I’m in the market for the perfect dog car and I know what you’re thinking: “He’s crazy if he’s basing his decision to buy a car on the needs of his dogs.” Well it’s true! I recently sold my old car, a Mazda RX-8 (I loved that car) to find a more suitable car for my two dogs.
“Surveys show about half of all car-buyers consider the comfort of the family dog when buying a new car – and 65 percent take their pets on errands,” says Dr. Becker, the New York Times best-selling author and co-author with Gina Spadafori of the new bowWOW!: Curiously Compelling Facts, True Tales, and Trivia Even Your Dog Won’t Know.
“We’re glad to see car-makers address the comfort and safety of our dogs on the road because people don’t want to leave their pets — or should we say ‘four-legged family members’ – behind. More than a quarter even sometimes take pets to work,” he said.– DogCars.com
I guess considering my dogs before buying a new car is not really strange after all. Right now I’m borrowing my mother’s 2000 CRV until I make my purchase. The CRV is a little small, but adequate for toting my two boys (the 2000 CRV is much smaller than todays CRV), but not quite what I want in my perfect Dog Car.
Let the journey begin!
The Passengers
There are only three in this family. Myself, Linus, and Stetson. I’m not a big guy only 5 foot 8 inches and about 170 pounds so most cars will probably fit me. Linus is a 3 year old Australian Shepherd mix (looks an awful lot like a skinny black Lab) and weighs about 55 pounds. Stetson is a 1 year old purebred Black Labrador Retriever and currently weighs about 65 pounds (he probably won’t grow much bigger in height, but will probably pack on another 10 pounds as he matures).
When Stetson joined the family about a year ago I new that eventually my RX-8 sports car would no longer cut it. Even though I could fit both dogs in the car it was a tight fit and the leather seats really didn’t appreciate Linus and Stetson’s claws.
So, here we are, in the market for a car, SUV, or truck that will fit one average sized adult and two medium/large dogs.
The Perfect Dog Car Criteria
Criteria for the dogs:
- Seats that fold flat or easily removable – hopefully fits a crate or two.
- Plenty of usable cargo space relative to the size of the vehicle with wide, square backs, and little rear slope to make most of cargo area.
- Dog friendly interior – Even the best dog can have accidents in the car.
- Door & window locks – Dogs are smart and some can open a car door.
- All-wheel or four-wheel drive and high ground clearance – for camping or going to the mountains with your best friend (I’m talking about your dog of course).
Criteria for the humans:
- Price Range: Under 30K
- Curb Appeal – Hopefully the car is not hard on the eyes.
- Fuel Economy -Unfortunately SUV’s get worse gas mileage.
- Reliability – If you’re car is not working what good is it?
- Retains Value – Cars are terrible investments, but we want it to retain some of it’s value.
- Extras – Any miscellaneous extra goodies the car may have.
- Car in the City – Smooth ride? Does it have power? Handle Well?
The Perfect Dog Car Candidates
My choices and initial impressions
- Honda Element – Interior seemingly built for dogs, but UGLY.
- Jeep Wrangler Unlimited – Four door offers plenty of room, rugged interior, and classic looks. Reliability is questioned and poor fuel economy. – This link will take you straight to my review of the Wrangler Ulimited!
- Scion xB – It’s probably considered a sedan, but has decent interior space for a smaller car.
- Toyota FJ Cruiser – Great off road vehicle like the Wrangler with more interior comfort. Poor fuel economy. – This link will take you straight to my review of the FJ Cruiser!
- Mazda CX-7 – Nice refined look, but interior might be small.
- Nissan Xterra – SUV built for the outdoors. Poor fuel economy.
- Jeep Commander – Nice size can seat up to 7. High price and poor fuel economy is a deterrent.
- Toyota Tacoma – Only truck in the line up. Truck bed gives you many options, but small cabin space.
- Hyundai Santa Fe – Great value with a 10 year 100,000 mile warranty. Nothing stands out on this car.
- Ford Escape Hybrid – Fuel Economy is great, but interior might be small.
- Saturn Vue Green Line Hybrid – Fuel economy is great, but interior might be small.
- Toyota Highlander Hybrid – Nice large vehicle (seats 7), but price is out of my range.
- Mercury Mariner Hybrid – Fuel economy is great and supposedly has some nice tech gadgets on the inside, but interior might be small.
- Toyota Prius Hybrid – #1 on fuel economy, but probably has the smallest interior. Can I even fit a crate in this thing?
I may add more to this list as time moves on, but these are the candidates so far. Of course, I’m probably leaning more towards few of the cars on the list, but I’m going to try to be objective and test drive each car keeping in mind both my comfort with the vehicle and my dogs comfort.
By the way, a great resource on dog cars can be found on the http://www.dogcars.com website. This is a site devoted to exactly what I’m researching. By the way I fused some of my criteria with some of the criteria listed on the dog cars website.
What do you think? I’m sure there are plenty of you out there who at least consider your dogs interests when purchasing the perfect dog car!
Related posts:
Although the gas mileage isn’t great, it isn’t that bad either. I drive a F-150 Supercrew 4×4 pick-up truck. It’s a four-door monster that allows me to carry a family of four plus two dogs.
We have a terrier-mix that easily fits in the cabin. Our Labrador Retriever rides inside based on weather, but mostly stays in the bed of the truck. We have a plastic pet kennel that is tied down in the back of the truck and he rides in there. Loves it. Plus, it keeps all of the hair out of the interior carpet…always a big problem when you have to use your vehicle for work-related functions.
I’ve accepted the fact that if I get an SUV or a truck I’m going to get bad gas mileage.
I have a couple friends who have F-150′s. They’re very nice trucks, but I think a little big for my taste.
Keeping the hair out of the interior of the car is a definite plus. I’ve been looking for a vehicle that has plastic floors like the FJ Cruiser or the Honda Element. The carpet on the Wrangler can be removed and the inside has drainage holes which allows you to hose out the inside of the vehicle.
If you want detailed measurements and other dog-related information, take a look at CarGoDogs.com. We have a recent review of the Element, the Hyundai, and the Toyoto RAV, among others.
Thanks for the information Cindy. I’ll definitely take a look at the site and the reviews.
I found your blog via Google while searching for new york terrier and your post regarding The Perfect Dog Car looks very interesting to me. I have seen many sites before and most of them do not look this good. I cannot wait to let my friends know about this site. Thanks for the excellent content.
You might want to look at Suburu’s. Previously I had a golden Retriver and a lab puppy in training. Now I have a 5 1/2 y old lab and a 7 month old puppy in training. Our household has an Outback and a Forrester. The Outback has 2/3 & 1/3 split rear folding seats. It houses room for a crate and gear with one person in the back.
Jane
@Jane, thanks for the recommendation. I’ll have to take a look at the Outback and the Forrester. If you’ve been reading this thread then you probably know that gas mileage is a concern for me. What kind of mileage are you getting with your Subaru’s?
I read your info regarding the Jeep Wrangler and have to agree it really is a sharp, bold, cool looking vehical. My favorite, although the gas mileage and dependability is really keeping me from buying one of these. I checked out the Rav 4 and the Suburu Outback at the Chicago Auto Show and both have excellent gas mileage and dependabilty. I am so undecided because I really love the styling of the Jeep. The show had a really cool man made obsticle course that Jeep vehicles went through. Prettty impressive! Being a Midwestern person though, I think the Jeep is way more car.
Another option I am looking for is manual transmission. I enjoy going through the gears and I am lucky I only work 12 miles from my home.
Anyways, good luck with your decision. I look forward to see what you bought.
John S.
@John S., I love the styling of the Jeep Wrangler too, but still haven’t come to a decision. Other people have mentioned the Suburu Outback so maybe I’ll take a closer look at that car as well. Your concerns about the Wrangler are exactly the same as mine. I’m actually taking a close look at the Mini Cooper Clubman now too. Good luck with your decision too and let me know what car you go with.
My parents (58 years old) recently bought a car to travel between their summer home in MN and winter home in LA. Their dogs are seniors so clearance and space (they have two 70lb Golden Retrievers). They bought a CHrystler Town and Country Minivan. Although they added all the extras (really dvd for the dogs?) The vehicle is amazing. Plenty of space, fold down seats, sliding doors on either side and huge rear gate. It is by all rights a grocery-getter but the dogs love it. They can step in and out by themselves which makes them fell a little more independent
@Martin, thanks for letting us know about the Chrysler Town and Country Minivan. I know a lot of our puppy raising friends love their minivans, but I don’t think I’m quite ready to get a minivan of my own (although the Honda Element looks an awful lot like one).
I know this is an old post, and its likely you’ve purchased a car by now, but I gotta tell you, we own an Anatolian Shepherd (they are sort of like German Shepherds, only bigger, google them they are a beautiful breed) and a tiny mixed breed. We bought a Scion xB (2008) expressly for the purpose of fitting our big dog. Its GREAT. Our Anatolian even fits in the back with the seats up, and can stand up comfortably. Which means from our xB we get space for 5 passengers, two dogs, one of whom is HUGE and over 25 MPG City. Can’t beat it. While it doesn’t have the plastic flooring like the Honda Element, there is something about the seat upholstery that it doesn’t “hold” hair if you know what I mean. Dog hair gets on it, but you can simply brush it off, you don’t feel like you are scraping at it to get it off the seats as we did with our old car. I highly reccomend!
@Anne thanks for your reply and you won’t believe it, but I still haven’t purchased a new car. I’m still driving the 2000 CRV. We test drove the xB and really loved driving it around. One of our concerns is with trying to keep the dog smell to a minimum in our car that is why we prefer the cars with plastic floors and odor/water resistant seat materials. It sounds like the fur sweeps out very easily, but what do you think about odors? Do the seats and carpets stay fairly odor free? Again thanks for your comment it really helps me and my readers make a better decision on our next dog car.
Hi Colby – like Anne, this is a very late response to your post, but I loved it! Makes me feel better to know someone else is purchasing a car based mainly on dogs.
I will soon have 2 German shepherds. Currently I have a Scion XD, which, as much as I love it, will simply not suffice. I am hoping to stay with the Scion brand as my XD gets around 38-40 mpg, and am so happy to see Anne’s post that the XB is working for her.
Have you made the purchase yet, and if so what? My brother has a Honda Pilot with 2 large labs, and said the same thing – that having the plastic flooring has made a big difference in not having “dog smell” in the vehicle.
@Daniel, unfortunately the poor economy has forced me to stick with my older CRV. However, I’ve been keeping my eye out for my next car purchase and of course I’d like to get something that suits both me and my dogs. I didn’t know the Honda Pilot had plastic floors. That’s another one I’m going to add to my lists. By the way, the cloth interior in my CRV really absorbs the doggy odors so I’m definitely looking to get a car that has water and odor resistant materials and hopefully plastic floors.
We have a great dane and german shepherd. We decided on a pontiac vibe. It has plastic on the back of the seats and gets approx 32 mpg. I also went to our local farm supply store and got some rubber mats like what is used for horse stalls. I shaped this rubber to the back area and it has worked great!
Good luck in your decisions!
@Kayla, thanks for letting us know about your pontiac vibe. The Orange County Auto show is a couple weeks away and we’ll take a look at that car as well as any other car that might match our dog car criteria. I’m sure someday we’ll find a car that matches our needs.