We have 2 weimaraners. Current model of car is a Mondeo Estate with a made to measure kennel in the back. We will be soon be looking to get a new car as all these shows have kind of built up the mileage a wee bit ;-) There's also not as much height space in the Mondeo as we would like for our big boy. What we are looking for is maximum space for our dogs as once you get a kennel in the back we've often found that even though it's made to measure we still end up losing a bit of space that the car would normally provide if you weren't fitting a kennel.

Those of you who have similar sized dogs to mine or indeed a larger number of dogs to transport, what car do you have, how do you find, is it economical? We've currently been looking at a Ford Focus Estate and also MPV's. As we would have to get a new made to measure kennel does anyone know if there is much of a market for selling my old one, mind you it's only a year old!

Ta Muchly! :-)

Clare

Spooky. There I was last week, looking at the height space in the boots of estate cars. And telling the salesman that the fact that the third seat belt comes out of the roof of the boot of the Subaru Legacy Estate did not make it a good purchase for a border collie owner whose dog is already trying to eat the dog guard.

The new Mondeo seems to have some kind of bizarre lip to the top of the boot, which restricts the size of something you could get in it.

What about a Subaru Forester? They are much taller than a standard estate, or a softroader - although I think the boot of a Freelander is smaller than my VW Golf :D

Better get something that copes with snow the way our winters are going. :p

9th

Volvo estate,Mine has a double guardsman cage in and the back seat can fit two more fat labs on the seat,and its fairly good on petrol

This is a sore point. My husband is this very moment waiting with baited breathe for the new car - a Citroen Picasso Estate. It looks like a Big Girl's Blouse ( and I should know, because I'm a big girl!!!).

It is not the image at all, and I'm going to be highly embarassed.

BUT - there's loads of room and headroom for at least six flatcoats, probably a lot more (!) , and it's very economical.

So if you see a highly embarassed red-faced person driving about saving money with comfortable dogs, it's probably me!!

Jo and the Casblaidd Embarassed Flatcoats

Is it the V70? Coz I thought the V40 had a smallish boot? The older volvos all seem to be better provisioned in boot space too.

I did a lot of investigation and then we decided to keep the VW. Sniff. :(

Just had to go outside to look what kind it was lol and I drive it everyday :) its a 740 gls and yes its an older car I tend to get the oldest car in my family .

If it's any consolation, my Dad's Volvo 360 has now done 175,000miles and it's still going. Most of that was towing a caravan too. For no good reason, other than the fact that he likes it, my 65 yo father lives in a caravan. He's an old age traveller :D

We go caravanning a lot and our caravan is nicer than our house,for one its always tidy !! the caravans now are great,they have proper showers toilets etc.. and the peace is wonderful.Also cos they have fridges etc.. now you just buy enough food to last instead of cramming every cupboard with stuff you probably will never eat.Our dogs love caravanning too in fact they sulk when we come home, they are great for the Champ shows too you can arrive a day before and take everything in yourt stride and then you are just sitting down to tea when other exhibitors are hitting the road on a long journey home. probably will live in a caravan one day we can have a nice 'Place in the Country' all to ourself mmmnnn bliss

We have a Volvo Estate , a Wentworth 940 ....very large at the back end (rather like me really :D ) Hudson fits in no problem and we should be able to fit another Mal in when we get one too.

I think the small MPV the Citroen Berlingo Multispace (now available in a 2 litre HDI engine) is an exce;llent dog wagon. It is verty similar to the kangoo, though I like the fact that in the rear when using seats there is no centre hump, and there are storage boxes built into floor.

The seats in back fold forward giving a full small van space, with the desired height! The floor is also a van floor with the plastic rib stuff, so much easier to clean, no upholstery in loadig area.

Peugeot have just brought out an almost identical one!

Ok, I've got the Volvo V70 estate and even with the back seats up it fits 2 large GSD, 1 GSP and the little git in all comfortably, I have a factory made dog guard behind the back seat that fits on hydraulic struts so just filcks up when not in use and a rear tail gaurd at the back, and a boot liner. We get about 400 hundred miles to a tank of petrol, more on a long run. Very comfortable, done 130,000 in four years and so far been very reliable. Only problem we find is that being front wheel drive is does knock out the front tyres in just over 10,000 miles Before that I had a 14 yo 240 estate that had done 250,000 miles and was still sailing through MOTs, (no I don't change my cars very often). Ingrid

Hi
I was interested to read this thread as we are thinking of getting an estate car of some sort so that the dogs can ride in the boot and not slobber all over the windows! I was just wondering, what is the main advantage of a made to measure kennel in the back rather than a dog-guard behind the back seats? A lot of people have the kennel but I can't figure out why, would be good to know for when we get our estate car. Also, are the kennels a lot more expensive than dog guards?
Thanks
Alex

I wouldn't say a cage is more expensive then a a dog & tail guard, the pair of mine cost over £400, but you get what you pay for and the cheapy dog guards are no protection in accidents whatsoever. Personally I am not keen on cages but they can be useful in an acident if a window is broken at least the dog is still contained. I would never have a dog in the car without it being contained in some way recently heard of an accident with a dog loose in the car that wouldn't let the emegency services near it's badly injured owner. Ingrid

I have known kennels in car's to save a dogs life !! I would never have anything but a kennel in the back of my car. If you can imagine you are driving along and someone drives into the back of your car your dogs have extra protection from the impact by the kennel. If you only have a dog guard up it stops your dog from being thrown forward but it won't stop your dog from being hit from the side or back of the car. A kennel will also restrict how much the dog can be thrown around in the event of a bump. It's also a good idea to have an escape door on your kennel so that if the back end of the car is crumpled you can at least get your dog out by putting the back seats down and opening another door.

The reason we got ours made to measure was because these days they can make the kennel into just about any shape therefore giving maximum space instead of being plain square or oblong shape. Cost depending on size, colour, how many doors you require, if you require a divider, anything between £150 - £500 + Shop around but IMO you only get what you pay for. :-)

Thanks to everyone for thoughts on makes and models. You've given me food for thought. My other half tells me he's been looking at a Renault Espace, any thoughts on that one ?

Thanks for the thoughts on cages, it seems like they are worth the extra money over dog guards, especially the quite flimsy ones you see in some shops. (Altho these are probably better than nothing, I am still amazed how often I see a completely unrestrained dog bouncing around the back of a car or on a rear shelf.) At the moment I use seat-belt harnesses, hope these are OK.

~To car cage or not to car cage? :-)

I have a car guard but I have a Fiesta so not much room for a car cage.

Hoping to get a Honda CR-V in a couple of months so will be looking at car cages/kennels.

Karen

Hi Karen, we are picking up our CRV this Saturday and I'm so excited. Can't wait to get the girls in it so they have lots of room. They've had to make do with my '106' up till now which can be a bit of a squash for 2 labs. Everyone I know with CRV has recommended it highly, so I'll keep you posted on how I find it.
Lorna

Great Lorna let me know how you like it.
I took one for a test drive and that was it I wanted one there and then.

My brother in law works for Toyota and he says you can't beat the Honda CRV.

Karen

Hi Alex,

We have our cocker spaniel in a folding travelling cage in the boot of our Vectra Estate and I wouldn't have it any other way. Because we've got 3 children we can't have Holly on the back seat so the boot is our only option.

We need to put a pushchair in the boot as well as all the other paraphenalia that 3 children need so a folding cage seemed ideal for us. When our youngest daughter doesn't need a pushchair anymore we'll be having a cage fitted into the boot.

We're anticipating paying in the region of £250 for a cage whereas we only paid £45 for the folding travel cage.

Fiona

I have 2 Boxers.
I have currently Ford Escort Estate with rear seat guard
and tailgate guard.
I also have access to Vauxhall Astra Estate with Guardsman Double
cage-divider & rear escapes. (Soon to be mine) :)
I much prefer the cage option, not only for safety but also
because one of my dogs is hyper protective over the car and with
the guards can get to the windows.
Also with the cage when you've got a puppy in it's chewing phase
it can't get at the headlining of the car, a recent experience ;)
As for economy well the escort isn't too bad although underpowered
for its size, I have a 1.4.
The Astra is economical cause it's a 1.7 TD.
I had an older Astra estate 1.3 and that had over 150K on the clock
and was still going strong when I sold it (bit of rust starting in the arches, but not bad for 13 years old)
I prefer my Vauxhalls as they are also cheaper to maintain, as
my mechanic is a Vauxhall specialist ;)

Claire.
I have a Toyota Avensis estate, which we use for going everywhere and anywhere. Lots of room in the back, and a cage big enough for 3 Border Terriers to travel comfortably.
Dawn B

i have a peugot 405 turbo diesel est, with fitted silent traveller cages, i used to have tail and rear guards when i had rotties as theyd put anyone off trying to get in ,but with the sharpei i wanted the side rear windows covered too as you often hear of them been stolen , its very very reliable!!! and refusing to die a death :)

Well I just traded my nissan jeep for a nissan maxima I found the jeep to high for the dogs and so i decided to go back to a car . I put the cage in the back seat the the last show and let babs have the boot . she can see us with the seat down the boot is huge and babs never stirred . I was a bit worried untill I9 put her in the boot . [can you see the sales man ] Berry will fit in her cage on the back seat when she is going . that is all I will be showing this year . is two dogs . I do like the car though . mari