Kia Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 Hi all....just after some recommendations for a vehicle that would be suitable what I am looking for is plenty of space, able to tow a dog trailer, good fuel economy, reasonable repair/maintenance costs and the biggy...seating that I can slide onto rather than climb into or out of Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmoothieGirl Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 If you really want to keep your repair costs down, think about a Falcon or Commodore. I've own three Falcons previously and they are pretty cheap to fix and if you have a friend good with a spanner and wrench, parts for these vehicles are easy found at wreckers. Mind you I don't drive either now, but I still loved my Fords. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelby-001 Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 (edited) There are a multitude! Are you looking brand new/second hand? How many humans do you need to seat? Do you require 4WD? I own a Holden Combo (it's a barina but turned into a small commercial van). It has the biggest wagon you will get, but only seats two people. We have a tow bar and can tow about 600kg, so I dog trailer is fine, providing it's not designed to carry 6 St Bernards, LOL It's great on fuel and being based on one of the most popular small cars, the repair costs are reasonable as it is common. Otherwise you go to larger vehicles like commodore/falcon wagons, but then your fuel costs go up as do you repair costs, they have 6 cylinders not 4, bigger more expensive tyres etc...... but I guess it depends what you need really. Edited April 30, 2011 by shelby-001 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greytmate Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 We have a Mazda 6 turbo diesel wagon. We really like it. It uses a lot less fuel than the Falcon or Commodore, and has great performance. It will tow a dog trailer, but isn't quite as large as a Commodore or Falcon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaar Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 Our dog show car is an old as the hills Falcon. My parents bought a new Falcon Wagon a couple of years ago and were disappointed that the gazeebo can't fit in the back without taking the barrier down. Ours however has plenty of room for the gazeebo, trolleys, tack box and dogs. It is a 98 model I believe. Not pretty, but has the biggest back out of all the Falcon wagons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommygirl Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 (edited) I got the new Toyota Rukus about 6 weeks ago and it's awesome! It's a small wagon but we love it. Low fuel costs, comfortable to drive, great ride height and lots of useful storage compartments. I got the one with leather interior and it's amazing how easier it is to keep clean, dog hair comes of easy and quick wipe down. Edit to add- Toyota have capped price service of only $130 for each service for 3 years. After owning to honda's this was a big bonus for me :D Edited April 30, 2011 by tommygirl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kia Posted April 30, 2011 Author Share Posted April 30, 2011 thanks for the replies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toofarnorth Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 Another vote for the Mazda 6. I love mine, its pretty good on fuel, roomy and it has handy clips in the back to attach harnesses to. Not too high for the dogs to jump into either. One thing that really annoys me about it though is when you have the back windows down you get that loud helicopter whirling noise...if that makes sense! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alyra Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 What about an SUV type wagon - xtrails are quite good and not too high to get into, heaps of room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RubyBlue Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 No ones mentioned a suby yet so I might as well. I have had a liberty wagon and now have an outback wagon. Wonderful cars to drive, the handling is fantastic and they have very good fuel economy. I average around 8-9L/100ks in traffic and around 6-7l/100ks between Melb and Albury. Ive taken mine on some very rough tracks and its coped just fine - not quite up to 4WD standard but a lot better than a 2WD. Theyre smaller than fords and holdens - but fine for a couple of large dogs (Ive had four labs in the boot of mine at one time - its not something Id do on a regular basis but was fine for a short trip.) For two lab sized dogs they are perfect. Ive never towed anything but am told they are great for that too. The thing I really love about them is that they just dont die. My last one made 400 000Ks and still has plenty life in it if I wanted to get it back on the road - mechanic recons the engines in good nick. My ex- really abused his '91 liberty. I can count the number of times he had serviced in 7yrs on one hand. It ended up on a farm somewhere and the last I heard its still running too. Most people I know who had one suby have gone on to replace it with another and I will too. The only flaw is the initial price but then I put that down to you get what you pay for. There will be lots of types that are appropriate its just what suits you best. Best advice I can give is to take your time and shop around. Have you got a budget? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gayle. Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 I don't think the older Commodores and Fords are all that good on fuel. In fact, unless they're on LPG, I'd say leave them well alone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alyosha Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 Another Subaru vote. The new Outback and Forester wagons are very nice, great on fuel - especially the diesels - and a good height. The upside is that you slide into the seat, and if your back is not quite right you are sliding back out of it rather than getting up out of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vickie Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 I have a V6 Toyota Hilux. It is the BIGGEST petrol guzzler i have ever had! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bundyburger Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 I have a V6 Toyota Hilux. It is the BIGGEST petrol guzzler i have ever had! So you don't recommend it then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekhbet Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 (edited) my 97 commodore wagon was always excellent on fuel even though it is a V6 - the ecotecs made all the difference. Conversely if you want a do up I have a great panel van that can pull anything, dual fuel for sale :p needs a little work but she has tonnes of life left in her AND totally dog proof yours for a bargain! Why don't you try a Mercedes Benz Vito turbo diesel? They can tow, have masses of room and you can have more seats or just the front seats and tonnes of room for stuff in the back. Their front seat is not above the wheel so it drives like a car not a van. Just watch before 2001 the manual gear boxes could be a bit dodgy but the autos were fabulous. Edited May 1, 2011 by Nekhbet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tlc Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 I have a commodore wagon, 2002 berlina international, it is great, it is my second one, we liked the first one so much we kept it so now we both have a dog car When I only had two dogs I had a toyota rav 4 I got it from brand new and I loved it to bits but it just wasn't big enough so we swapped to the wagon. Lots of space in the back seat and in the rear part. If we go on a trip all the luggage goes in the read and the 4 dogs go in the back seat. When we were looking I really liked the smaller 4x4s but the back part just didn't seem big enough for the 4 dogs all in at once. The wagon just had more space. the ford wagons are even bigger space wise in the rear. Mine is quite good on petrol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kia Posted May 2, 2011 Author Share Posted May 2, 2011 thanks everyone for your replys. Would love the new diesel Subaru but that is just a bit out of the budget.......by a mile <g> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeK Posted May 2, 2011 Share Posted May 2, 2011 I buy the Ford Falcon wagon is BF Mark 2 2007 and I put the grill behind the back seat for the dog. The Falcon is bigger in the back than the Holden, I measure both and the Falcon having more power on the foot too. The Falcon is very old reliable leaf spring in the back is good for towing like the truck. I have a look at the Ford Territory but is smaller in the back and they tell me is bad on the petrol for cost. The Falcon is nice wagon, Holden looking a bit better to the eye, but the Falcon is couple of advantage is bigger, more power and the leaf spring for tow I liking? Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted May 2, 2011 Share Posted May 2, 2011 I have the last model Mitsubishi Magna Wagon (with the VRX engine) and I LOVE it. They have plenty of space and plenty of grunt, but better fuel economy than the Holdens or Fords. The youngest models would be five years old but a fairly low KM one probably wouldn't set you back much more than $15K. Mine's never put a foot wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAX Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 I have always had Subarus and think they are great, but they are geting so $$$y that my latest car is a diesel IX35 and I love it. It doesn't have a huge cargo area but plenty of room for my dog, if I am taking multiple dogs I tow the trailer. it tows brilliantly and I really couldn't say a bad thing about it. And it has heated seats.....great when you drive home from night training frozen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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