Calling owners of large dogs...

[crowsout]

I need to change motors to cart my large dog about. I thought I preferred an estate rather than a SUV and wanted something that was either punchy enough or re-mapabble to a point where I wouldn’t be bored to death.

After some time researching I settled on a Leon Estate 2.0l. After going to look at one it turns out the boot isn’t high enough to fit my dog into.

My dog is around 94cm from butt to head when sitting down, the Leon boot isn't high enough to accommodate him.

So it’s back to square one, or square zero really.

If anyone has a dog of a similar size, what do you use to cart it about the place?

Here are my requirements:

. Budget up to £15k
. Needs a bit of go in it or be remapabble to have some
. Would prefer an estate but would consider an SUV
. Probably needs to be petrol due to usage – lots of short trips with 5 or 6 long drives of several hundred miles each year
. Needs to be able to fit my 94cm dog
. As reliable as possible these days
. Not cost the earth to run/maintain as I’ll be on a budget so no BMW, Merc etc,

Thanks.

[otolith]

When I had a big dog, I ran a couple of Mercedes E class estates, but appreciate that from a running costs and reliability point of view you might want to swerve those. They are the most capacious estates around, though, cavernous.

My mate has a couple of GSDs, and a Skoda Octavia estate car.

[SunsetZed]

Does the dog have to go in the boot? Mine uses the rear seats which gives far more car options. We've got a box that goes in the footwell one side which basically extends the base of the seat and he likes that far more than the boot.

[crowsout]

otolith said:

When I had a big dog, I ran a couple of Mercedes E class estates, but appreciate that from a running costs and reliability point of view you might want to swerve those. They are the most capacious estates around, though, cavernous.

My mate has a couple of GSDs, and a Skoda Octavia estate car.

Yeah, thanks for confirming about the Merc.

I originally looked at the Octavia Vrs but was put off by some friends who run a garage, they said it's likely the ones I'd be looking at would have been ragged?

Do the non Vrs models modles have any punch at all?

btw I'm running around in an old remapped Honda diesel

[crowsout]

SunsetZed said:

Does the dog have to go in the boot? Mine uses the rear seats which gives far more car options. We've got a box that goes in the footwell one side which basically extends the base of the seat and he likes that far more than the boot.

There will be times when he'll have to go in the boot unfortunately.

[otolith]

crowsout said:

Yeah, thanks for confirming about the Merc.

I originally looked at the Octavia Vrs but was put off by some friends who run a garage, they said it's likely the ones I'd be looking at would have been ragged?

Do the non Vrs models modles have any punch at all?

btw I'm running around in an old remapped Honda diesel

He's running a diesel. He seems happy with it!

[Cjr32blue]

If worried about an Octavia vrs being ragged you can get the 2.0tsi petrol in the superb. Nicer inside and plenty big enough for a dog. 220bhp or 280 with 4wd, plenty quick enough.

[Rotary Potato]

I'm not the most sensible person in the world. But I had no headroom problems with my dog in my old car.



However, whilst it was fine & dandy while it was just me & the dog, the Boxster had to go when I got a girlfriend too.

[otolith]

Rotary Potato said:

I'm not the most sensible person in the world. But I had no headroom problems with my dog in my old car.

[Img]https://i.imgur.com/kdyFjhi.jpeg[/thumb]

However, whilst it was fine & dandy while it was just me & the dog, the Boxster had to go when I got a girlfriend too.

Yeah, possible but not ideal

[crowsout]

Rotary Potato said:

I'm not the most sensible person in the world. But I had no headroom problems with my dog in my old car.

[Img]https://i.imgur.com/kdyFjhi.jpeg[/thumb]

However, whilst it was fine & dandy while it was just me & the dog, the Boxster had to go when I got a girlfriend too.

Nice doggy.

It's a nice idea but when my dog sits in the front seat I can't see the passenger window. He's about twice the size of yours lol

[crowsout]

Cjr32blue said:

If worried about an Octavia vrs being ragged you can get the 2.0tsi petrol in the superb. Nicer inside and plenty big enough for a dog. 220bhp or 280 with 4wd, plenty quick enough.

Nice shout!

There are some on autotrader now: 2019/80.5k miles, 2016/85k miles and 2016/77.5k miles - I don't know anything about these cars so is there anything (excluding a lack of service history) about the mileage or even generally that should put me off?

Thanks.

[Skodillac]

3 shy of 200bhp....

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202509146...

Or, bit older and cheaper but 321bhp...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202508185...

[crowsout]

Skodillac said:

3 shy of 200bhp....

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202509146...

Or, bit older and cheaper but 321bhp...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202508185...

Do you know what, an Insignia never crossed my mind. I'd love that V6 but I'd never be out of the petrol station.

Great shout!

Do you know what the internal height of the boot floor-to-ceiling is?

[RustyNissanPrairie]

Why have a nice car to transport a doggo about? It's going to get wet/dirty/filthy/smell of dog.

I have an old stage1 mapped 130hp 21 year old Berlingo for everyday local doggo duties and a nice Cayenne for longer distance doggo transport.

[andburg]

Merc b class or a bmw 2 series active tourer should be big enough in the boot and parts shouldn’t be awful expensive.

Correct answer is probably a Ford smax though

[Skodillac]

crowsout said:

Do you know what the internal height of the boot floor-to-ceiling is?

Sorry, no and I don't have one to measure either. I've got a Skoda Superb (hatch) for my smaller dog transporting needs... I'd highly recommend one (estate version for you though). Mine is a lowly 1.5TSI petrol with only 150bhp, which is plenty for me as it's the torque the car generates which pushes it along very nicely indeed. So nicely that I didn't see the point of getting the thirstier 2.0 as the moderate performance uplift wasn't anywhere near significant enough to entice me when set against its poorer fuel consumption. The 1.5 gives out torque levels such that it feels more like a big diesel in the mid-range than a petrol engine (IMHO).

Sounds like you're after something a bit more scintillating performance-wise though, hence the Insignia crossing my mind as they made some pretty pokey versions for a non-prestige badged family estate car.

[crowsout]

RustyNissanPrairie said:

Why have a nice car to transport a doggo about? It's going to get wet/dirty/filthy/smell of dog.

I have an old stage1 mapped 130hp 21 year old Berlingo for everyday local doggo duties and a nice Cayenne for longer distance doggo transport.

Good question.

We had two cars until last week; my old wood-burning Civic (with 180k miles on it which has been used as a dog taxi for the last 11 years) and the Mrs car which was used for everything else but has been written off. So now we're down to one.

I absolutely love my remapped Civic and I'll keep it until it physically disintegrates but it can't carry people and the dog at the same time, so we need to get a new motor at some point soon.

[RustyNissanPrairie]

Why have a nice car to transport a doggo about? It's going to get wet/dirty/filthy/smell of dog.

I have an old stage1 mapped 130hp 21 year old Berlingo for everyday local doggo duties and a nice Cayenne for longer distance doggo transport.

[crowsout]

Skodillac said:

Sorry, no and I don't have one to measure either. I've got a Skoda Superb (hatch) for my smaller dog transporting needs... I'd highly recommend one (estate version for you though). Mine is a lowly 1.5TSI petrol with only 150bhp, which is plenty for me as it's the torque the car generates which pushes it along very nicely indeed. So nicely that I didn't see the point of getting the thirstier 2.0 as the moderate performance uplift wasn't anywhere near significant enough to entice me when set against its poorer fuel consumption. The 1.5 gives out torque levels such that it feels more like a big diesel in the mid-range than a petrol engine (IMHO).

Sounds like you're after something a bit more scintillating performance-wise though, hence the Insignia crossing my mind as they made some pretty pokey versions for a non-prestige badged family estate car.

No need to apologise my friend, I appreciate your input.

You've made me think though ... I'll probably have a look/drive at the 1.5TSI as it can be remapped to 180+ ... and maybe the Octavia 1.4TSI as it looks like that can be remapped too.

I'll definitely have a look/drive at the Insignias too, thanks for suggesting them.

[budgie smuggler]

crowsout said:

I originally looked at the Octavia Vrs but was put off by some friends who run a garage, they said it's likely the ones I'd be looking at would have been ragged?

Not sure what age you're looking at but I have an 18 plate petrol, I've owned it for quite a while and it rarely gets used hard.

I bet a lot of people who own them are like me, wanting a family car for 95% of the time with a bit of poke for the other 5%. I don't really consider it a boy racer car like a Golf R or similar. Not particularly quick, but quick enough not to get on your nerves if you know what I mean.

I've done 9 hour days at ~130 KPH most of the time through Europe, no issues, seats are decent, suspension is firm but decent, overall it's a very easy car to live with.

Downsides - there is a fair bit of road noise and it wheelspins a lot if you try and pull away from a tee junction onto a quick road.

Only other thing is I would have thought the boot was a similar height to the Leon estate?

Edited by budgie smuggler on Thursday 25th September 17:24