Discussion
Hey all looking for some advise.
Current situation: Me, Missus, her 10 year old, 1x 20kg Husky, 1x 45kg Wolfdog. We have a 2012 Fiesta (hers) and 2007 SAAB V6 estate (mine). In the SAAB the dogs go in the boot, her lad in the back and all of their luggage in the other 2 seats in back. Car is quite full. Occasionally we go in the Fiesta it ends up being, 2x dogs + her lad in the back, boot full of the bags.
We are expecting a new addition in June. Initially I was going to keep the Fiesta and sell the SAAB, replace it with something bigger but I wanted something V8,10,12 and realised quickly with dogs + kids the interior is going to be messy all the time and I hate that.
So I started thinking, replace her Fiesta and get her something that we can both drive (I do most of the long distance driving) and then eventually I can sell the SAAB and get something smaller (fancy another NA V6, Alfa maybe?).
So right now I'm wanting to spend up to 10k. In my head, dogs in the boot, seats 6 and 7 will be occupied by bags + baby stuff, seats 4 and 6 by the 10 year old and baby seat.
Right now I'm looking at 2011+ Volvo XC90 D5 (either SE Lux or R-Design) reason for 2011+ is they have the D5 200ps engine. Found one with 111k on the clock including a private plate for under 10k and they have offered £3800 for the Fiesta.
Anybody else got any suggestions, I did look at V12 and V8 Q7 previously, Q7 V6 diesel is an option but I've previously had 15 years of VW Group ownership and have quite enjoyed the SAAB so though a Volvo would be nice, plus the Q7 we will be looking at older cars + higher mileage.
Not interested in things like Citroen Picasso, 2 of the family's in our cul-de-sac have them.
Current situation: Me, Missus, her 10 year old, 1x 20kg Husky, 1x 45kg Wolfdog. We have a 2012 Fiesta (hers) and 2007 SAAB V6 estate (mine). In the SAAB the dogs go in the boot, her lad in the back and all of their luggage in the other 2 seats in back. Car is quite full. Occasionally we go in the Fiesta it ends up being, 2x dogs + her lad in the back, boot full of the bags.
We are expecting a new addition in June. Initially I was going to keep the Fiesta and sell the SAAB, replace it with something bigger but I wanted something V8,10,12 and realised quickly with dogs + kids the interior is going to be messy all the time and I hate that.
So I started thinking, replace her Fiesta and get her something that we can both drive (I do most of the long distance driving) and then eventually I can sell the SAAB and get something smaller (fancy another NA V6, Alfa maybe?).
So right now I'm wanting to spend up to 10k. In my head, dogs in the boot, seats 6 and 7 will be occupied by bags + baby stuff, seats 4 and 6 by the 10 year old and baby seat.
Right now I'm looking at 2011+ Volvo XC90 D5 (either SE Lux or R-Design) reason for 2011+ is they have the D5 200ps engine. Found one with 111k on the clock including a private plate for under 10k and they have offered £3800 for the Fiesta.
Anybody else got any suggestions, I did look at V12 and V8 Q7 previously, Q7 V6 diesel is an option but I've previously had 15 years of VW Group ownership and have quite enjoyed the SAAB so though a Volvo would be nice, plus the Q7 we will be looking at older cars + higher mileage.
Not interested in things like Citroen Picasso, 2 of the family's in our cul-de-sac have them.
ingenieur said:
Sounds like a horrible way to drive with 65kg of heavy breathing dogs in the car. But I'm pretty sure you don't have the choice of getting rid of the dogs so if it were me in that situation I'd be buying something with biggest possible internal area.
The first thing which came to mind was the Nissan Patrol: https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202107054...
hence the 7 seater, want to keep the dogs separate from bags/baby stuff etc so they can have the whole boot to them selves, they pretty much get in and go sleep. The first thing which came to mind was the Nissan Patrol: https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202107054...
GreatGranny said:
You won't get 2 big dogs in the boot of an XC90 with seats 6 & 7 in use.
I've had 2 and they are superb family vehicles but we had 3 kids and no dogs so it was plenty big enough.
You may need the use of a decent size roof box for when all of you are travelling with luggage.
Car I'm actually looking at comes with a roof box as well haha. I've looked at the pics with seats up and it still looked a decent size to me. I've had 2 and they are superb family vehicles but we had 3 kids and no dogs so it was plenty big enough.
You may need the use of a decent size roof box for when all of you are travelling with luggage.
Pablo16v said:
S-Max or Galaxy is an obvious answer. We loved our 2.0 Ecoboost 240 and would easily have another if we needed extra seats and space. 240bhp gives you reasonable performance, they drive well and I was always surprised by how economical our S-Max was.
Just looked at the Galaxy/Alhambra (I went to the Alhambra launch many years ago) and the boot in them is even smaller than the XC90 when seats are up. magpie215 said:
If your willing to go JDM
Nissan Elgrand
Honda Elysion
Toyota Alphard
Yeh thats the kind of thing I want to avoid! Nissan Elgrand
Honda Elysion
Toyota Alphard
Wondering if we go XC90, but don't use the 6th and 7th seat when dogs are with us, and just put a divider in there.
6th and 7th seats would come in handy when we have family over as both sides of our family live 2.5 hours away and we end up travelling in multiple cars to places.
blank said:
Skoda superb estate with roof box.
7 seaters very rarely have a decent boot with all 7 seats in place.
Might as well just keep the SAAB then if was going to go for that.7 seaters very rarely have a decent boot with all 7 seats in place.
Had the 2.0 TSI 280 engine in my Cupra so wouldn't want to go for the same engine.
Mercedes GLS I'll give a look to.
david mcc said:
Yep, as others have said you wont get 2 dogs in the boot of an XC90 with all 7 seats in use.
When its in 5 seat set up the boot is absolutely massive though and ideal for 2 dogs and lots of family stuff for days out etc.
Thinking maybe get a divider in the boot, but the Merc GL is an option now, despite there not being many of them for sale. When its in 5 seat set up the boot is absolutely massive though and ideal for 2 dogs and lots of family stuff for days out etc.
blank said:
Guardsman do good guards and longitudinal dividers.
Not convinced you'll get 2 large dogs comfortably on one side of a divider though.
My sister does it with 2 whippets in a Superb estate and even that looks tight.
I do it with 1 Labrador in a Leon estate and I don't think 2 would have enough room.
They used to curl up nicely in my MK1 Leon boot, They fit nicely in the SAAB estate boot but there's no room for anything else. Not convinced you'll get 2 large dogs comfortably on one side of a divider though.
My sister does it with 2 whippets in a Superb estate and even that looks tight.
I do it with 1 Labrador in a Leon estate and I don't think 2 would have enough room.
I'll have a look at Guardsman.
Skyedriver said:
Keeps them contained, stops them flying forward and they feel more secure not being thrown around the rear so much, sort of a comfort area.
Ah yeh I get you. Off to look at the 2011 XC90 today, as said previously will probably just get a divider and keep the 6/7th seat down. Nice to have them though.
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