miss out on much without upgrading thumbsup1.gif I'm really leaning towards this now.

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I bought an IMAX. 3 whippet fit easily in a very large crate in the cargo area- plus dog stuff each side if the crate. I can also fit 8 people.

I went away with a friend, we had four dogs in crates plus tents, gazebos and all show and camping paraphernalia and it fitted easily.

Cruising on 110 and the fuel consumption is great, very comfortable and roomy. Sometimes a little gutless overtaking up a hill but since the one I have is a 4 cylinder petrol I can deal with it.

I love it and got it at under 2 years of age for a fantastic price.

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I have been looking closely at the Subaru Forester after going to see some of the makes in the flesh, I was pleasantly surprised with the Foresters cargo space. So after some research I also found out that Subaru advertising in the US uses the slogan "Dog tested. Dog approved" and a family of Golden Retrievers called "The Barkleys" in their TV ads... pretty funny videos, thought I would share laugh.gifhttp://www.subaru.com/dogs/

My parents have a 2007 model and while it's not as high as my xtrail I do like to take the Forester out occasionally (in the name of resetting the transmission computer) and fang it around corners, it's much more stable and responsive. :D

I did a 'build your own' on the Subaru site- got to $51k without leather trim and heated front seats. Bahahaha....oh well, one can dream...

Haha Yeah I did 'Build your own too' and laughed out loud thinking yeah right! However, you can get the base model Forester in Auto for approx $33,000 drive away which is on par with the other small SUV's in that class - and with the bonus of it having AWD standard. The good thing about Subaru models is that the base model is pretty stacked with features so you don't miss out on much without upgrading thumbsup1.gif I'm really leaning towards this now.

That's quite a good price for new. :)

One piece of advice is to drive the different transmission types, and compare it to the turbo, thinking about what sort of driving you'll be doing.

Ours seems to have a delay in gear changes when overtaking at high speed, a bit of a worry when on the highway.

My Dad said he'd only ever buy the turbo if he was to get another. The issue might be corrected now in newer models though.

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I have a Subaru XV with a giant breed. He's a back seat dweller.

eek1.gif Wow really! I love the XV's but unfortunately the boot space is too small. Lots of people at obedience have the Nissan X-Trail - I had a look at that too, not bad, great boot, good price but just not sold on Nissan's.. I'll most likely take one for a drive though to see how it fairs. I am starting agility this year and hope to progress into competitions sometime in the near future plus possibly tracking, story dogs, dock diving etc... so lots more travel with the dog(s) plus gear and I guess some light 'off road' stuff too getting to some of these places. The Forester has the best ground clearance out of all the ones I've looked at too, my Jazz scraps the ground coming in and out of some driveways!! frown.gif

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I just bought a Kia Carnival last week. It is huge! Will easily fit 3 greyhounds and their crap in the back with all the seats out. Certainly fits my current two with the last row of seats still in. Have only driven it around town so far but I am loving it!

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Sail_Away...have you considered having Hyundai i40 wagon?

We just bought this car last year and it ticks all the boxes we need (even more).

It's only 2 of us now, no kid yet and a Japanese Spitz puppy. Plenty of room and leg room, drive nicely, we chose the diesel one and hubby driving it everyday to work 60kms a day x 5 days a week only need to fill the diesel once every 2 weeks! great saving on fuel. My Japanese Spitz crated at the back of the car and still plenty of room to put grocerries etc if needed too.

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Sail_Away...have you considered having Hyundai i40 wagon?

We just bought this car last year and it ticks all the boxes we need (even more).

It's only 2 of us now, no kid yet and a Japanese Spitz puppy. Plenty of room and leg room, drive nicely, we chose the diesel one and hubby driving it everyday to work 60kms a day x 5 days a week only need to fill the diesel once every 2 weeks! great saving on fuel. My Japanese Spitz crated at the back of the car and still plenty of room to put grocerries etc if needed too.

I had a look at the Hyundai i30 Tourer/Wagon and although the cargo was definitely suitable, for the price I have decided I would prefer an SUV for the drive height and ground clearance it provides... the wagons have great space in them though!

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I have been a bit skeptical of Hyundai's but they have definitely come a long way - a few friends of mine have the i30 and love it - I just asked this question on Facebook and some people responded with the i30 wagon - which I didn't realise it came in. Also mentioned was the Subaru Forrester...

I now look after fleet vehicles. The Hyundai Getz is still basic entry model and we have issues of replacing engine mounts in them. The i20/i30 we don't have too much issue with for problems compared to some other makes/utes.

We are finding generally speaking, if you buy a new turbo diesel and do a lot of town stopping and starting they are carboning up. EGR issues can be expensive to fix. Make sure you also improve the factory fuel filters to include good water separators.

I had a friend with an older Subaru forrester. They fitted two dog crates/show trollies and 3 border collies.

Also look at repair costs.... Some vehicles cost much more to repair if something goes wrong. We had a Holden volt here in the workshop for smash repair.. It took nearly 6 months to get parts from USA.. You would think Holden good on parts availability... Not always so.

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