Companion animals are often more than just your best friend who speaks a language you can’t understand. Your favorite animal is a member of your family, and you might even treat them with greater care than you would some people. This might even extend to your car. You need to bring your baby somewhere; what car are you putting them in?
This question is relevant to me right now because next week, I will be assisting many other auto writers in rescuing what will probably be more than two dozen abandoned beagles. We’ll be using large crossovers and SUVs for the job. Don’t worry, you’ll read about this in full later this week!
The easy answer to this question could be a pickup truck. Look, I have cornfields less than a mile from my apartment and fully rural America not far from there. I’ve seen old trucks running down the road with dogs in their beds, either in crates or loose. Alternatively, you can put your furry friend into the back of a giant SUV, work van, or minivan. But to me, I like finding the smallest vehicle that can still safely transport my adorable friends.
My wife, Sheryl, and I used to have an adorable little rescue chihuahua named Malort. We got him when he was near the end of his life – he had gray fur! – but we made sure those final days were a total blast. Malort got to ride in everything from a Chevy HHR and a Dodge Grand Caravan to my Nova Bus RTS-06 transit bus and my Volkswagen Touareg V10 TDI.
I think his favorite vehicle was the bus. He deeply enjoyed the bus because he was able to walk the entire length of the unit, sniff everything, and then pee into the rear door. It made me laugh that he basically took himself for walks while I drove.
Second to the bus was probably the Touareg V10 TDI. When Malort wasn’t running around, he loved eating, relaxing, and sleeping. Malort definitely loved the cushy seats and soft ride of the Treg. He spent most of the drive home in his doggie bed, watching the world go by.
After Malort’s passing, Sheryl and I had one pet remaining, a green-cheeked conure named Kathryn Janeway. She was later joined by a second conure named Tuvok. Janeway’s first-ever car ride was in Sheryl’s 2010 Toyota Prius; Janeway’s travel cage was a somewhat tight fit in the backseat, but the car worked just fine to carry her. She didn’t seem to care too much about the hybrid ‘Yota.
Later, Janeway and Tuvok got to ride in Wanda, the 2001 BMW E39 wagon that we got from our daydreaming designer, The Bishop. I was surprised to find that the birds loved this car. Janeway loved playing in the leather, and on a sufficiently long trip, she’d sleep rather quietly, which was something she never did in the loud-ish Prius.
Our next pet car was a 2012 Scion iQ, and it was a struggle. Getting the birds into the iQ requires turning their cage 90 degrees, shoving them through the tailgate, and then turning the cage upright again. It was rough and messy, but it worked. The birds hated the iQ the most. Often, they bumped their heads into each other as the car hit potholes. This caused little birdy shouting matches.
The Autopian’s Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet, however, turned out to be a surprisingly good bird carrier. I cannot load the birds inside when the roof is up, but the solution to that is easy. All I have to do is open the roof slightly, slide the birds in, then close the roof. Genius!
I think my answer to this question would be a transit bus, a motorhome, or a wagon. What about you? What’s your perfect pet car?
Top graphic image: Mercedes Streeter
ANYTHING with a non-precious interior. Any time I see a fancy modern luxury interior, I think, “the owner of that ain’t putting pets in it.”
You want durable material in a darkish color which will resist/hide marks from dirt, stains, and claws. Also, no materials you’d be sad to see all scratched up.
Minivans are great because they often have leather or faux-leather seats which are made to suffer abuse of all kinds without showing any wear, durable scratch-resistant plastic everywhere else, and of course they’re also spacious enough for your pet to wander around freely, and low enough to the ground for small pets to get in and out easily.
All of this applies to transporting kids too, of course.
If it must have a roof, Honda Element: tall, hard plastic floor, pillarless rear suicide doors.
We’ve cross country moved twice, once from Maine to northern Illinois, and most recently from Illinois to Raleigh, NC area. Both times we had a pickup truck (quad cab, not crew cab) where the dog rode and a 2015 Challenger R/T that had three cats in the back. The dog did great in the truck, and I assume the cats were fine in the Challenger…
We primarily just travel with the dog(s), as long as there is enough room for them to lay down they are comfortable. Most anything with a back seat is fine, 2 passenger back seat like the Challenger for 1 dog, 3 passenger for 2 dogs.
This belongs in some sort of autopian reference guide, under “dog to seat conversion table”.
If we are going to make it official, we’ll have to add an axis. Dog size plays a factor, I have had primarily Labrador retrievers. If you have a cat sized dog the equation changes. It’s not linear either, I was surprised how small my neighbors great Dane could get when curled up.
Our favorite is the Subaru wagon, but the dogs’ favorite is the F250 extended-cab because a) the front seat is roomy enough for old nervous girldog to ride in someone’s lap while the back is roomy enough for boydog and The Sharp One to sit well apart from each other and b) truck-ride usually means “run around in a forest and sniff stuff.”
The horses do not care much for the F250 because trailer rides are annoying, but they seem to like seeing their friends and walking around in a forest.
Someone will say Miata, but ANY convertible is the correct answer.
Loose in the back of a pickup is the worst way to carry a dog. Lot’s of dogs have died that way.
Anyway, my dogs like the back seat of my Maverick with the protective cover installed in the seat, but they would still prefer to ride up front. I don’t allow it, of course. I clip them into the seatbelts and kid myself that they’ll be OK in a crash.
We moved across the country and I drove the U-haul while my wife and mother in law drove our two cars behind me. My cat, Spikersaurus Rex, rest his soul, was in a carrier belted into the poassenger seat next to me. The carrier was angled so he could see me, but he was not a fan of travel. On day two of the three day drive, we were somewhere in Illinois, I think, when he decided to spray urine out of the crate in my direction. Maybe it’s not the car, but the pet, that makes the journey great.
My brother-in-law has the perfect vehicle. He’s a hunting guide and commonly has to transport eight or ten dogs at a time for long distances (think southern Arizona to Montana). He has a large pickup with a slew of kennels built into the back, one per dog. Works great. If I, on the other hand need to transport animals, the perfect vehicle is someone else’s.
My dog loves his W213 wagon.
Here’s a few to start, depending on what you consider to be ‘pets’:
Volkswagen Rabbit
Volkswagen Fox
Bedford Beagle
Hillman Husky
Dodge Ram
Ford Mustang
Mercury Cougar
Ford Puma
Chevrolet Impala
Any Jaguar
Buick Wildcat
Plymouth Road Runner
Pontiac Firebird
Ford Falcon
AMC Eagle
Sunbeam Tiger
Volkswagen Beetle
Plymouth Barracuda
Chevrolet Corvette Stingray
Dodge Viper
Shelby Cobra
Opel Manta (Ray)
Ford Bronco
Mitsubishi Colt
Porsche Cayman
Triumph Stag
Where is the guinea pig car?
Love my Golden retriever, hate her hair. Golden retriever loves going for rides, hates going to the groomer. Solution?
Jeep wrangler (that has no top, doors, or carpet of any kind) and a 65 mph interstate while I give my best girl all the scratchies she can handle. The excess hair just flies away, never to be seen again.
Solves so many problems at once!
I love taking the top off in spring and just showering the interstate with fur.
Are you asking my opinion or my cat’s opinion? My cat definitely thinks he has an opinion, untested though it may be:
https://live.staticflickr.com/4602/25005385657_3d043eb953_c.jpg
Every cat has a strong opinion on everything, although in many cases.that opinion is “That (fill in the blank with person, place, or activity) is so far beneath me that it does not merit consideration”.
Emailed you back
My 1989 Toyota Sunrader, a 21 ft motor home, was the one vehicle out of my 4 that my 100 lb Lab loved. The rest he would put up with on short rides. But with the RV, he was both elevated enough to watch the traffic, and close enough to lick my ear if necessary. He could stretch out, and maybe come close to sleep, and when we stopped for the night, he had room to lay out in any position he wanted.
TLDR; wagon. my dog/work car is a Sportwagen. tools in hatch, seat cover in the back seat. Dog likes to swim. 280zx was a no with the last dog. had a 99 v90 was awesome. 03 s10 is the local sometimes. She likes the wagen better.
What did Toonces drive? 😛
The 4-door Integra from the 90s is also a good choice:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ag9uP_xMLFw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5m0CrlPG5lQ
70’s station wagon with wind-down rear window!
One of my favorite oddball Matchbox cars is my 70s Olds Vista Cruiser that features, yes, two dogs molded in the interior, staring out the open rear window!
Well this needs more planning then you have given it But
For Beagles I’d use Eagles
For great danes I’d use Fairlanes
For a basic mutt I’d use hybrids
For rover, well I’d use a rover duh.
For toy poodle or any toy well a Toyota
For an Irish Setter an Isetta
For a shepherd anything with lamb skin seat covers
For a Bulldog a Nova
If you’re moving cats of course a Jaguar
I managed to take Emma, my very plump but mellow probable border collie and/or Australian shepherd and golden and/or Labrador retriever (something herdy and something retrievery, though she was never much interested in either activity) in the back seat of my 1G Mazda 3 hatch, always in a supposedly crash-tested harness attached to the seat belt. Crash safety is very important, especially since pets are smaller and therefore likely to fly around the cabin. She didn’t seem to like the sunroof or windows open, so I tried her in the hatch once, but neither of us liked it when she was too far away for a stoplight scratch.
wisdom panel. dna searches are fun
It’s several years too late for that, unfortunately.
Sorry to hear.
Probably the Volvo wagon with the built in dog crate option.
i dunno best, but i nominate NA miata as the worst.
i took james the farm collie to vet a few times (mx5 was only car i had at the time) -he was too big to sit facing forward, so either his face or butt in my face (and his head hanging out the window)…greatly preferred his face…
Butt what did he prefer?
haha
i think he preferred his head out the window and his butt in my face. fortunately, once i got him in and positioned, it was too tight for him to turn around easily. it was just a 10 minute ride, so he was cool with it.
The best car for hauling pets around is someone else’s car.
What have you got?
I knew a girl that shoehorned her St Bernard into the front seat of a late 90s Saturn SC2. Butt on the seat, front paws on the floor, drooling on the dash.
So far, my rough collie has ridden in a 2001 Hyundai Elantra, 2004 GMC Sierra 1500 regular cab, 2019 BMW 530i, 2002 Dodge Ram 2500, and a 2018 Ram 2500. He seems most relaxed riding and looking out the window in the BMW. He still enjoyed the trucks (I think) but we have to pick him up to get him in and out,so I think a sedan(or wagon) is the ideal way to move a dog of his size around
My dog likes my vw jetta wagon over the highlander. only 3 1/2 but no one likes to jump too high, right?
Exactly. I also don’t want him to land wrong and mess something up
I dunno about objectively perfect, but subjectively for me was a girlfriend who had a Miata and would drive with her dog, clipped in to his driving harness, riding shotgun and ready for action. I loved watching them come or go, and completely understood Lucas’ inspiration for Han and Chewbacca. “Punch it!”
So where did you ride?
Another car usually, until she got a VW Cabrio which had the perfect dog-friendly backseat while still being a drop top!
When I had my Nissan 300zx Z32, I also had an 80 pound German Shepherd named Molly. By the time I got the car, she was getting up there in age and to accommodate her, I simply unbolted the passenger seat, stuck it in storage, and laid down a couple of layers of memory foam in its place. The car was so low that Molly didn’t have to jump at all to get in and out of the car; she just stepped in and laid down. Much better for both our backs since she came to work with me every day.
That’s Subaru’s jam.