New car for dogs and children - advice ?

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Sat 3 Oct 2009 17:26
New car for dogs and children - advice ? - pjf
Hi Guys,

I am a first timer on this site so be nice.

I have been on the web all day & have had enough. My wife wants a new car & I/we cant decide on what to get.

She has a BMW 118i & wants something bigger, we have two dogs & two kids. I have a transit connect which I said she can use at any time, but this did not go down to well.

The choices so far are:

Mitsubishi outlander: Looks nice, has all the toys.
Freelander: I like them but they feel small inside.
Mini estate: I sort of like them, but i am 40 years old so will I feel daft inside it.
BMW 320d estate: Bigger version of what she has now, I like them.
Nissan X trail: Same as the outlander but cheaper.

A few years ago we had a Frontera 2.5td which was a monster & I hated it. I know technology has moved on since then but I am still not sure about 4x4s

So any comments or pointers will be very welcome.

Cheers.

Paul.

Edited by Pugugly on 03/10/2009 at 17:30

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Sat 3 Oct 2009 17:30
New car for dogs and children - advice ? - Pugugly
Honda CRV would be my suggestion.
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Sat 3 Oct 2009 17:35
New car for dogs and children - advice ? - NARU
How big are the dogs? Our German Shepherd has problems with headroom in some cars.
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Sat 3 Oct 2009 17:39
New car for dogs and children - advice ? - NARU
I'd start by checking the car-by-car section of this website.

You also don't say what sort of driving you do.

Mitsubishi Outlander also available as Peugeot and Citreon versions.
BMW 320d looks to be the best high speed cruiser of the bunch
Freelander nice to drive but has a small boot and I was concerned about reliability when I was choosing.

I'd also recommend looking at a Honda CR-V or Toyota RAV-4, or perhaps a Subaru Legacy estate?


Edited by Marlot on 03/10/2009 at 17:40

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Sat 3 Oct 2009 17:39
New car for dogs and children - advice ? - pjf
The dogs are both wheaten terriers, medium sized. She uses a dog box thing, its like a childs play pen. This box fits just into the boot with no room to spare.
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Sat 3 Oct 2009 17:45
New car for dogs and children - advice ? - pjf
The sort of driving done by my wife is varied, the school run everyday & a few long trips of 200m plus now & again. Also every journey done at mach 2

With me its different, once I finish work the van gets parked up till monday & I use her car all weekend so I want something nice, comfy & fast ish.
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Sat 3 Oct 2009 17:47
New car for dogs and children - advice ? - NARU
Should have said - the Peugeot and Citroen versions of the outlander get the 2.2 engine instead of the 2.0.
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Sat 3 Oct 2009 17:57
New car for dogs and children - advice ? - Altea Ego
>Mini estate: I sort of like them, but i am 40 years old so will I feel daft inside it.

You, wife, kids, dogs, and luggage wont fit inside.
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Sat 3 Oct 2009 18:05
New car for dogs and children - advice ? - Avant
Paul - you may find the process easier if you decide in principle whether you want:

- a 4 x 4
- a people-carrier
- a biggish estate with lots of room
- a small 'lifestyle' estate.

In each class, purely subjectively, and of course depending on your budget (are you buying new or secondhand?) I'd suggest you look at the following.

4 x 4 Honda CRV, Subaru Forester, LR Freelander + the others you mention
P-C Ford S-Max or C-Max, Renault Scenic/Grand Scenic, Mazda 5, Toyota Verso
Big estate Skoda Octavia, Ford Mondeo, Subaru Legacy (which is also 4wd)
Smaller estate BMW 3-series, Audi A4, VW Golf

The Mini estate is too small to be of much use, and you probably want 5 doors.
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Sat 3 Oct 2009 18:26
New car for dogs and children - advice ? - gordonbennet
Oulander is quite a nice car, but in Mitsi form with it's 2.0 litre engine i stall the thing times, Pug/Cit version (all have mitsi transit labels) as said have the bigger engine and it has got some poke...there's also an auto box in the offing if it's not already available it will be pronto.

It's a twin clutch box, probably along the lines of DSG...whether thats agood thing depends on your point of view.

Pug/Cit worth looking at.

As for the Frontera, they were old hat when new, i remember well trying to get 2.3D engined models onto our very steep old transporters (though 2.8 versions much better), usually needed low range, similar to 2.5 Disco's, they couldn't pull themselves on either unless in low.
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