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Due to impending new doggo (Labrador) we need to change either my or the wife's car to be more suitable. We're keeping mine.
Will be trading in an A5 convertible that I reckon is around £8-10k in value and have approx. £10k on top of that available unless there are any mean finance deals around at the moment - I guess somewhere in the region of £4-500/month would be doable if we used the £10k to subsidise that instead. We would have an EV at the drop of a hat but not sure how feasible that is so I'm looking at the likes of a Q5 or whatever the big Volvos are, but this is way outside my comfort zone - I'm a stupid sports car type. Would also consider something like a Viano depending on how useful they actually are.
Any recommendations?
The dog would love a convertible! Have you seen them with an open window....
There is a VW caddy in the local garage for 12.5k - 2 seats and space for a wet manky mutt to keep away from upholstery and the humans...
Berlingo?
Literally anything with a hatchback/estate version.
Forgot to add - needs to have space for at least 3 humans
Any estate car or hatchback with a boot liner and dog guard will be perfect. But tbh any other car with a rear seat cover and a harness that connects to the seat belts will also be fine. Dogs don't care. Buying a Q5 or similar, Just because your you're getting a dog does seem like a massive over indulgence!
Bert the Karelian Bear Dog also says the answer is a Berlingo.
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Or foringer trips a Volvo V70!
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Or for longer trips a Volvo V70
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We went from an Audi A4 estate which had a sloping roof line so was rubbish for dog duties, to a Toyota Corolla estate which ticks every box for us.
Uh? My photo heavy reply disappeared.
Anyway Bert loves our Berlingo and Volvo V70.
If you're considering a Q5, but are also a bit of a petrol head
A6 Avant 3l Bitd. 309bhp, 0-60 in 5.3s
Buying a Q5 or similar, Just because your you’re getting a dog does seem like a massive over indulgence!
Agreed but it's not going to be "my" car so I have to take a back seat on choices. I'd have a 325/330d estate if it were me.
Do you know the dog, is it fit and healthy? Our rescue has dodgy hips, only discovered about 6 months after having him. Had one hip replacement already, may need another. Generally gets around ok and can walk 3 miles quite happily.
But, point of the story, he struggles to get into cars with high boots. Can't get into my dad's Kuga, finds our Octavia fine. If we'd have spunked cash on a car he couldn't get into before we'd got him I'd not be happy.
Oh and if you get a Q5 or similar people will judge you.
Edit: A6 estate if you want to keep it Audi
Our retriever is very happy in the back of our VW Polo, which can also carry three people in relative comfort. With three people and a dog there isn’t much space for anything else though. A friend has a Newfoundland and has a Golf estate which would be more versatile for a family.
SUV’s are so space inefficient so I would always prefer a small estate over a Large SUV but that’s personal choice.
edit: our previous dog found getting in and out of the Polo a struggle when she got older, but a folding ramp sorted that problem
Dog is new not a rescue, from one of the local farm/shooting estates, both parents fit and healthy so no particular concerns about health. We're aware we need to give him a gentle first 12 months to have the best chance of healthy bone development.
I'm not a fan of SUVs either but as above I don't get final say. Golf estate is a decent shout, I'll see if I can persuade the Mrs.
Lower boot is always better.
I’m a fan of big fabric crates in the car. Dogs love these safe spaces/den. The dog goes into sleep mode when in the crate. Easier to take out than installed dog guards. Contains the inevitable vomit/crap incident - almost guaranteed at some point. You can pack around it too. When new car shopping I have the crate with me, doesn’t fit then car is out. Surprising how small some SUV boots are.
Land Rover 90 with an Ifor Williams back. 'Seats' for 3 humans and the best dog transport known to man. Add half a bale of straw and a pile of old feed sacks and it will be doggy heaven
Land Rover 90 with an Ifor Williams back. ‘Seats’ for 3 humans
2 1/4 humans with a 200tdi dash - and even then you need to be very familiar with the middle passenger to hit 2/4th gear.
Another vote for a Berlingo - and also a vote for the dogs don't care.
My mate regularly puts his 35 kilo German shepherd and sprocker in a fiesta. (Hi Ian when you read this)
They are still both over the moon when they get to the beach or a.n.other interesting place
As others have said, a Lab will be happy enough in most cars from Focus size up. Our old lass has happily travelled in a Discovery Sport, Kuga, X1, 1 Series, Mk1 Focus, and Q3 in the last 10 years. She even squeezed in my wife's old Mini and my i3s for short trips. Bigger is usually better though and worth considering how high the boot lip is and how much of a jump it is to get in.
There are not many wrong answers so I'd draw up a shortlist and pick your favourite, same as you would for any other car purchase.
The dog might not care, but if you ever use the car for anything else it can handy to contain the dog filth just a bit.
The dog might not care, but if you ever use the car for anything else it can handy to contain the dog filth just a bit.
Well a bigger boot* just means more room for filth. Unless you mean room for a crate also.
* When I say gos in a fiesta I mean in the boot using a full height dog guard
Only an £85k BMW would possibly do
Like everyone else I’d say a big estate car is the best choice. Low enough. For the dog to jump in easily especially when they get older.
Useful to then have some way of separating the boot so you can still use it. Young Labrador may love to chew on everything and anything. Friends 4 month old just chewed the kids football net to pieces.
I use a travall divider that means the dog can have 50% or 66% of the boot and shopping etc can go in other side.
Or use a fabrics crate as suggested above.
I’m in. BMW 5 series now. Did have an X5 before but the dogs then were 10-12kg ones and much easier to lift in and out. Wouldn’t fancy that with 32kg of Labrador all the time.
Skoda Superb has a huge boot and would be worth looking at.
Estate all the way. If you (she) wants suv style go for a “cross” or 4x4 version. E.g. Skoda scout. You get the low floor but it looks a bit more grrrr.
Berlingo is a perfect dog carrying car, especially for a Lab.
We’ve got a ‘65 plate one.
Nice big boot so plenty of space even if you divide it off to allow extra luggage space as well.
Low, flat boot lip so easy for them to jump in and out (or, when they get too old like our Lab x Springer did, means a ramp has a nice shallow angle.)
Tailgate means you can towel then dry after a wet walk with a bit of shelter from rain and the separate opening glass but means you can open that to give them some air/a drink/ put their lead on without opening the whole thing and then leaping out.
Heavily plastic interior is easy to clean and since the boot is nice and flat you can just put a sheet of rubber down rather than a £££ tailor made protector. Or use a heavy duty ‘shop’ type rubber backed doorway carpet like we do.
We’ve only got our little Pomeranian now as the big boy sadly passed away at Christmas but we’ve still no intention of getting rid of it.
EUCD platform Volvos, XC60, V60 or V70.
You'd probably manage a SPA1 V60 in budget. Maybe not a V90 or XC60. Depends on the second hand market right now.
Not long in from a day out for lunch and muddy dog walk. 2 large teenagers, me and the wife, and Ollie the cockapoo. He goes on a waterproof seat cover on the rear near side seat. Leather seats make any mess easy to wipe away. Today was in our Q5 but the smaller car is equally suitable too.
BMW X1 or estate of your choice, just make sure the roof doesn’t slope at the back or have a sloped glass
We have an X1 and a e-class estate. The dog will get in to the e-classs herself but not the X1
She much prefers the X1 boot because it’s much smaller.
Q5 has a very high boot. Estate or MPV would be easier for a less nimble dog.
Same with if you ver have to load heavy big things in the boot - pretty difficult with an suv because the bottom of the boot can be well over a ft higher than a car
Dog guard will stop you potentially getting seriously hurt if you get in a crash
As the owner of a 35kg Labrador and other mutts I can only say that you can't guarantee that they'll be happy jumping in and out of an SUV boot. Mine just stands there and looks at me until I pick her up and put her in our car, so how strong is your back?
I've wanted an estate for this and other reasons for years but I keep getting out voted by the fashion police (the wife) 😉
Golf estate with Maelson fabric dog crate in boot. They do one that fits nicely(I have 3 small dogs) also fine for one large dog easily.
The answer to most car threads that don't involve sleeping arrangements IME is a golf GTi<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">. Frank the lab agrees. 😉</span>
Google police dog car.
Octavia, Superb and Mondeo estates seem to be current UK favourites in the image line-up that I'm seeing .
Not many SUVs, although the Kodiaq "...complies with RSPCA and DEFRA requirements..." https://www.fleetnews.co.uk/news/fleet-industry-news/2020/03/20/new-skoda-police-dog-vehicle-joins-blue-light-fleet
Octy vrs estate does the job perfectly well for my Lab sized rescue mutt. I can even fit her and a Lab in there with ease and have done.
Don't be 'outvoted' an estate makes sense for the dog.
Bert the Karelian Bear Dog also says the answer is a Berlingo.
Surely the awesome Bert would prefer a Bearlingo
My wife’s dog walking business is run from a Berlingo so that must be the answer
Although in reality our Honda Jazz can do 3 and our large dog
Just going through the same debate for our dalmatian.....one of his predecessors was transported in a mk 1 golf GTI , back seats up, for years..... most things work being the point.i have a audi a6 all road and it's ideal....big boot, not too high off the ground and able to raise the height when needed plus four wheel drive. Other car is a bmw 330d tourer full m kit, wife wanted something for the dog, real world living is it is way too low to the ground to get over bumps or lumps or get on some of the fell carparks.
Looking to replace my audi and discounted suv too high a boot lip, tired dogs are easier to roll into a estate. So I am trying to get a audi a6 or similar say skoda .....friend has a skoda yeti and that is ok.
Peugeot 306.
Again, no SUV's. An estate or hatchback (better with estate) with a Travall divider. Although they advertise as 50/50 or 60/40 the reality is you can position it anywhere, you just need to squeeze the lower camp through the mesh a bit.
We just got a Focus, doesn't sound like a 1.5 diesel is your thing but they do have the ST or if your missus wants SUV style there's the Active version (only 30mm ride hight difference).
Pick an estate to suit your budget and needs. As already said, SUVs are too high. I have an A6 Allroad and two spaniels, the eldest one is 9 and getting a little arthritic, she’ll still jump in and out of the car but always looks to see if she can get picked up first. Anything much higher than that and I think she’d just refuse. My mum’s 12 year old golden doodle (retriever sized) couldn’t get into their Peugeot 308 towards the end, and she couldn’t lift him so they had to get one of those ramps to get him in the car (which he didn’t like much and sometimes refused to use).
If your wife wants an SUV then perhaps something an Allroad would be a good compromise - better for the dog but still has the “rugged” look of an SUV. They are very long though so make sure she’s OK with larger cars (my wife won’t drive mine, which is an added bonus 😀 )
Berlingo = the car nobody wants / the car everyone needs*
*I don't actually work in marketing.
Have you seen the size of the newest Berlingos? They're bigger than my old C8 and probably a Voyager, properly into van territory now.
Have you seen the size of the newest Berlingos
110 mm wider and ,60mm longer. That is a fair jump in width given the m59-b9 jump was already considerable -120-130mm.... So rnps old one is nearly 1/4m narrower -not including wing mirrors.
Makes it 80mm shy of a range rover 😮 -but still narrower than an EcoSport by some.margin.
Here’s Joe in our Kuga with a Travall dog guard. Works really well for us - he gets half of the boot, leaving the other half for crap. He just curls up and goes to sleep…
Thanks folks. Looks like I've got plenty of ammo to steer the conversation towards an estate of some flavour. She does like the Audi so I'll maybe see how much sense an A6 Avant makes vs something like a Superb, which I'm assuming will be the exact same car wearing cheaper clothes.
A6 Avant makes vs something like a Superb, which I’m assuming will be the exact same car wearing cheaper clothes.
no the Superb is based on the transverse engined VAG models, closest to a VW Passat. They are more space efficient than the longitudinal engined Audi
Just as a note, although an estate might be easier to get in for a dog, in every other way we prefer our SUV.
Nicer driving position, easier to get in and out of, the boot space is actually easier to lift heavy stuff in an out of as you don’t need to bend down. Also mountain bikes and awkward shaped stuff goes in an SUV much easier than an estate
Don’t buy an estate just so a dog can jump in and out !
Don’t buy an estate just so a dog can jump in and out !
So you would be happy lifting several kilos of dog should it eventually be unable to get in? I know what's more likely to do my back in and my vote is with 37kg of greyhound.
Also mountain bikes and awkward shaped stuff goes in an SUV much easier than an estate
You and I have differing views on this.
And I get better mpg, more style and better handling. 😉
Also mountain bikes and awkward shaped stuff goes in an SUV much easier than an estate
High boot floors makes them as bad as an estate for that so for the sake of the dog I'd just get an estate car and be done. SUV only redeeming feature is if you need a stannah stair lift to get out of a regular car