Newfmobile Time...

RiverTheNewf

RiverTheNewf

New member
I know this is a well-worn topic of conversation around here, but after reading through the old threads I thought it was time for an update. Thanks to recent lay-offs, I have to give up my company car (Ford Escape) as well as company paid gas, maintenance, cleaning...ugh. This does afford me the opportunity to get what I want in a car. Here's what I'm looking for:

1. Low to the ground (easy for dogs to get in and out of)
2. Good gas mileage
3. Plenty of room for Newfs AND gear. We take a lot of weekend camping trips and would prefer to fit tent, cooler, bags, and dogs inside the car. Although at some point I'll probably have to get a roof or hitch storage option. Ability for Newfs to be in the car and Malcolm to stick his giant head out the window to slobber on passers-by is a must.
4. Fun to drive. I want it to look good and feel good to drive.
5. No kids of the human variety. Not going to happen.

Here's what I'm looking at: Toyota Venza, Subaru Outback, Subaru Crosstek, Honda Element...

Any suggestions? Thoughts from owners of these vehicles or others?
 
DAWNMERIE

DAWNMERIE

Active member
Don't count out the Pilot or CRV, you can make homemade steps (for $25) that work like a charm. I'm a big Honda fan....best bang for your buck and if you take care of it, it will take care of you. Just my opinion, being in the car buiz.

P.S. Would love to have an Element for the dogs...I'll find one at the right price one day!

P.S.S. In regards to Subaru's just watch out for head gasket issues
 
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victoria1140

victoria1140

Active member
I have a KiaSedona and it's so versatile . l take seats out and have so much space . tinted windows and rear air conditioning
Also removable carpets
 
Puppypeoplenj

Puppypeoplenj

New member
I also have a Pilot (that I have a question about, Dawn! I'll send you a PM) and it's great. It seats a whole bunch of people, but if no kids the two dogs could be in the back seat with more than enough cargo space for equipment. It's kind of high, but like Dawn said, steps should fix that.

Only problem I've found is the gas mileage, which I find extremely poor. I'm actually considering a change because it bothers me so much. But besides that, it sounds like the perfect car for you. Plus, the newer ones are trés chic!
 
cmorgan.1505

cmorgan.1505

New member
We bought a Mazda MPV 2003 for Thor. lol It has both side moving doors and they are remote. The best thing is the back windows on the doors go down! Thor LOVES it! It also has third row seating and it is S- in go.
 
lacey9875

lacey9875

New member
I am pretty sure Bojie's Mom ( Meg ) has an Outback, and said it was roomy.

I have a Ford Explorer with the 3rd row seating and I LOVE it. It's high, and doesn't get super-great mileage, but it's paid off so I'm ok with that. Also, it's sitting in my driveway with a dead transmission, but with only 97k on it.

Just go with nothing I said but the part about Megans Outback. Sigh. I'm having a bad week. :crazy:
 
ElvisTheNewf

ElvisTheNewf

Active member
I think Elements are hideous but the perfect dog car. I know several Newf owners who have them and just love them. It would be great to be able to hose down the inside of a car like that!

We have a CRV ('08) and a Pilot ('11). I love both, but only the Pilot can handle Elvis AND his gear (including his ginormous crate) with room to spare. We used Dawn's idea about the steps and made our own out of insulation.
 
N

Newfs Forever

New member
RiverTheNewf said:
I know this is a well-worn topic of conversation around here, but after reading through the old threads I thought it was time for an update. Thanks to recent lay-offs, I have to give up my company car (Ford Escape) as well as company paid gas, maintenance, cleaning...ugh. This does afford me the opportunity to get what I want in a car. Here's what I'm looking for:

1. Low to the ground (easy for dogs to get in and out of)
2. Good gas mileage
3. Plenty of room for Newfs AND gear. We take a lot of weekend camping trips and would prefer to fit tent, cooler, bags, and dogs inside the car. Although at some point I'll probably have to get a roof or hitch storage option. Ability for Newfs to be in the car and Malcolm to stick his giant head out the window to slobber on passers-by is a must.
4. Fun to drive. I want it to look good and feel good to drive.
5. No kids of the human variety. Not going to happen.

Here's what I'm looking at: Toyota Venza, Subaru Outback, Subaru Crosstek, Honda Element...

Any suggestions? Thoughts from owners of these vehicles or others?
Click to expand...
I have an Element, love it for the space for Sam. However, I think it's gonna be tough for Mal to hang his head out of the window, because the back windows open and close sideways.
 
N

Newfs Forever

New member
ElvisTheNewf said:
I think Elements are hideous but the perfect dog car. I know several Newf owners who have them and just love them. It would be great to be able to hose down the inside of a car like that!

We have a CRV ('08) and a Pilot ('11). I love both, but only the Pilot can handle Elvis AND his gear (including his ginormous crate) with room to spare. We used Dawn's idea about the steps and made our own out of insulation.
Click to expand...
I have the Element and was told never to hose out the inside. Nonetheless, it is pretty easy to clean if you have no back seats, etc.
 
chumleysma

chumleysma

New member
I bought the Honda Pilot after traveling to Cleveland in my Honda Civic with my husband and 15 yr. old son in the front and me and Chumley in the back. What a tight squeeze. Chumley had the entire back seat and I sat on top of a case of coke in the footwell squeezed between Chumley and the driver's seat. By the time we got to Cleveland I had the worst headache and swore our next trip would be in a bigger car.
We thought about the Honda Element, but they were no longer in production as of 2011? I believe. We fell in love with the room of the Honda Pilot. We went to a Newfie get together in Put-in-Bay, Ohio with three teenagers, me, my mom and Chumley...plus luggage. Chumley had plenty of room to lay down and the teenagers, well, who cares about them?
You mentioned the height of access for the Newfs. I bought the Twistep (360-756-2411) for easy Newf access into the cargo area.
 
ajcooksey

ajcooksey

New member
We just bought the saturn outlook last month. It's enormous inside but I will admit I haven't had the heart to put Turner and Willow in it yet as I'm savoring how clean it is right now. It does alright on gas. It took me a week and a half to get down to a quarter of a tank with local driving which is pretty good for how big it is.
 
Brandie&Maggie

Brandie&Maggie

New member
My suggestion is really just to go out and look and drive them all.

We have a VW Jetta Wagon, in diesel. It would fit 2 dogs with no problem and some gear. Maggie can step in and out easily, and I get about 45 mpg which is awesome. It's about the same size as the outback I think, maybe even a bit bigger??

We've had 4 people, Maggie, and luggage for a weekend away in that thing with no problem. The rear seats fold down, all together or in a 60/40 split which is great. We will probably get roof box for traveling after the baby comes though....doesn't sound like you'll have that problem!

Good luck in your search.
 
Codes

Codes

Active member
I have the Ford Transit Connect as my dog van and love it! I can fit two crates in there and all my junk I haul with me to the National or dog shows.I call it my scooter and it does great around town. Only thing I don't like about it is sometimes it's quite underpowered in these Vermont hills. I go up some of them chanting "I think I can, I think I can.......":!rolling:

I also have a Ford Flex. That is extremely roomy and can fit several Newfs. Drives great. Good gas mileage. That's more my personal vehicle. I'll use it for the dogs if someone has had surgery.. spayed/neutered..etc. or for anyone I feel isn't able to jump in/out of the Transit.
 
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Bailey Boy

Bailey Boy

New member
We just traded our Subaru forester in for another Explorer. The subaru had a lot of road noise I just couldn't deal with it and didn't like to drive it because of that, 2011 with less then 9k miles on it when we traded. It just didn't have the room that our Explorer has and Bailey needed help getting in and out of it anyway so we just went back to the Explorer.

I would suggest taking a crate if you use one to the dealer and put it in to whatever car you want to buy just to make sure you have the room or take measurements for height and width of what you need. Make sure you lay the seats down to see if they fold flat, but is better then the Subaru. The newer explorers don't lay completely flat and there is a small gap between the 2nd and 3rd row we have to put a pet bed in to fill up the space too.
 
M

Mjwalters17

New member
You should check out Kia too. I've had a Kia Sorento for 3 years now, we have one Newf and 5 goldens. It will carry the newf plus 2 of the golden comfortably. The low to mid grade package came pretty much fully loaded with heated seats, usb ports and ipod plug, also bluetooth. Anyways, I was against Kia when I started looking becaue they used to be kind of crappy but now most of their parts and factories are in the US. It gets super great gas mileage too! Good luck car shopping!
 
RiverTheNewf

RiverTheNewf

New member
Thanks for your responses, everyone! Your experiences are really helpful. I was trying to narrow down some car types because I didn't want to drive to dealerships all over the cities, but I think that's probably the best way to handle this. Guess we're going to do some test driving on Saturday! Adding Honda, Ford and Kia back to the list of potentials. I'm definitely bringing the dogs with me on a final test drive though. That's the only way to know for sure.
 
shellyk

shellyk

New member
Sorry about your job.

We have a Newf and a large Lab and love our Honda Fit. Yea it's a small car but we give the whole back end to the dogs. It has low entry and back windows. That said we realized we wanted more room for our stuff and the dogs. We found a very lightly used Honda Element. I love how the seats come out or can be turned up to the side. What I miss is the back windows and I know the dogs do too. I have seen some on the road with a back moon roof. That would add some needed fresh air!

When we were looking at the Element at the Honda dealer we tried the Pilot - much higher entrance and much smaller inside than it looks.

Our son has taken our Element camping already and he and his girlfriend slept comfortably in the back.

Good luck - I hate car shopping - especially at dealers when you have to deal with the guy at the end who wants to sell you insurance for your insurance and a warranty for your warranty.
 
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