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Re the back seats: I'm an old lady so I just have the dealer remove the rear 2 rows of seats for me before I pick it up at final purchase. That way I don't have to store seats I'll never use, and, let someone else do the labor!
I did look at a van that had "stow and go" seats, but it made the back lumpy and not flat, and - I'm an old lady! I don't want to be putting seats up and down! There's no point having the back seats if you aren't carrying passengers.
People are probably right about crating the dog in the van. I don't for short area trips at low speeds, but did when I did my long move. There's plenty of room for a large comfortable crate in the back of these beater vans. I also put my 3 cats in a large "pet playpen", which was the perfect way to move with cats. So, that back area was big enough for a dog crate, pet playpen, and the stuff I brought with me to have until the moving van arrived.
I'm looking at a used Toyota Sienna for my next beater van, just because of the AWD, but I personally don't think that's really needed in most winter driving situations.
Re the back seats: I'm an old lady so I just have the dealer remove the rear 2 rows of seats for me before I pick it up at final purchase. That way I don't have to store seats I'll never use, and, let someone else do the labor!
I did look at a van that had "stow and go" seats, but it made the back lumpy and not flat, and - I'm an old lady! I don't want to be putting seats up and down! There's no point having the back seats if you aren't carrying passengers.
People are probably right about crating the dog in the van. I don't for short area trips at low speeds, but did when I did my long move. There's plenty of room for a large comfortable crate in the back of these beater vans. I also put my 3 cats in a large "pet playpen", which was the perfect way to move with cats. So, that back area was big enough for a dog crate, pet playpen, and the stuff I brought with me to have until the moving van arrived.
I'm looking at a used Toyota Sienna for my next beater van, just because of the AWD, but I personally don't think that's really needed in most winter driving situations.
Dodge / Chrysler stow and go seats do lie flat. Plus they are the only ones that has stow and go in the second row (middle). You must have been looking at some other van which only folds down the third row, and is a cheap imitation. The point was, you can fold them down once and never bring them up again. We just did it today to go pick up my daughter from college. We folded down the rear bench and one of the middle seats. That gave us seats for three, and we filled the rest with her stuff she had to bring home. The seats folded down perfectly flat. I know an old lady of 72 who folds her seats down easily. That said, if you want the dealer to take the bench out then that's fine. I don't know if a used car dealer would want the bench, so you would have to dispose of it somewhere.
I'm an old lady, too, at 66. And I have an old lady friend who is 70. We both have the caravan. She has both back rows of stow-n-go individual seats and all seats are down as she also does a lot of dog transports but she occasionally has passengers and she works the stow-n-go feature just fine. I have a bench seat for my middle row and it does not stow but removed quite nicely. It did take both my husband and I working together to get it out - if I were alone, I'd pop into the dealer and have someone help me. But the far back seats stow easily - I can do them with no problem. I love having the bench (middle for me) seat out and the empty under the floor cavities. Because of doing animal transports and rescuing along the side of the road, I need supplies and these cavities have a ton of room - container of food, canned food, bowls, bottles of water, extra leashes and collars, plastic bags, a folding cat carrier, box of plastic gloves, heavy gloves, plastic trash bags, weewee pads, small blanket, and so much more - and that's just in one side.
The stow feature is fantastic - no bumps, just the floor which we have covered with a waterproof, heavy duty tarp.
Thank you for the replies. Are you guys saying that my dogs will not be able to balance themselves without a crate? I could crate my puppy but my dog is 75+ lbs and is 13 years old and has never been crated aside from at the vet's office. I use thick rubber back bath mats on my current car and she can balance herself when she stands up but she mostly just lays down.
I only thought about easier entrance and exit but I have not thought about the dogs moving around when the vehicle is moving. If my dogs cannot balance themselves in the car, it would not be worth it to me to buy one just to move my stuff.
Thank you for the replies. Are you guys saying that my dogs will not be able to balance themselves without a crate? I could crate my puppy but my dog is 75+ lbs and is 13 years old and has never been crated aside from at the vet's office. I use thick rubber back bath mats on my current car and she can balance herself when she stands up but she mostly just lays down.
I only thought about easier entrance and exit but I have not thought about the dogs moving around when the vehicle is moving. If my dogs cannot balance themselves in the car, it would not be worth it to me to buy one just to move my stuff.
No, a strapped down car crate (or you can use a safety harness for dogs) is to keep your dog from turning into a projectile during a crash.
Have you considered a Honda Element with AWD? They are super dog friendly and have lots of space for moving stuff. You can remove the back seats.
As for the transporting of your dogs, you can get a Champion harness that works great for keeping them safe while you are traveling. Just toss a dog bed or two in the back and hook their harnesses to the seatbelts for the back seat.
Forget mini vans. Look for a Subaru outback. A used one is more likely to still be reliable, eve with higher milage. Subaru markets themselves as pet friendly.
Thank you for all of the replies. I need to re-evaluate what I need as I will need a car with easy entrance/exit and with ample room and have my dogs in place so that they would not be moving everywhere. I do have a car harness to put on my dog but I guess that means I would need the back seats in place (as oppose to taking them out permanently) or stow and go seats (folding? seats). Ideally, the dogs would be in the back area so they would not go out of the window if an accident occurred.
The Subaru outback sounds good but the only thing is that it seems like it is too high for my dog to be able to go in and out.
The caravan seems to be a good option for me as there seems to be plenty of used cars in my budget within my area. If I got the caravan ....
1. If I leave the second row seats in place, would my dog be able to pass by them into the back area going through the sliding side doors?
2. Then, I can harness my dog (80 lb) and hook the harness into the second row seat backs while my dog sits in the back?
3. If #1 and #2 are possible, would there be enough room in the back for my puppy's (will probably grow up to be 30 lb) crate?
4. If #3 is possible, how secure can I make the crate and how? It would have to not move as I do not want the crate hitting my not crated dog.
Right now, my pup has to sit in the front seat with a harness attached to the seat and although I mostly drive on local roads, it would be nice not to worry about her so much.
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