Estate with low tailgate for labs who don't like jumping into a Golf with a lip!

Discussion in 'Labrador Health' started by NickyW, May 10, 2016.

  1. NickyW

    NickyW Registered Users

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    Love it... wouldn't that be wonderful? Mine would just put paws over their eyes and duck!! :p:p
     
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  2. bouncer

    bouncer Registered Users

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    Once Tara grew, I could not get her into the back seat, so hat to lift her into the hatch of my Subaru XV, which has a very high lip. As it was doing my back no good, I searched around for a "dog carrier". I found a Ford Fusion to be one of the lowest lips around, but ended up with an old Ford Transit Connect van (the smaller Transit like a Tourneo), which is excellent. Tara's crate can be held in place with straps in the lashing eyes and, when not in use for Tara, is ideal for trips to the tip, etc. It is now being slowly converted into a day/camper van!! Unfortunately, having to take Tara to the vet this week, and the van being out of action, Tara has been jumping in and out of the XV hatch, with no problems. Dogs!!!
     
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  3. bbrown

    bbrown Moderator Forum Supporter

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    I was sooooo close to buying a van this time round. I think it will happen one day! :)
     
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  4. drjs@5

    drjs@5 Registered Users

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    Oh I gave up finding something suitable within my budget.
    Its the shape of the boot entry and the huge lip that is the problem in my opinion.
    The Ford Fusion was great but bigger than I needed as a second car (OH's being main family car) as well as being out my budget.
    I ended up compromising and getting a Peugot 208....not ideal, but better than some.
     
  5. NickyW

    NickyW Registered Users

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    Revisiting the estate car thread... I'm still driving the Golf, because I haven't had much chance to look around until the last few days. Was really appreciative of everyone's suggestions, and have checked out some of them... not seen some of the suggestion second hand yet. But am now wondering about an old Mercedes Estate, probably C class and ten or twelve years old. Does anyone have any experience of this car, any advice, thoughts etc? I realise that it'll be more expensive to tax, insure and run, but my yearly mileage is quite low, so the main journey will be holidays or the odd weekend away. I love the boot size, and think it would be great for the girls to spread out and snooze on journeys, and there's something about a Merc, even an old one. I'm probably mad, but would love to hear if anyone has had one, or has any good thoughts about what to look for.
     
  6. bbrown

    bbrown Moderator Forum Supporter

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    I have friends that always buy old, high mileage German cars - Mercs or BMWs. It's a great idea and often good value for money but you have to be prepared to bin it if it goes wrong as it will be expensive to fix. They pay in the very low thousands (sometimes not even getting into thousands) and as long as they get a year or two out of the cars they figure the car doesn't owe them anything. Some cars break early and some last 3 or more years and they reckon overall they're doing pretty well. It's definitely an option :D
     
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  7. JulieT

    JulieT Registered Users

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    I had a Merc estate - it was seriously the most uncomfortable car I have ever had the misfortune to own. We bought it because, at the time, we had a boat and seemed to be forever lugging boat gear around. The seats and headrest were so hard, and the suspension so stiff, I would have hip pain and an headache driving London to Plymouth!

    I would never have one again. We sold it and bought a BMW and it felt like returning to civilisation!
     
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  8. JulieT

    JulieT Registered Users

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    Although now I have a shed aka a Volvo. :( Which is also horrible. But practical, and miles better than the Merc.
     
  9. NickyW

    NickyW Registered Users

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    That's a bit what I thought, Barbara, and I love the look of them, but it's the repair costs (and tax!) which might be the tricky bit. I would want something pretty reliable, and, although I'm sure Mercs are, I have since heard that the very old ones tend to rust.
     
  10. NickyW

    NickyW Registered Users

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    That's really interesting to read, Julie, thank you... hadn't considered the comfort, as I'd assumed they'd be pretty up there for comfort... evidently not! The other contender is a BMW 3 Series Touring, but I've yet to measure the distance from the tailgate to the ground, and am not sure whether it has a lip. What sort of Volvo do you have? My future son-in-law was recommending a Volvo V50, but I've heard that they're quite pricey to repair. I'm guessing there's no perfect car! :(
     
  11. Saba's Boss

    Saba's Boss Registered Users

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    We, (Saba and I) have a Vauxhall Zafira. No lip at the back, and even with his travel crate in, we can still have 6 of the 7 seats up.
     
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  12. JulieT

    JulieT Registered Users

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    I've had a BMW 3 series (not touring) - it was a very lovely car. :) I then had a 5 series and it was the best car I ever owned - seriously lovely. But a Volvo is more practical and cheaper to run. :rolleyes: And uglier, and not as nice to drive or be in - I so loved pressing a button in my BMW and saying "I've just backed into a rock and need it fixed before my husband finds out", and a nice lady on the other end of the phone would sort it. Lovely service. :D:D:D

    I have a Volvo XC70 now. Which fails to put a tyre wrong, which is a shame because if it did I'd have an excuse to give it the boot for another BMW. It drives out of boggy, muddy fields at gundog training, never gets stuck, perfectly fits my dogs, luggage and dog crate, and I can't fault it. It has never gone wrong, so I've never had it repaired. Bloody car, the only thing wrong with it is a) it's a Volvo and b) it's ugly. :rolleyes:

    Back to your original question though. Charlie doesn't jump into cars unless I tell him to do so. I trained 'paws up' and then I put my arm under his tum and sort of 'tip' him in. I trained this when he was recovering from cruciate surgery, so I can get him into any height of car. He much prefers to jump in on his own, but waits for "hup" (jump in) or "paws" (paws up).
     
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  13. JulieT

    JulieT Registered Users

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    By the way, this is a real example. Charlie was whining, a sure thing something was wrong, and I stopped at a service station with a dog area to let him out. I backed up and hit a rock that WAS IN A CAR PARKING SPACE IN A MOTORWAY SERVICE STATION CARPARK! For god's sake. :rolleyes: Charlie needed to have a very runny poo. :( Post runny poo, BMW arranged for me to stop in Plymouth on my way to Cornwall, arranged my travel onwards to Cornwall (with dog) and delivered the car the next day in time for me to pick up OH at the station....:D:D:D
     
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  14. Jes72

    Jes72 Registered Users

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    We had a 17 year old golf and swapped it last year for a Volvo XC60. It's champagne in colour and much more stylish than other big black SUVs in our road. It's boot is flat and large but a bit higher than estate cars. We took Homer along with us when we went car shopping and he jumped straight in and made himself at home, much to the amusement of the car salesman. We looked quite seriously at the VW Passat estate ans the VW Golf estate which both have flat boots.
     
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  15. mandyb

    mandyb Registered Users

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    I had a VW Passat estate for 10yrs and loved it, was absolutely gutted when it developed electronic issues that nobody seemed able to cure, so ended up with a Citroen Berlingo Multispace. It's practical, has loads of room for the dogs, lots of headroom for my pointer, the boot is quite low and flat, not too bad to drive, but it has no street cred at all!
     
  16. NickyW

    NickyW Registered Users

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    You made me smile with your Volvo comments! Many years ago I owned a small Volvo, which my husband purchased for me as it was a safe car, but clumpy and ugly and I hated it! But from what you say I should perhaps consider one. Anna will jump into the boot of a Sharan, which is 22 inches from the ground, but Bella does paws up. She's a bit heavier, and I have back issues, so perhaps it's back to the step for the time being! They happily climb onto a step platform, and then just hop up into my Golf, and reverse the process on the way back...jumping onto tarmac isn't supposed to be good, is it? But I hate having to carry a substantial-sized step, which is quite heavy and awkward in itself... and, to boot, I scratched the side of the car with it earlier in the week!! :confused:
     
  17. NickyW

    NickyW Registered Users

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    That's some service! Mmm... a rock in a service station car park... dumb or what?!!
     
  18. NickyW

    NickyW Registered Users

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    I wondered about a Zafira, but that thing in the news recently about them catching fire put me off!!!!
     
  19. NickyW

    NickyW Registered Users

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    I was leaning heavily towards an old Merc Estate, but a Passat estate or even a Golf estate have been on the list to look at. I just fancied something different that wasn't VW, as I've had Golfs for years. That said, they've served me well, so perhaps that should tell me something. It's really helpful to have everyone's views and thoughts, but I'm no nearer making a decision... confusing! I think taking the girls car shopping might be quite funny, but certainly seems a good idea, since I'm only changing the car for them! :p
     
  20. JulieT

    JulieT Registered Users

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    :D:D:D

    I shouldn't be so ungrateful, really. But I seriously loved my BMW, then OH 'rearranged' the cars, and I ended up with Volvo! It is a very practical car, reasonably comfortable...blah, blah. It makes me feel OLD! :D:D:D
     
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