What dog friendly 4x4 as a daily drive?

[Muppet007]

Just moved to North Cumbria. My drive is a knackered farm track down a hill which floods.
I need a 4x4 (I think) that I can also use to go to my office when required, which is about a 600 mile round trip. My C class estate no longer fits the bill.

Day to day to will be used for going to the shops and taking the dogs out in the lakes so about 10-30 miles journey.

Want something with a bit of grunt to get past the tourists, big boot area for 3 medium dogs and can deal with the lane from hell.

Petrol preferred but don't really mind.. budget 10-30k

Quite like
Nissan Pathfinder
Alfa Romeo Stelvio
Volvo XC60
Jeep wrangler

Don't like
BMW

Mainly looking for ideas.....

Thanks in advance.

[w1bbles]

If you don’t really mind diesel then a late Disco 4 is a good call. It’s got enough grunt to overtake tourists and it’s supremely comfortable. There’s a bit of a reliability gamble so budget for suspension components and electronic handbrake repair. Also change the gearbox oil at 60k ish if you want to avoid 120k miles borkage.

Ours is equally at home on a motorway as it is pulling a livestock trailer through a field. Dog also votes for it.

I’ve had a Pathfinder, which I found horribly agricultural in comparison. No experience of the others but I like the look of the Alfa!

[babelfish]

I have friends with Pathfinders and Discovery's

I went Discovery 4 as I found one at a good price and history.

Better place to be than a Pathfinder IMO

And living near the Wye it helps to have a bit of "wading depth"

The car:

Road outside the house:

The village:

Some light snow:
[

Edited by babelfish on Monday 1st November 23:07

[Muppet007]

Thanks for the replies.

I had not thought of a Disco 4, will need investigate

Wading ability is much needed, my own drive kinda looks a bit like yours over the last week babelfish, but the water is a darker brown lol.

[ritch]

we bought a Cayenne for dog wagon duties. good on fuel, nippy enough, nice place to be and very car like in its drive. Not sure if the boot will be big enough - depending on your dogs, but we have 2 Tibetan Terriors which are medium size and they have plenty of room.

Obviously there are more focussed 4x4 options out there, but we found the Cayenne the best option as we dont really need a full on 4x4 but wanted something different than going for the usual estate options again. So far in the 6 monthes we have had it its been reliable with only servicing costs (2012 model with 109K).

[sam greenock]

I'd echo the Disco4 suggestions - we had the last of line Landmark model - 2016 fully loaded, really nice place to be and height and 4x4 system are great.

We're now in a new Defender 110 which is great but has a lot less boot room than the Disco 4, much to our St Bernard's disappointment

[sam.rog]

Subaru outback.

[Walter Sobchak]

Disco 4 is a great choice, even though I prefer them I’d probably go for a late L322 with the 4.4 TDV8 to avoid the chance of any engine issues, better value too.
As always you can’t go wrong with a Landcruiser, even though they’re incredibly tough and reliable and have great residuals I’d be the first to admit the Disco 4 is a nicer drive.

[ZX10R NIN]

GL Mercedes the top end of your budget will land you a nice one:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202109217...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202109187...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202109087...

The Grand Cherokee is a good option & at the top end of your budget you'll get one with 2/3 years warranty left:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202110198...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202108106...

But you'll get a sensible mileage Overland for around 15k:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202107265...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202106284...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202109277...

What about a Ford Ranger you could add a Truckman top & the dogs will have all the space they could ask for, the 3.2 5 pot has more than enough grunt & in Wildtrack spec you won't go short either:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202106234...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202110319...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202110299...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202110288...

[FunkyNige]

Muppet007 said:

Thanks for the replies.

I had not thought of a Disco 4, will need investigate

Wading ability is much needed, my own drive kinda looks a bit like yours over the last week babelfish, but the water is a darker brown lol.

The new Disco Sport's wading depth is 60cm if you can get one of the facelift ones in your budget? Our two dogs (big Labrador and medium Doodle) are fine in the back of it and it's a bit less car to manoeuvre around twisty roads.

[flying-banana]

I'm not sure that I'd want to do regular 600 mile trips in a Wrangler or Pathfinder, so I'd echo some of the other comments and look at the Disco4, the Jeep Grand Cherokee, maybe the VW Toureg...and I definitely like the look of the Stelvio

[Muppet007]

I'd not say they are regular trips, just if and when needed, so not even monthly. I could always take a train or plane.

Thanks for the other suggestions, all food for thought.

Ideal dog wagon would be something with tiny backseats, big boot, comfy, high up and quick and looks nice..... lol
Really, I think I need to think harder, I treat my cars like crap in terms of keeping them clean, so posh interior (even though its a great place to be) is kinda wasted

[Roboticarm]

I'd take a look at the VW toureg, a friend bought one for similar reasons a few years back ..... Then bought another as he couldn't find anything else which was as good at the on road stuff without going up to a Porsche or Audi. Of course the disco 4 would be better off road but the toureg would be fine based in the description and images

[anonymous-user]

Late L322 or Disco 4.

[Muppet007]

I quite like VW Toureg's but had forgot about them lol.

Prefer Disco 4 over L322 but once again, thanks all for the suggestions.

[loafer123]

I had Grand Cherokee Summits for 7 years - epic cars and on your budget if 3-4 years old.

[Muppet007]

I'm torn between a few cars (still waiting for a bonus to land to purchase the new shed ). Also dogs may grow from 3 to 4 lol.

Discovery 3.0 SDV6 HSE Luxury (2015 50k miles, £33k)
Discovery 3.0 SDV6 Landmark (2016, 37K miles, £39k)
Discovery Sport 2.0 HSE Dynamic Lux (ok not what anyone recommended, but within budget and boot space is big) (2018, 32k miles, £36K)
Grand Cherokee 3.0 CRD Overland (2015, 32K miles, £24k)
Volvo V90 Cross Country Estate (few models from 2019-2020, all petrol at about £33-36K and sub 20k miles).

Discovery seem to fit the bill the most in terms of space, I quite like the Volvos (wife does not, called me Granddad lol).
Grand Cherokee is also good, same size boot as the V90 but need to actual view the usable space vs quoted litres.

[FunkyNige]

Muppet007 said:

I'm torn between a few cars (still waiting for a bonus to land to purchase the new shed ). Also dogs may grow from 3 to 4 lol.

Discovery Sport 2.0 HSE Dynamic Lux (ok not what anyone recommended, but within budget and boot space is big) (2018, 32k miles, £36K)
Grand Cherokee 3.0 CRD Overland (2015, 32K miles, £24k)

Discovery seem to fit the bill the most in terms of space, I quite like the Volvos (wife does not, called me Granddad lol).
Grand Cherokee is also good, same size boot as the V90 but need to actual view the usable space vs quoted litres.

I only have experience of these two as I have a 2019 Disco Sport (DS) and my mother-in-law has a 2018 Grand Cherokee (GC), my DS is the facelift version though so can't comment on the interior as that's completely different. The GC interior does feel a bit cheap but it's huge inside and the boot is bigger than the DS.
The GC would be a better dog car as the boot itself has a 'step' down, combined with suspension that goes up and down it means the boot is a lot lower for the dogs to jump into, or if they need a ramp you don't need as long a ramp as you need in the DS. The DS boot floor really is quite high off the ground!
The DS would be my choice for driving around lanes, it's a big car but not as big as the GC. I drove a Discovery on the LR experience day and that felt much bigger to drive around twisty roads/tracks compared to the DS so if you've got narrow lanes I'd certainly give the DS consideration!

£36k for a 2018 DS does sound expensive though, especially if it's the pre-facelift one?

[Muppet007]

Cheers, we do have narrow lanes around here, most are single track with passing points, so width could be an issue I'd not thought of.

Price was preface lift. If I'm honest I have no idea about current covid-stupid prices but it lines up with others I've seen.


Outside contender is a Skoda Kodiaq..... Massive boot, cheap, high clearance. Not a true 4x4 as per a Discovery but maybe enough to get me by.
Downside, ugly lol.

Edited by Muppet007 on Monday 10th January 15:36

[Ransoman]

If i had your budget I would buy the Alfa Stelvio in a heartbeat. No idea how good it is at off-roading but i have heard it is pretty good.

My dog wagon is a Freelander 2. It regularly drives up a disintegrated farm lane, wades through deep water and plows through seriously deep snow and with a set of decent All terrain tyres on, nothing seems to stop it. With your budget you could get one of the last ones made with an autobox and all the toys and have change of £18k. Or look at the disco sport if you want something newer. It would be considerably cheaper to run than a Disco 3/4 (speaking from experience....)