I am looking into buying a new car, a SUV that gets decent gas mileage. My everyday car doubles as a dog car so I need to be able to fit just one crate in it. What does everyone have for cars that they can fit their dogs in?? TIA

We have a Honda Fit. You can fit a 36" crate in if you put the back seats down. It gets 35 mpg in city and 45 on highway. I love it.

I went shopping this past spring and was impressed w/ the Suburus too, but if you don't need all wheel drive where you are, I agree, that little Fit was pretty spacious!

I have a Ford Edge that is pretty spacious

If you're looking to save money, I can get a 36" into my Kia Rio5...

Thats my around town vehicle. :)

vrooom.

With one or both back seats folded down, we fit a #400 Vari Kennel in our Ford Escape, facing either sideways or the back. Putting the crate in sideways gives us more "cargo" room for other stuff we're packing. Someone else told me that by doing that, they can also fit a 36" side door crate in the back, too.

Honda makes a great vehicle, as does Subaru. Check out the Mazada 5 http://www.mazdausa.com/MusaWeb/sem.action?term=mazda5&vehicleCode=MZ5&providertag=MazdaSEM&servicetag=T1MZ50312012&sem=1&s_kwcid=TC|21354|mazda%205||S|e|8291140672

Very well made and looks like it will handle two crates easily.

We have done so much shopping!!! The honda fit is very nice but AWD is a must! We live in north country, so lots of cars got eliminated from that aspect! We looked into the ford edge, excellent fit! We also checked the Chevy equinox, it fits a 36" crate and the hyundai santa fe has tons of room! Thank you all! I'll keep you posted on which one is a definite!

Look at the Honda Element ....I LOVE mine and it has SO much room!

One thing to consider as well is that even if you can't fit 2 crates side-by-side facing the rear, many small SUV's allow you to fit one facing the back and the other one (the 2 crates in an "L" configuration) facing out a rear side door. I was able to do that when I had my small Mazda Tribute 4x4, and was still able to fit in wheels, show bags, soft crates, etc.

There are also the wire side-by-side SUV crates that are actually made a touch narrower in order to fit them in. Definitely depends on the SUV though... usually they have those wheel wells that create a big "hump" right in your cargo area when decreases the floor space unless you build a "shelf" over it for the crates.

Now we're a diesel family- our new Jetta TDI Sportwagen just got over 45 mpg. Even Thelma, my E350 extended 1 ton cargo "dog van," gets over 20 mpg fwy driving.

Growing up next to the ski resorts in the Pacific NW, our friends' non-4WD "snow cars" always included Hondas, VW's, and Subaru's.

I too am a diesel guy. The Sprinter does very well with over 22mpg, and my VW Jetta Sportwagen TDi (6spd man) has gotten nearly 50mpg highway.

The problem is the price of diesel is artificially high. But, I still love the torque and durability.

I love my Subaru Forrester. I can put the seats down, fit one crate going out the back and another crate sideways out the side door. Its AWD, i get about 30mpg on the highway, its small and fits me to a T. I like it so much i now have 2. Both are older models, i would love a new one but for now this works just fine and no payments.....

Make sure the car you purchase doesn't recommend super gasoline. I bought an AWD that does and it makes my gasoline bill 40 cents higher per gallon. It adds up and is at least the cost of diesel if not more.

Read the handbook to be sure. The internet and dealership salespeople never told us. They all claimed they did. When I came in for service complaining about the car lagging out service told me the same. Now I put in super and it runs perfect. Depending on the gas station, it can run 30 to 50 cents higher a gallon.

The internet salespeople can sometimes get you a better deal. You might want to try both ways after you decide which vehicle you want. Happy car shopping.

Diesel is just so expensive! It would be a great way to go though, I didn't even realize that some SUV's need super gas! Eek! I would be so angry if no one told me! That is another question to ask on the list! These salespeople are just going to love me! We are more than likely going with the Chevy Equinox, it is like a luxury car, yet none of the cost. I can fit 2 crates in it and it is 'supposedly' good on gas, but you never know until you drive it! Thanks all for the help!

Expense is relative when purchasing fuel. When you are getting almost twice the mileage of the same model taking gasoline and it is rated to last 350k miles + without major engine overhaul, sometimes it is worth it (and it ends up being WAY less expensive in the long run). Also, we were told at the dealer that we only need oil changes every 6-7000 miles. This is why all 3 of our vehicles right now have diesel engines, in spite of $4.25-4.65 mpg diesel prices in our area of southern California right now (and the scarcity in southern CA of gas stations with diesel pumps, LOL). Just something more to consider.

OP - one thing to make sure of when you are looking at SUVs -- make sure the back seats fold down flat. Otherwise the dogs will be at and angle which is not good. When I bought my new SUV I had to rule out several that I like because the seats didn't fold down flat.

Yes, the seats folding down was in issue with the first two cars we have owned. Never did it cross our minds to check whether they are fold flat or not, but the dealer actually showed us the fold flat on the Equinox. I told him I need to put dog crates in for big dogs and he knew exactly what I needed.

Oh, good. I am glad you knew about some vehicles not folding down flat. No one had mentioned it and I wanted to make sure you knew about it.

Good luck with your new vehicle.

Sometimes they don't fold flat due to the headrests. They needs to be popped out in about 2 minutes, flat seats.

Good luck with your choice OP. I have a friend who loves hers. She has it since the summer. She only has 1 large dog and the crate leaving her plenty of room besides. She drove it 2,000 miles round trip to the Outerbanks in August and was happy as a clam. It held the road well she said and gas mileage was as claimed within 1-2 mpg.

I bought an '06 Ford Escape this summer from my father and he bought the '11 Escape. I love it. I can fit 2 wire crates in the back (both turned sideways, so it's necessary for the one on the tailgate to have a side door), plus another small one for my Parson. I love mine, but my dad's new Escape is a fantastic vehicle.

If a SUV isn't needed, you can fit a crate into the backseat of a sedan. I used to do this with my Malibu. I'd just use a wire crate, which I'd unfold once it was in the backseat. In order to keep to from leaning, I would put binders under it, with the thick ends down in the fold of the seat. Now that would save you a lot of gas!

I love my Honda Pilot. Can put 2 crates in the way back with the 3rd row down, and can fit a 3rd crate with the center row flat. Plenty of room for all your show paraphernalia too. I get a kick of how much I can put in there!

Handles great in all kinds of weather, and we have snow 5 months of the year where I live.

Gets 16-24 MPG depending on driving conditions and how you drive. Better gas mileage would be fantastic, but I don’t think there is really any vehicle out there right now similar that gets any better.

Mine is a 2003. When it's dead, I will be looking to get a new one!

The Subaru Forrester is worth looking at too. A friend has one and it gets 27 mpg. 