Need an Estate for the first time - dog duties

[OzzyR1]

Looking for an older estate car for occasional use as we hope to get a couple of large, middle-age rescue dogs in the near future. Could be mastiff size so need an estate with rear seats flat for max. space.

Will be used on short, local trips at the weekend when restrictions lift, perhaps 60 mile round journeys to the coast on occasion etc.

Looking to pay around £4K for something in the 2008-2012 bracket as a very general starting point.

Seen a few Mondeos and Skodas that fit the bill, also some Honda Accord estates but mostly with 200K+ miles. There are the odd ones with less than 100K but that seems to good to be true.

Any other thoughts on suitable big dog transport?

[zb]

One of the Skoda Octavia vRSs or a Superb, cavernous, should do the trick.

[jwilco]

Could look at the Volvo V70 if you want to stick with the estate = Volvo formula.

[BeastieBoy73]

I have a 2008 Passat estate for exactly that job. Had it for 9 years now and apart from consumables it’s been great. The fog has ruined the interior of it so I’d probably struggle to sell it when the time comes.

[Russ T Bolt]

Toyota Avensis

[stevemcs]

The E Class would be perfect if it wasn’t out of your budget, it has the largest area with the seats up and is a proper square boot shape.

If however you want to be close to your budget then go for a 508 or C5. The benefit of the C5 if you go for the exclusive model is it’s on hydraulic suspension so you can lower it foe ease of access.

But with carrying dogs I would have thought a berlingo or mango would make more sense as it would be easier to clean out.

[HocusPocus]

Any estate or hatch with a reasonable sized boot will do. MB estates have sturdy pull up luggage guards.

Whatever you buy, either get a fixed metal dog guard, a specialist cage, or accommodate dogs in the boot with rear seats up and seat belts secured to reinforce the seat back. In event of an accident, you do not want 30kg of dog x2 flying forward unrestrained removing your head en route to exiting the windscreen.

You can also get dog harnesses which clip into the seat belt anchor. Never have dogs loose in the passenger cell of your car.

[OzzyR1]

Cheers all, some food for thought there.

[ZX10R NIN]

2.0 Mondeo Zetec

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202102128...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202102209...

2.0T Insignia Elite

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202101037...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202102259...

2.0i Accord

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202103059...

2.2i 159

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202011035...

2.0i Avensis T Spirit

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202102088...

2.0T 9-3 Aero

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202011266...

T5 V50

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202103109...

2.0i Mazda6 TS2

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202102139...

All the above have less than 100k on the clock & all will be reliable.

[OzzyR1]

Cheers all, the more I think about it, the more another Mondeo fits the bill for a £4K car that might be worth £2k in a couple of years time without any huge bills.

[d_a_n1979]

OzzyR1 said:

Cheers all, the more I think about it, the more another Mondeo fits the bill for a £4K car that might be worth £2k in a couple of years time without any huge bills.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-530i-SE-Touring-Automatic-Petrol-E39-Estate-Low-Miles-and-Owners-plus-FSH/294097471886?hash=item447993498e:g:u6cAAOSwchtgZfwW

Great engine, great touring, SE so comfy & wafty and with heated seats

[Fermit and Sexy Sarah]

ZX10R NIN said:

2.0T Insignia Elite

Without wishing to take anything away from the as always helpful ZX, be aware of one detail with these. The boot floor is quite high, and the shape is tunnel like. We have a 2015 Insignia Estate, and one of our dogs is a Dobe x Viz. He struggles to get comfy, having to have his head down a bit. I suppose it is a case of how big 'big dog' is.

Image -

Edited by Fermit and Sexy Sarah on Monday 5th April 12:03

[loskie]

Berlingo or Kangoo type thing

[BigFatWombat]

Fermit and Sexy Sarah said:

Without wishing to take anything away from the as always helpful ZX, be aware of one detail with these. The boot floor is quite high, and the shape is tunnel like. We have a 2015 Insignia Estate, and one of our dogs is a Dobe x Viz. He struggles to get comfy, having to have his head down a bit. I suppose it is a case of how big 'big dog' is.

Image -

Edited by Fermit and Sexy Sarah on Monday 5th April 12:03

How tall is your Dob/Viz if you don’t mind my asking? Reason I ask is I’m looking to trade in to an estate for my Dob/Mastiff and she’s just over 3ft from floor to head, when sat down and I’m struggling to find a suitable vehicle. Don’t want to go down the van route cos it will be my only car. But need something with a flat boot floor for ease of doggo access and egress and enough room that she can sit and look out without getting a crook neck or bashing her bonce! Was looking at Insignias on line but then spotted your post.

[Fermit and Sexy Sarah]

BigFatWombat said:

Fermit and Sexy Sarah said:

Without wishing to take anything away from the as always helpful ZX, be aware of one detail with these. The boot floor is quite high, and the shape is tunnel like. We have a 2015 Insignia Estate, and one of our dogs is a Dobe x Viz. He struggles to get comfy, having to have his head down a bit. I suppose it is a case of how big 'big dog' is.

Image -

Edited by Fermit and Sexy Sarah on Monday 5th April 12:03

How tall is your Dob/Viz if you don’t mind my asking? Reason I ask is I’m looking to trade in to an estate for my Dob/Mastiff and she’s just over 3ft from floor to head, when sat down and I’m struggling to find a suitable vehicle. Don’t want to go down the van route cos it will be my only car. But need something with a flat boot floor for ease of doggo access and egress and enough room that she can sit and look out without getting a crook neck or bashing her bonce! Was looking at Insignias on line but then spotted your post.

Just measured and he's 38", so just over 3ft. The other issue is that we have 3 mutts, so unless he's lucky to bag dead central position there is the curved roofline to hinder him. Try one with him if you go to view one, or take a tape measure (for things like window height etc) Or I could assist with that if easier, there's one outside

Or, there is a hidden lower compartment, under the floor, also carpeted, so taking away the false floor would give you a bit of extra height.

Oh, and we're about to put ours up for sale (2015 Elite Nav, 90k, near FSH, Goodyear F1 tyres all round, new brake discs) feel free to PM if of any interest!)

Edited by Fermit and Sexy Sarah on Monday 5th April 12:44

Edited by Fermit and Sexy Sarah on Monday 5th April 12:55

[Baldchap]

If it helps, the Golf Estate boot is larger than the A4 boot, however both will happily hold a fully grown Weimaraner.

[ZX10R NIN]

Fermit and Sexy Sarah said:

Without wishing to take anything away from the as always helpful ZX, be aware of one detail with these. The boot floor is quite high, and the shape is tunnel like. We have a 2015 Insignia Estate, and one of our dogs is a Dobe x Viz. He struggles to get comfy, having to have his head down a bit. I suppose it is a case of how big 'big dog' is.

Image -

Edited by Fermit and Sexy Sarah on Monday 5th April 12:03

I'm not a dog person so have no clue to the size of dogs, so I bow to your first hand knowledge.

[rscott]

Be careful of sloping rear hatches - they can massively reduce the space in the boot..

We needed something for 2 greyhounds and ended up with a Focus. Had more space than pretty much anything else out there of a similar external size. Definitely had more spare than the 9-3 Sportwagon we used to have.

I did get funny looks wandering around car dealerships measuring the boot size...

[andburg]

I'll throw the wildcard in

Get an S-Max, always reported as a good steer, plenty round and with the rear 2 seats in the floor its cavernous

this one is a little above budget but a bit of haggle and some creep gets you away from a diesel and gets you some toys

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202104030...

Edited by andburg on Friday 16th April 13:30

[OzzyR1]

Thought I'd close this off as it annoys me when OPs disappear from a topic.

Ended up with a 2012 Seat Exeo ST - 168bhp diesel, 80K miles, serviced with 12 months MOT for the princely sum of £4,200.

Not something I'd contemplated, in fact, never knew it existed till I saw a "have you considered this" suggestion on AT!

Only had it a day, first impressions are that it is vanilla on the outside (it's based on an A4 I believe), inside is OK but dated, even for a 10 year old car. Seats good, driving position OK, wouldn't like to sit in the back for any length of time as you can see how they got the room for the estate by nicking rear leg space. Kit level very good, more bits than I expected including heated and cooled seats. Pretty hard ride on uneven roads but that might be because its a "sports" version.

Main thing is, the dogs like it so I'm OK with it too.