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Used hatchback with biggest boot ? - Older99

I've tried using parkers and other even honestjohn to work out biggest boot but they only give overall volume of course.

I am looking at a used hatchback ( sub £4000 ) which has the height and depth needed for 2 large dogs. A lot of good volume but sloping roof which is not suitable

Is there any sort of tool/website that help me compare ?

cheers

Used hatchback with biggest boot ? - Falkirk Bairn

Buy a small estate

Used hatchback with biggest boot ? - Older99

Buy a small estate

Such as ?

Used hatchback with biggest boot ? - Sulphur Man

Honda Civic Tourer - 1.8 petrol. Especially the 5-speed auto.

Used hatchback with biggest boot ? - Warning

Honda Civic Tourer - 1.8 petrol. Especially the 5-speed auto.

There are n't many around. Prices are expensive.

Used hatchback with biggest boot ? - SLO76

Honda Civic Tourer - 1.8 petrol. Especially the 5-speed auto.

For £4,000?!!! Find em and I’ll sell them, together we’ll be millionaires!
Used hatchback with biggest boot ? - Andrew-T

When you have specific requirements which can't be easily quantified, there is no real substitute for examining possible candidates. Your dogs are 'large' and you may have to find a suitable in-car barrier. Even if you get recommendations here, it will come to that anyway.

Used hatchback with biggest boot ? - badbusdriver

A couple of questions. First, if you don't want a sloping roof, why are you looking for a hatchback rather than an estate?. Second, just how big are these dogs?.

Used hatchback with biggest boot ? - Older99

Sorry, they are a large labrador and German shepherd. I also may have a third slightly smaller dog coming along in next month or two

Some hatchbacks seems to have a slight flatter back

cheers

Used hatchback with biggest boot ? - Chris79

I had a 63 plate Seat Toledo (Skoda Rapid) hatchback. These were cheap to start with and I’m sure you can get one now for sub 4K. I was very happy with the 1.6TDI but I’m sure the current advice would be to get one of the TSI models.

very roomy inside, good spec and a huge boot. If I had one complaint it would be the truly useless seat dealer!

it swallowed two kids, double buggies and all the other paraphernalia that comes with kids without missing a beat, I sold it after 90k trouble free miles, last time I checked the DVLA website it was still going strong well into 6 figures.

Good Luck

Used hatchback with biggest boot ? - Older99

I had a 63 plate Seat Toledo (Skoda Rapid) hatchback. These were cheap to start with and I’m sure you can get one now for sub 4K. I was very happy with the 1.6TDI but I’m sure the current advice would be to get one of the TSI models.

very roomy inside, good spec and a huge boot. If I had one complaint it would be the truly useless seat dealer!

it swallowed two kids, double buggies and all the other paraphernalia that comes with kids without missing a beat, I sold it after 90k trouble free miles, last time I checked the DVLA website it was still going strong well into 6 figures.

Good Luck

thanks

Used hatchback with biggest boot ? - Xileno

You should be able to get a decent Mondeo for the budget. Octavia also has a big boot.

Used hatchback with biggest boot ? - Older99

They are big cars which is wha I said I wanted a hatchback

Sorry for not making it more clear..I meant hatchback/ v.small estate/ suv etc

My kids will be sharing it so dont want anything too big

Thanks again

Used hatchback with biggest boot ? - badbusdriver

Does this car have to fit all the dogs in the boot with the seats up?. And, if the answer to that is yes, what do you consider too big?.

Used hatchback with biggest boot ? - Older99

I have driven tractors so nothing too big for me lol but my kids are young drivers (ish!) and often driver smaller streets. They have a golf at the moment so for example Honda CRV would be ok but mondeo estate not ...does that make sense ?.. probably not

Used hatchback with biggest boot ? - sammy1

BIG dogs how about a golf estate

Used hatchback with biggest boot ? - Ian D
1.6 petrol Focus estate, approx 10 years old for that money, not quick cars but decent boot which may be big enough without going to Mondeo size cars.

Edited by Ian D on 26/10/2021 at 07:59

Used hatchback with biggest boot ? - badbusdriver
1.6 petrol Focus estate, approx 10 years old for that money, not quick cars but decent boot which may be big enough without going to Mondeo size cars.

Probably the best shout TBH. But there are two problems here, first is the extremely high used prices at the moment, second is the relatively small budget.

I think the OP is just going to have to go looking at stuff in the local area to determine whether or not the boot is big enough for the dogs and that the car is not too big for the kids!.

Try and stick to a naturally aspirated (not turbo) petrol engine and manual gearbox. Use the MOT history check to get an idea if the car has been well cared for.

Used hatchback with biggest boot ? - catsdad

I used to have a 2012 Honda Civic hatch. It’s got a surprisingly big boot and the option of using the magic seats to accommodate a large dog across the rear footwell. I used both options to carry a Labrador.
I currently have a Golf estate and this makes a good dog carrier too but the boot footprint is not much bigger than the Civic and the car is a tad longer. The Golf does offer a more open space from the top, being an estate.
For a given budget you would get a newer and potentially more reliable car if you were to buy the Civic. If considering a petrol 1.8, post 2012 cars avoid the oil consumption that afflicts some 2012 cars.

Edited by catsdad on 26/10/2021 at 10:45

Used hatchback with biggest boot ? - JonestHon

Yes, I was about to say the Civic is very accommodating if a hatchback is what you are after.

We had big dogs for a couple of decades now and my last hatch was a Primera Mk3, the dogs had to stoop down a bit when closing the hatch and some are known to have their head banged by the slopping orifice.

We moved on and got an estate in 2003 and never looked back.

Maybe you can look for a class B or C estate?, plenty out there under your budget:

1. Clio Tourer

2. Ibiza Estate (a bit like a longish Polo)

3. Fabia Estate

4. Rapid SpaceBack (Technically a hatchback)

5. Cruze Estate

6. Cruze Htchback

7. Mini Clubman (quality is not great)

8. Dacia Logan MCV (With steel wheels and FM radio!)

Edited by JonestHon on 26/10/2021 at 12:08

Used hatchback with biggest boot ? - Older99

Thanks to everyone

Edited by Older99 on 26/10/2021 at 23:38

Used hatchback with biggest boot ? - logger

Thanks for your advice..I've been busy with a spreadsheet ( nerd comes to mind )

I've compare , car length, boot capacity and overall cost ( fuel, insurance etc ) Quite a list but now all I need to do is cut some of them down so we can test drive.

ibb.co/wQ6mQkC

Edited by logger on 11/11/2021 at 14:11

Used hatchback with biggest boot ? - Older99

Ok.. done quite a bit of research and soul searching lol

I still think for my daughter to be happy driving it we need a hatchback

The two main factors are height of the boot from the floor and the actual height of the boot from the boot to the roof.

The golf we have is ok 68cm boot to ground and 85cm boot bottom to roof so they are the measurements that are important

..so used hatchbacks with low boot to ground and tallish boot heigh ideally for less than £2k

Any more thoughts ?

Used hatchback with biggest boot ? - SLO76
Honda Civic 2001-2005. Large boot with low entry (for a hatchback) and tall roofline. We used ours for doggie transport for many years without any issue. They’re robust but getting old now so watch for rot and listen for gearbox bearings failing. Steering racks fail also so listen and feel for front end knocks.
Used hatchback with biggest boot ? - Bromptonaut

Yet another 'which car' question to which the obvious answer is a Citroen Berlingo or one of its badge mates.

Used hatchback with biggest boot ? - alan1302

Yet another 'which car' question to which the obvious answer is a Citroen Berlingo or one of its badge mates.

Exactly what I was thinking!

Used hatchback with biggest boot ? - Engineer Andy

Yet another 'which car' question to which the obvious answer is a Citroen Berlingo or one of its badge mates.

Exactly what I was thinking!

Would the similarly-configured Skoda Roomster be worth a look? It only gets a 3 star rating on the HJ review, but a well-looked after car might do, particularly one that has the spare wheel (pre-2009).

Even the standard Polo-sized VAG cars often come as estates which look quite capacious.

Both are the sort of car my now elderly parents would find a useful replacement for their Ford Fiesta, if only they were still made and reliable.

Used hatchback with biggest boot ? - SLO76

Yet another 'which car' question to which the obvious answer is a Citroen Berlingo or one of its badge mates.

Had it not been for the young daughter refusing to drive anything utilitarian I’d agree. I found a really nice one earlier today for someone else along with a tidy Picasso. I suspect daughter wouldn’t be seen dead in either. I don’t often recommend a cheap diesel but this has one of the best diesel motors ever made, I’ve seen them with well over 500k and running well. Loads of space, very comfy and this one owner full history car sounds a peach. No DPF to worry about at this age and it’s a far superior engine than the later 1.6 diesel. www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/citroen-xsa...l

Edited by SLO76 on 15/12/2021 at 23:21

Used hatchback with biggest boot ? - Xileno

I used to drive Picassos a lot through work when they were new and liked them. Very comfy things, in the traditional French way. I think I've read they can rust on the sills as they age - worth checking out. The MOT history should give any advisories.

Used hatchback with biggest boot ? - thunderbird

Any more thoughts ?

My immediate thought is yesterday you halved your budget.

so used hatchbacks with low boot to ground and tallish boot heigh ideally for less than £2k

In your original post it was under £4000. Most of the advice already given will be worthless.

You really need to get out and look at a wide variety of cars and see what will do the job.

But for under £2000 there is no guarantee of getting a car that has much life left. You would probably be better spending money on your existing car providing it has no really serious issues and wait for the market to get back to normal by which time you may have more money.

Used hatchback with biggest boot ? - Big John

I used to drive Picassos a lot through work when they were new and liked them. Very comfy things, in the traditional French way. I think I've read they can rust on the sills as they age - worth checking out. The MOT history should give any advisories.

Yup,

A colleague had one and it failed it's MOT one year with this. He showed me an inspection cam photo. Very localised rust - most of the sill was perfect with no rust at all. It seems there is a bad water trap in that area. The rest of the car was fine so he had it repaired and the added a drain hole. He then thoroughly rustproofed. It does seem a weak spot but it's worth repairing if the rest of the car ok. If it's still ok there it's could be worth having a look inside with an inspection cam and rustproofing thoroughly. It won't be picked up on the MOT until it holes as it rusts from the inside.

Edited by Big John on 03/01/2022 at 12:42

Used hatchback with biggest boot ? - daveyK_UK
To the original question

Skoda Rapid / Seat Toledo - petrol models are reliable

Diesels capable of big mileage but have turbos/DPF/injector replacements due around 5 years old

Edited by daveyK_UK on 03/01/2022 at 21:36

Used hatchback with biggest boot ? - badbusdriver
To the original question Skoda Rapid / Seat Toledo - petrol models are reliable Diesels capable of big mileage but have turbos/DPF/injector replacements due around 5 years old

1, The OP's most recent contribution to his thread was to say the budget was £2k. That might get you into a mega mileage or insurance write off Rapid/Toledo, but nothing else.

2, While it is probably fair to say not all the diesels are unreliable, the particular engine used in the Rapid/Toledo is the very same unit at the centre of the 'dieselgate' scandal. Which didn't have the best reputation anyway (this is why I went for a n/a 2.0SDI Caddy rather than the more powerful and possibly more efficient 1.6 turbo diesel). So even at the OP's original £4k budget (never mind half that), I really wouldn't. If a buyer really had to have a cheap diesel, there are much less risky options than the VAG 1.6 turbo diesel.

Used hatchback with biggest boot ? - Steveieb

Maybe we have overlooked the Peugeot 207 SW which has amazing load area with no lip and sell for the budget the OP is looking to spend.

A few electrical hitches and a reliable but low output petrol engine it’s worth a mention.