Anyone got a 7 seater and dogs?

TooManyDogs

We have a Skoda Octavia estate that now is going to the carpark in the sky (it got 2 pages of faults in the NCT :eek:) We're now car shopping but I'm wondering about a 7 seater.

Does anyone have one? Do you like yours? We'll have to fit in a baby seat, 2 adults and 6 dogs so boot space is a priority. I figured it'd be handy to have a 7 seater so we could leave the back 2 flopped down unless we had extra people in the car but if they're left up is there any boot left?

Also I have a barjo type cage system for the octavia so the dogs can't get out of the boot and into the rest of the car, does anyone have this kind of thing for a 7 seater?

Any opinions or experiences welcome!

The Sweeper

I've got a 7-seater 4x4 that usually only has five seats available and the back ones folded down to provide a large boot. If the back seats are up, I have hardly any boot space to speak of at all. You might squeeze three shopping bags in a row in there, but it's not going to fit much else. However once they're folded down there is a good bit of space - not sure if I'd get a crate with six dogs into it mind!

I've just bought a back seat hammock system for the hound to make him more comfortable (and prevent him from destroying the leather!) This way I can have him in the back of my car and still have the boot space free for whatever I want it for. An expensive version of the hammock is called the Backseat Buddy - basically it's a lined strip that you hang off the driver and passenger headrests of the front and back seats. It provides a fairly secure space for the dog, stops them encroaching on the front seats, and prevents them from falling into the footwell behind the front seats.



While very good quality, that brand was too rich for my blood at over 300 bucks, but there are plenty of copies out there and I'm sure you can get something similar in Ireland. I bought one for half the price that I'm hoping will do a perfectly adequate job.

It can also be unzipped in the middle if you want to use half the seat for a person, or if you have a clip-harness restraint for the dog's safety and you want to clip it into the seatbelt clip.

Depending on the size of your 7-seater, it might give you an option - you guys in the front, baby in the middle with a free seat beside baby, dogs in hammock restraint in back row of seats and some measure of boot space behind that again...

Wedgie

We have an eight seater, plus three dogs, plus baby seat.

The boot has plenty of space for the three dogs, but on a long trip we put down the back seat to allow them to have extra space.

We have a bog standard dog guard to keep the dogs out of the rest of the car. Doesn't always work though, and we're looking at getting a large crate for the main culprit. That said, they don't try to climb through when we're travelling, it's only when we've stopped, and they're left in the car alone.

boxerly

Id be lost without my 7 seater,Bruno always got the front seat xxx

adser53

We've got a 2002 Merc ML270 jeep and while technically a 5 seater, it has 2 fold up seats in the boot to make it a 7 seater should the need arise. When the folding seats are removed, the boot is grand & big and my 3 dogs (2 akitas & 1 cav) fit in no bother but I wouldn't fancy trying any more than 3 big dogs. Fold down the normal back seats and the space is huge!

But if you actually use the 7 seats, you'd be doing very well to fit a cavalier in the remaining boot space, never mind multiple dogs. It's not really designed to be a dedicated 7 seater, it is handy to have it though.

TooManyDogs

Wedgie wrote: »

We have an eight seater, plus three dogs, plus baby seat.

The boot has plenty of space for the three dogs, but on a long trip we put down the back seat to allow them to have extra space.

We have a bog standard dog guard to keep the dogs out of the rest of the car. Doesn't always work though, and we're looking at getting a large crate for the main culprit. That said, they don't try to climb through when we're travelling, it's only when we've stopped, and they're left in the car alone.

What kind of car is the 8 seater? We don't plan on having the 7 seats up plus all 6 dogs in it but was thinking it might be handy to have the big boot plus the option of extra seats if we have other people with us. Going to look at a Seat Alhambra tomorrow so will see what's what!

Thanks all

mymo

I have seen a guy with a seven seater Qashqai and two large dogs hopped in the boot with plenty of room to spare, although didn't get a great look it could be a good one. I know the 5 seater has a massive boot.
Better tell the dogs to find a job to pay for one!

Wedgie

TooManyDogs wrote: »

What kind of car is the 8 seater? We don't plan on having the 7 seats up plus all 6 dogs in it but was thinking it might be handy to have the big boot plus the option of extra seats if we have other people with us. Going to look at a Seat Alhambra tomorrow so will see what's what!

Thanks all

Toyota Estima, an older version of the Previa.

TooManyDogs

Thanks wedgie, I think i passed one of those for sale in Finglas , must go back and have another look!

It's gas though, you ask people how big the boot of a car is, tell them you have dogs and they say 'ah you'd get a couple of labradors in no problem'...... then you have to admit there's 6 dogs and their jaws drop

Starlights

What about something like this?
http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1738011

Wedgie

Starlights wrote: »

What about something like this?
http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1738011

I know that car, it belongs to a friend of mine.

They went for something bigger!

TooManyDogs

We went and had a look at the seat alhambra..... I've found my dream car!!!! (Well for certain definitations of 'dream car'! My real dream car is my 1977 vw beetle but that's a different forum!)

It has a bit of a boot with all 7 seats, you could put groceries or my JRT's there! BUT, and here's the fantastic bit... you can remove any or all the 5 back seats individually!!! It's like lego for cars! So if we're going camping we can take out 4 seats and have just the 2 for me and hubby and one for baba, or if my sis is coming home for a visit with her hubby and their baby then 6 seats, if we need to move house then just front 2 seats and tons and tons of space in the back.... If we leave 5 seats in then there's still tons of room for crates..... I'm so happy :D:D:D

Now the age old question of petrol or diesel???

Wedgie

TooManyDogs wrote: »

Thanks wedgie, I think i passed one of those for sale in Finglas , must go back and have another look!

It's gas though, you ask people how big the boot of a car is, tell them you have dogs and they say 'ah you'd get a couple of labradors in no problem'...... then you have to admit there's 6 dogs and their jaws drop

I'm no mechanic, but for what it's worth, I've heard that the automatic gearboxes can be troublesome.

We were lucky, we picked up a good manual version. It's not perfect, but it is quite old!