How many crates can you fit?? - Page 1

Does anyone have a Toyota 4Runner? I am thinking of getting one and am wondering how many crates I can fit in there. Looks like two would go side by side in the back, for sure with the seats folded down, maybe with them up but not sure. If I folded the back seats down, I'm thinking two in the very back, side by side, and then one sideways on top of the folded down seats. Does anyone have any first hand experience with this? I choose the 4Runner because it seems to get the best gas mileage for it's size at an average of 20 mpg for the V6 model. Go bigger, gas mileage drops significantly, like with Tahoe or Excursion....go smaller, and there's just not enough cargo space. I love little SUV/Crossovers like the Nissan Rogue, etc, but they are just too small, especially with the curved hatchback....hard to fit crates in there. It's great fun watching the salesman's faces when you tell them your biggest priorities are, "gotta fit three dog crates comfortably" and "need good gas mileage so I can travel to shows and trials more often"....it's quite amusing...

Rockinrkranch: I sent you a PM.

Oh, and how about the Nissan Xterra? Anyone have one of those? They seem similar to the Toyota, but (please don't take offense!) somewhat "cheaper" made inside. Mainly the dash, accessories, etc. I know Toyotas have the reputation of lasting forever, kinda like Hondas, but am not too familiar with Nissans. From what I have seen, the Xterras have a pretty poor resale value. I found an '08 with 4800 miles on it for $22,000! Toyota 4Runners are quite a bit more expensive, but seems there might be good reason for that. I hate to buy something and never be able to get rid of it (without taking a loss) if it has very poor resale value. Any thoughts greatly appreciated!

I know you are asking about a 4-Runner, but I have a 2002 Ford Focus Hatchback. I can fit three 400 crates side by side in the back and one 400 sideways behind them. I can also fit one small puppy crate and all my gear. It gets about 24 mpg around town. I don't do any highway driving so I don't know about that.  I works great for me.

I broke down and bought a minivan last summer.  Right now I'm getting about 21 miles to the gallon and I have a fair amount of city/traffic driving.  It does bump up a little when it's strictly highway.  But still haven't gotten to the 25 highway that was advertised.  I just drive way too darn much!  Between work and training, it's an easy 550 miles per week.  And 350 of that is work, uggghhhh.  A friend of mine has a Toyota Prius that she actually built two crates in there for her 2 GSD's.  They are a permanent fixture, she figured in the year that she had it, she never had more than one passenger, lol.  She lives on Long Island so she gets some perks with that vehicle, can drive the HOV lanes, etc. etc.