Hi guys,

My lovely volvo v70's getting on a bit now, so I've been starting to look around for a new car with a huge boot. I'm quite impressed with the twin cabs + solid tops (eg LS200 warrior/animal, Navarro), but don't know how practical they are eg. carting the kids to school etc.

Ther seems to be a distinct lack of estates with huge boots, I have one husband, 2 kids, up to 5 large dogs at a time and need room for my dog equipment, oh and I do a bit of soft roading (mainly getting to the training/tracking fields in ALL weathers).

Any ideas, my volvo just isn't big enough for all this. Most 4x4's with the exception of the Ford Explorer and the Toyota Amazon just don't have a big enough boot.

Any help greatly appreciated!

Ali :)

Landrover Defender! Goes anywhere!! ;)

Best wishes, John

Landrovers are worth a look at, all models right back to the early ones come with air-conditioning, its called draughts on other makes  :D

You know you're a Landrover owner when you find yourself getting the hose pipe out to clean the inside! :p

The radio in mine is crystal clear. It's a shame I can't hear it over the engine and road noise! :d

I'd steer clear of the L200 at the moment, there currently made in India and there are some questions regarding the quality of the steel used in the bodies.

I recently sold a Shogun because the the door pillers needed respraying twice due to rust coming through, I was told that these particular doors originated in India, it also needed an engine rebuild due to the cars engine mangement computer being incorrectly set up.

John,

I'd love a Defender, unfortunately as I use my current car for nipping up to Halifax where the in-laws live, my other half has pointed out that a Land Rover may not be up to doing it in 3 hours fully loaded (Not that I go over the speed limit!), with home comforts!
I must admit, I've been really spoiled with my cars, my V70 has A/C, CD, Leather interior (Essential if you have muddy dogs/kids) etc, although I did look at a new Defender 110 recently, and it looked fine to me!

(I had a sneaky peek at the new Discovery-looked rather nice, but V. expensive!)

Maybe I should trade my kids in, then I wouldn't need a 110, and I could get a 90, like you've got!

I wish...........
Ali :)

Mine is rather elderly (Like me) and is not exactly the ideal long distance transport but great for what I want. For the longer journeys I still like my (almost as elderly) 940 Volvo. ;)

Best wishes, John

My Dad has a L200 4Life twin cab he's more than happy with his.
His is two tone red and silver. No rust yet! Although I'll make sure he keeps an eye on his.
It's a bit hard/bumpy ride as the suspension is designed to be load carrying
but it has enough room for 5 people.
Not sure if the pickup bit in the back would be big enough for dogs and kit though
if you needed to cart everyone to a show. Plus you'd need to purchase the hard top.
Also can you gain access to the rear if you had a bump? As don't know if they do sliding
rear window so you can get into the boot area to get the dogs out if needs be.
Plus they are quite long so no good for parking in sports centre car parks as you do
stick out of the spaces alittle way especially if you have a tow bar :D

I had a toyota double cab pickup and it was brilliant and I really miss it now.  Great for keeping the inside CLEAN! and everything else can go in the pickup part which really is quite big, much bigger than a normal boot.  I didn't find it difficult to park at all, got used to reversing by wing mirrors.  It was diesel and I got around 40 mph out of it on long runs, 25 in the city.  The only problem was expensive parts and that was eventually why I sold it and also because I didn't need to do any towing any more.