How many of you.... - Page 1

Well my old car finaly died. I owned since new and put on it 130k before blowing an engine. I was in the market for a new one. And was hoping it would be dog friendly. I was not intrested in Domestic cars as for once they tend to be pricey with the options I want and two well they tend to use a lot of gas. I wanted 4x4 (true 4x4) and good winter performance, but at the same time I did not want to spend more than 25k (for new). Well I found one. I finaly got 2010 Subaru Forester and I find the car to be dog friendly, not just that I notice that many people pick forester because they think is one of the best dog cars. So I wondered how many of you have it? BTW I do know is not a car for people with multiple dogs (except if you have a trailer), but I never own more than two so I find it to be perfect for me and my family. And the best thing is it has costum pet divider thut I need for those short drives to park when you want jus to throw in yor dog into the cargo area and drive away (no crate).

BTW my dogs love the car, and first day I had hard time getting them out of it they decided that they want to sleep in it lol.

So the question is how many of you have owned, or own forester?
How many of you that got it got it only because it fit their life style (dogs)? 

I don't, but when I decided to get a new car a few months back I was looking at the Forester and the Honda Element.   A relative of mine has the Forester and loves it, great gas mileage, runs wonderfully, no problems, no complaints, and they put a lot of miles on their cars.  I know a few people with the Honda Element which was my actual favorite, the amenities are wonderful, the back seats fold up on the side walls, it has an incredible amount of space inside, you can basically just hose them out, and I think they are darling to look at.  

THEN Peter saw the Dodge Journey and he REALLY liked it and I HATED it.  I'm sorry, but they look like caterpillars or worms or something stupid to me, all long and weird and ungainly and awkward.***   Besides this time I wanted an SUV.  I am really tired of trying to putt all my dog paraphernalia  in my car like I'm putting together a jigsaw puzzle just so it will all fit. 

So one morning we had a HUGE fight about it.  I accused him of being so passive aggressive and hating me so much he would make my life miserable by buying me a new car I hated!  I cried!!!!  He left in a huff and told me he was going to his club to shoot some sporting clays.  He came home approx 2 hours later and told me he had REALLY been at the dealership and bought me a new car - a Dodge Nitro.  He actually got the deal of the century on it.  I really like this car, it's cute, it's fun to drive, and I can easily fit my crate and all my junk or 2 crates and less junk.  The mileage isn't the best but it's not the worst either, I get 20 m/gal on the highway with the air on full blast. 

*** If anyone has a Dodge Journey please don't take offence, I realize many people appreciate all their many fine  features,  I'm sure they're great cars,  my not liking them probably more to do with my not wanting another SW rather than anything particularly horrid about the Journey.

Snajper,
My past four cars have been bought too accommodate my dogs.  I have never owned a Subaru.

Back in '94 I bought a Volvo wagon for the dogs.  I put 220k miles on it and gave it to a friend recently to transport his K9 back and forth to work.  I customized that car, took out the back seat and built an insert for the dog. It was a great 3 dog car.  In '99 I bought a 30' Winnebago to travel with the dogs, sold it in 2002 with 45K miles.  Then I got a Ford Windstar van again for the dogs in 2003, put 140K miles on that and traded it in last year for a Honda Odyssey Mini Van.  Again for the dogs. 

Now my wife has always had other "sporty" cars, like Volvo sedans, BMW's and now she has an Acura because she refuses to drive a minivan.  I have a take home police car that I can use off duty (the only way for me to get a fast car), and the Honda Van for trips with the dogs.  We bought the van in November and it has about 15,000 miles.  That is just for trips we take with the dogs, VA to Fla or VA to NY. 

Minivans make great dog cars.  I'm about to build a custom insert / crate for the Honda Van for the 2 dogs.  When I drive to Fla I drive straight through and sometimes stop in a rest area for a 1/2 hour or so to sleep.  Some shady characters in rest areas at 3 AM.  I actually have the huge Great Dane size Vari kennel for my male in the van.  The crate door is right next to the rear passengers sliding door.  I can remotely hit the door switch on the key fob and the male will come right out.  Similar to the door popper on the police car, it works pretty well.  If I get more dogs a trailer may be an option, can I put a hitch on a corvette?  That would interesting. 

Good luck with the Subaru,

Jim

I have owned a 1999 Forester for going on 10 years now and have put nearly 180K miles on it.  Aside from routine maintanence, it has been virtually trouble free.  I did get it because I love Subarus and the Forester's boxy shape is more conducive to crates than the Outback.  Sadly I am outgrowing it dogwise and since Subaru does not make anything substantially bigger, I am heading to the van route in a year or two.  With that said I can fit a 200, 300, and a 400 size dual custom crate in my Forester (but not much else :-p).  Enjoy!  They are great vehicles

Well I think I will end up going the mini van route my self, but I am just not there yet, Forester is a big improvment space wise for me can you imagine two gsd in civic ;) lol I never belived in crates and car transportation so forester if needs too should be able to transport 4 gsds ;). But than if I ever owe 4 I need a mini van because they all going into crates.

I had a Subaru Legacy - it fell apart, very unhappy with it.

When I traided it in, I was in the sales office with two kids in diapers. The mechanic took it for a test drive and it died....they wanted me to pay for the towing, so I drove out with a used truck.....

It only had about 100k on it.

The truck had 80K when I bought it and lasted until 350K - good truck!

I bought a Dodge Grand Caravan for my dogs and I love it. It's pretty comfortable (the head rest could be placed better, IMO), safe and has enough power to accelerate quickly when I want. Also very good safety ratings. I like the fact that my 2nd and 3rd row seats come with me, there have been times when I've wanted them.

I took a long weekend trip with a friend and her GSD. We fit in 3 crates for our GSDs as well as two crates for little dogs, so five dogs total, two people, two separate sets of training and tracking gear, dog food, as well as our suitcases in that van.

I just got an old VW Vanagon! Woohoo! Me in the pop-up, dogs in the bottom, little fridge and stove and the whole nine yards. Can't wait to start taking it around to dog events! Gets fairly crappy gas mileage, like 26 mpg, but it makes up for it with cuteness! 

The Forester is awesome.  I have owned one for about 4 years now, and if I can help it, I won't drive anything else.  It is perfect for the dogs, especially if you have the mesh divider between the back seats and the cargo area.

Unfortunately, mine just blew up last week.  Cylinder head, they tell me.  In the same breath that they say "these never blow cylinder heads".

Having said that, in the 4 years I have driven it, this car has been nothing but pleasure.  Our roads are pretty rough, and the car is driving through about two miles of mud twice a day for six months of the year, and two miles of dust for the other six months.  Mechanically, up until last week, not a single day's trouble. Nothing.  Just a pleasure to drive.

I bought the Forester because I require 4x4 capabilities just to get home every day.  I have no need to conquer obstacles, and climb rocks, but our farm road is inaccessible by "normal" cars.  We previously had a double-cab truck (I think this is what you call them), with a canopy, but I didn't like putting the dogs in the back.  So the Forester suited our lifestyle, and our dogs.

If you've just bought it, wait a couple of weeks till you get used to the drive, and you will agree - once you've driven a Subaru, it will be VERY difficult to driva anything else ;)

- Eleni

major engine work in just 4 years. that's terrible!