Family + dog car
Discussion
Hi
I am looking for some help in what my next car should be. I cant decide if an estate, SUV or MPV will be best.
The main thing I need is boot space. I need to be able to fit in my 5 year old dog (lab) plus a pushchair into the boot, in about 12-18 months the pushchair will no longer be required, but I'd still like to be able to keep the fairly good sized split, but doesn't need to be a huge space, large bag and some daypacks and lab on the other.
I have 2 car seats in the back for the kids, and currently have a Toyota Auris. Not bothered about fitting in another adult in the back.
An estate seems the most logical one to go with, but my wife has never driven an estate and I think she'd find it hard to drive. The estates I had in mind were VW passat, Hyundai i40, Honda civic.
SUV my wife likes, but I feel the boot size is not great, height rather than depth but either should work for me. The SUV I am looking at Honda CRV, VW Tiguan, Hyundai ix35
MPV covers all the above and will provide the most space, but just feel a bit like a mini bus.. the MPV I have been looking at S-Max or the C-max Grand
I thought about maybe just getting a bigger hatchback like the Mondeo or Insigna but would like do the job also?
I am looking for some help in what my next car should be. I cant decide if an estate, SUV or MPV will be best.
The main thing I need is boot space. I need to be able to fit in my 5 year old dog (lab) plus a pushchair into the boot, in about 12-18 months the pushchair will no longer be required, but I'd still like to be able to keep the fairly good sized split, but doesn't need to be a huge space, large bag and some daypacks and lab on the other.
I have 2 car seats in the back for the kids, and currently have a Toyota Auris. Not bothered about fitting in another adult in the back.
An estate seems the most logical one to go with, but my wife has never driven an estate and I think she'd find it hard to drive. The estates I had in mind were VW passat, Hyundai i40, Honda civic.
SUV my wife likes, but I feel the boot size is not great, height rather than depth but either should work for me. The SUV I am looking at Honda CRV, VW Tiguan, Hyundai ix35
MPV covers all the above and will provide the most space, but just feel a bit like a mini bus.. the MPV I have been looking at S-Max or the C-max Grand
I thought about maybe just getting a bigger hatchback like the Mondeo or Insigna but would like do the job also?
Load space isn't always related to the type of car.
SUVs, MPVs, and Estates can all come with cavernous or small boots. Another big issue is the shape of the boot, as many modern cars have sloping rears which eat into the load space but arguably may look a bit better.
Any 7 seater without the rear row in use will have loads of room, like the S-max. The new tiguan has a decent sized boot but not huge.
If I was you I would try an figure out the minimum dimensions/volume you need then do a lot of googling. Then go down to a dealers and look at the boot.
SUVs, MPVs, and Estates can all come with cavernous or small boots. Another big issue is the shape of the boot, as many modern cars have sloping rears which eat into the load space but arguably may look a bit better.
Any 7 seater without the rear row in use will have loads of room, like the S-max. The new tiguan has a decent sized boot but not huge.
If I was you I would try an figure out the minimum dimensions/volume you need then do a lot of googling. Then go down to a dealers and look at the boot.
The push chair is an off road 3 wheeler that folds in half so can go on its side or vertical.
The ones I have put above are the biggest size in there category's that I can afford, having gone through them all on a website with boot sizes and shapes
I am also in 2 minds if something like the new civic hatchback would do the job as the boot is great for the size of car
CAPP0 said:
Genuine question, if your wife isn't able to cope with driving an estate, how is she going to manage an SUV or MPV?
This is what I am also interested in finding out what's best to drive. I don't drive any regularly but my wife usually drives nothing bigger than an auris/golf sized car.My thinking was more the length of the estate, rather than the bulkiness of the others, plus I think she will be ok being up higher, my thinking only and would love more advice
Your push chair sounds rather like the three wheeled Phil&Teds that we had which ate into more than half of the boot of our A6 Avant. Whilst we didn't mind piling shopping on top of that, your dog might be less impressed at travelling that way. A genuine question but do you really need such a big buggy or, as your child gets older, would a more occasional stroller chair be more suitable? We ended up ditching the big and expensive pram and going with a McLaren that suddenly made our car practical again. By doing the same thing you'd probably be picking from a far greater choice of cars and your dog would thank you for it too.
Personally, I would always go for an estate.
As has been suggested, V70 are great cars for your purpose.
Go for an V70 R (phase I) as they have hugely charismatic 5-cyl engines.
Otherwise the newer phase II T6 come with a silky smooth 6-cyl. Go for a AWD with automatic!
And both of them came as 7-seaters, if required.
As has been suggested, V70 are great cars for your purpose.
Go for an V70 R (phase I) as they have hugely charismatic 5-cyl engines.
Otherwise the newer phase II T6 come with a silky smooth 6-cyl. Go for a AWD with automatic!
And both of them came as 7-seaters, if required.
JonJon2015 said:
Your push chair sounds rather like the three wheeled Phil&Teds that we had which ate into more than half of the boot of our A6 Avant. Whilst we didn't mind piling shopping on top of that, your dog might be less impressed at travelling that way. A genuine question but do you really need such a big buggy or, as your child gets older, would a more occasional stroller chair be more suitable? We ended up ditching the big and expensive pram and going with a McLaren that suddenly made our car practical again. By doing the same thing you'd probably be picking from a far greater choice of cars and your dog would thank you for it too.
I have an icandy but yes very like phil and teds. I also have a McLaren but although smaller than the icandy its a completely different shape, not sure this would fit in a SUV in one half and a dog in the other, i.e bottom to top vertical, or flat back seat to boot opening.The problem is the now is when we go with the dog, the 3 wheeler does the job better
ryry3 said:
CAPP0 said:
Genuine question, if your wife isn't able to cope with driving an estate, how is she going to manage an SUV or MPV?
This is what I am also interested in finding out what's best to drive. I don't drive any regularly but my wife usually drives nothing bigger than an auris/golf sized car.My thinking was more the length of the estate, rather than the bulkiness of the others, plus I think she will be ok being up higher, my thinking only and would love more advice
Load space in SUVs isn't usually much higher than estates either. Roofline is higher, but so is the ride height and boot floor.
But you would be have a higher driving position in an SUV, but also common to have poor visibility due to B/C pillars width and shape.
Maybe you should buy her some driving lessons and make sure you get parking sensors/camera?
We have a Jane three wheeled puschair and a 30kg bearded collie
Wife drives an XC70 (old shape) which suits very well (although cost a fortune to maintain)
Lots of boots just don't work- we took our pushchair and dog to try a few cars and it really was crucial.
I drive a merce cls estate which is just big enough. Any of hte big estates (ie E Class, 5 Touring, A6 ec) should be big enough.
Interestingly some of the SUV's and softroaders we tried just weren't big enough- coudln't find a subaru that worked, none of the CRv/Rav's/Freelanders were big enough.
Wife drives an XC70 (old shape) which suits very well (although cost a fortune to maintain)
Lots of boots just don't work- we took our pushchair and dog to try a few cars and it really was crucial.
I drive a merce cls estate which is just big enough. Any of hte big estates (ie E Class, 5 Touring, A6 ec) should be big enough.
Interestingly some of the SUV's and softroaders we tried just weren't big enough- coudln't find a subaru that worked, none of the CRv/Rav's/Freelanders were big enough.
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