Hopefully the start of something wonderful

[Smarty]

I do not have a MB.... yet. I will have one, I have promised myself a bit of luxury in my old age.
I have signed up here to mix with the right sort of dedicated people so I can bag a good car. I have a 15 stone Newfoundland dog called 'Kitten' so will more than likely be looking at an estate.
Target time is next summer, the plan is to sell my old van, while saving up in the meantime to get some thing nice.
Smarty

 

[developer]

It's got to be an E Class estate then...

 

[Smarty]

Estate....

Yes from what I have seen that would do very nicely... I like the idea of the 7 seater... Grandkids would have a great time in the boot.....
...I remember coming back from Army cadets in 1970 sat cross-legged in the back of an Escort estate... eating chips....
Smarty

 

[Mrhanky]

E class estate is a great start to look, would fit the Newfie in just nice.

Good luck on the hunt.

 

[Giantvanman]

Viano or a Vito Dualiner. All the seats and space for the dog…………might be fun for children in the boot/rearmost seats but rear end shunts would the reason I would't let the cherubs use them.

 

[Smarty]

Hmmmmm.. Good thought.... about dangers of rear end shunts....

 

[SL300-24]

I have an E class estate and my 2 dogs.... an Old English Sheepdog and an Alsation both fit in together so yours should be fine for space...

 

[mattk1]

"Kitten" . . . . . . love it

 

[BTB 500]

Whatever you do don't be tempted by a 4x4 / SUV.

Friend of mine with a black Newfie (called Cheyenne!) bought a RAV4, which was fine until the dog got a bit older and became lame. Not fun lifting one that size up into a 4x4.

I agree an E320 estate sounds good. But if you do need to seat more than 5 people in safety with luggage/big dog space as well then a van/MPV is the only real option ... as GVM said.

We have a Vito Dualiner (3.0 V6), which has 6 seats with the rear fitted out with 2-tier caging for our 6 dogs. A Viano (the plusher MPV version) would have 3 rows of seats (2/3/2) but not an awful lot of boot with all the seats in use, unless you had the 'extra long' version.

 

[Troon]

The third-row seats in a 7-seat S211 are probably safer [citation needed] than the second row in most Focus-sized hatches in a rear impact, as the important bits of the occupants are further from the back of the car. The crash load paths are allegedly designed to channel energy away from the third row, too: see from about 2:29 in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPA-HGION5A

My car may be reluctantly up for sale in a few months' time, although it's "only" a five-seater so I have to put up with cavernous under-floor compartments instead...

 

[moonloops]

Size of that dog - more likely best get a HGV fitted out for livestock transport

 

[Smarty]

Found myself looking at E class estates... I do appreciate the 'height' issue... we did have a Transit fitted out when we showed (Kitten, and previous Newfies) and did waterwork for a few years... but as time got on the height became more of an issue...
Think I will think past the 7 seats for now, as was just an idea, and probably not get used that much anyway... will concentrate on a nice E class estate..

 

[Troon]

will concentrate on a nice E class estate..

I'll drop you a PM once you have enough posts. As I said, mine's likely to be up for sale in a few months' time, and we're even in the same county!

 

[Troon]

I'll drop you a PM once you have enough posts. As I said, mine's likely to be up for sale in a few months' time, and we're even in the same county!

It's up now — I see you've read the advert. Feel free to pop round for a test drive (if you can arrange fully comp, or I'm happy to show you) even if you think you want a petrol.

 

[Chrishazle]

Surprised no-one mentioned an R class - they're not very popular so second hand could be a cheap buy!