Dog cars/vans

Annette4

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I'm not in a massive rush but had to have some work done on my Ssangyong Turismo and they've found a lot more issues which means I'm going to need to get rid before its MOT.

We need:

  1. Space for 4 dogs either belted or in crates
  2. Ideally also space for our camping set up (we can get a trailer for that if needs be though).
There are other bits like I need an auto and parking sensors but that I can find....its makes and models I need pointing in the direction of as my knowledge is poor at best.
 
My dad have a Citroen Berlingo family, room enough for both him, mum, me, 3 dogs when I had that, 2 cat transports, and lots of luggage when moving out to/home from the Summer cabin. He's had cars were when you opened the door to the trunk, with the back seats up, you were still met with an area that stretched out over 1 metre long, in his Berlingo it's just 70-80 cm long, but thanks to the Berlingo's height, the Berlingo is still the car which we can fit the most cargo into.

Extra bonus 1: High seats so my mum with her old knees easily gets in and out.
Extra bonus 2: If my Broom/Christiania box trike gets a puncture, he can come pick me up, and with the back seats down, we can actually get my Broom home or to a bicycle repair shop ourselves. If you've seen the pictures I've posted with my girls in the Broom, you will know it's no small bicycle. Yet, had the back wheel, battery, and that carrier thing at the back just been around 5-10 cm shorter, we would actually have been able to completely close the door. As it is there's a small glitch, and a rope tying the door in place involved. But that's still far easier than having to rent something big enough for the Broom just for a little punctured bike wheel.
 
Citroen berlingo xl. It’s a super sized version of the berlingo. But. We have one and I can’t say it’s reliable. It’s a 2019 but currently is awaiting repairs for a leak (water) and a gearbox problem.

Also if you can get a decent one a Ford grand tourneo connect. We wish we’d not sold ours but it was diesel and we only do short journeys. Try and get the 1.5 petrol engine if you can.
 
Having had several, I would vote for a VW transporter. They aren’t cheap but they’re really good, not dear to run or maintain, entrances low to the ground for dogs, loads of room for camping (we camped in ours loads of times, awning on the side and they’re palatial!). We got one with a ‘boot’ type rear door which offers good shelter from the rain. You don’t lose too much when you resell either, they are extremely popular.
 
Citroen berlingo , not sure if the model but one of them has back seats you can take out completely, I wish I’d got that one but mine was a bargain so beggars can’t be choosers. I get 3 dogs in easily in crates . Have had mine since June 2020 and it has had no problems and I like driving it. Mine is an automatic diesel . The new berlingos seem to be all electric ,
 
Another vote for the Berlingo. I had 50 x 6ft fence posts in the back of mine once, and the capacity for tip runs was massive. It was also the most reliable car I ever owned, and had a brilliant number of cubby holes and storage areas. I only sold it (very unwillingly) when I sold my lorry and went back to trailer/towcar.
 
Skoda yeti - you can take the back seats out on easy clip system, I bought mine as it's 4x4 and need to go off road sometimes and doesn't cost a fortune to run, unlike pick up etc
 
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