Luxury dog suv/ski car

[Philpug]

SUV/Ski car is fine, but what's a luxury dog?

I agree. Dogs are necessities...cats, they are luxuries.

 

[Tom K.]

Big ski vehicle with room for a NEWFY?

Great A/C in the back?

Sienna AWD. Not much soul -- and certainly not a "dream" vehicle of any kind -- but it leaves a lot of your $60k left over for road trips!

 

[Muleski]

@Tom K.,
You may have missed that they currently own an older Sienna AWD. I think it's served them well, and Perhaps they would consider another, but......pretty sure Newf is well aware of the current Sienna.

They are great vehicles. Know a large number of families for whom they have been near perfect ski cars.

 

[scott43]

I agree. Dogs are necessities...cats, they are luxuries.

I disagree Phil...cats are more like..chlamydia...

 

[Philpug]

I disagree Phil...cats are more like..chlamydia...

One man's luxury is another man's chlamydia.

 

[Tom K.]

@Tom K.,
You may have missed that they currently own an older Sienna AWD. I think it's served them well, and Perhaps they would consider another, but......pretty sure Newf is well aware of the current Sienna.

They are great vehicles. Know a large number of families for whom they have been near perfect ski cars.

Saw that, but was in time crunch mode while replying.

The new Sienna looks the same, but drives a little better, and is noticeably quieter, due to a million or so additional spot welds and industrial adhesive use, as well as more sound insulation.

But, yes, it's no luxury SUV. It doesn't use enough gas!

 

[Jenny]

I disagree Phil...cats are more like..chlamydia...

Hey, now!

 

[Blue Streak]

I agree. Dogs are necessities...cats, they are luxuries.

Oh no, not a cat person vs dog person thread
We don't need that!!!!!
I don't care to know anyone's politics, religion, or pet preference.
I just need to know whether they are skiers or snowboarders



Dogs rule!

 

[scott43]

Just to be clear it's all in good fun! I have a cat myself!!!

 

[Blue Streak]

Just to be clear it's all in good fun! I have a cat myself!!!

TMI

 

[newfydog]

Can I suggest you buy a solid used car for 10-15K in cash, then go to Sweden every other year for the rest of your life off a 4% "safe" withdrawal rate from investing 45k?

Thanks for the sound and common sense advice. We go to Europe every year anyway, but the pilgrimage to our ancestral home of Varmland has some appeal.

 

[newfydog]

SUV/Ski car is fine, but what's a luxury dog?

A Newfy is a luxury dog. According to quicken, our last one went through $38,000 in eight years.

 

[newfydog]

Big ski vehicle with room for a NEWFY?

Great A/C in the back?

Sienna AWD. Not much soul -- and certainly not a "dream" vehicle of any kind -- but it leaves a lot of your $60k left over for road trips!

We just got back from a trip with the dog, paddle boards, coolers, all sorts of gear. With the cavernous space in the Sienna, i was able to toss in my pontoon boat for a little fishing. Caught a 26", 7 lb rainbow trout which would not have happened with a smaller vehicle.

My wife started musing about a new Sienna.

 

[newfydog]

Thanks for all the good input.

So, we drove the 2018 XC 90 today. About the nicest car I ever drove. I hate the Ipad like controls, and would need all the safety features if I had to fiddle with that-----exit navigation and hit the touch screen just to adjust the temperature. The self driving stuff is remarkable though. The suspension adjustments a bit underwhelming. The overall handling amazing.

We then drove the Volkswagen Atlas. A big and decent rig with a 6 year 76,000 mile warranty and a much lower price. Low enough to buy one loaded and replace the 20 year old Tacoma with a 10 year old landcruiser with the money left over.

The Atlas is leading the wife's list. Anyone out there have wisdom on those?

 

[Muleski]

Paging @Dadskier, re: the Atlas.

Believe that he's now driving one.

I like this plan ^^^^^.

And agree, the Sienna is a great vehicle. Next door neighbors just bought their third one.

 

[Tom K.]

We then drove the Volkswagen Atlas. A big and decent rig with a 6 year 76,000 mile warranty and a much lower price. Low enough to buy one loaded and replace the 20 year old Tacoma with a 10 year old landcruiser with the money left over.

That is a hard plan to argue with, whether you go Atlas, or something similar.

Running up and down Mt. Hood all winter involves a lock of gravel (better described as small-ish rock). It's almost impossible to even consider using a new vehicle of any kind in this service, so a used Cruiser could fit the bill perfectly.

 

[Dadskier]

I have an SE (w/o tech) so the only advanced stuff on mine is the blind spot warning and rear cross traffic alert. So far it's been great and I have close to 7k miles. I've been playing with a few of the different driving modes and have settled on sport for most uses, there really isn't much difference in mpg and like the tighter steering and responsive transmission. Eco mode is like waiting 5 seconds for the car to anything and is scary if you want to get out of an intersection fast. The space and moving things around inside is great! I kind of which the 2nd row had a ski passthrough (there's not enough room for some 180's with just the third row down), but if you get the captains chairs that would solve the problem.

If you want to do any real towing, get the SEL. That comes with the 5000lb tow limit, putting an aftermarket one on only gets you 2000.

I've seen a few issues pop up with the SEL premium ones (with the digital cockpit) displaying a diesel screen and some folks have had the whole system shut down and get stranded. It's the first generation of this so I'd expect a few bugs and also one reason I went with the more basic set-up.

People seem to love the adaptive cruise control in traffic, it will speed up and slow down for you in heavy traffic. And only if you come to a full stop you just need to step on the gas to get going again.

Check out the Facebook page and Atlas forum on VWVortex. You'll find the usual complainers, but I think it's the best thought out 3 row suv out there.

Finally starting to see a lot more on the roads now. If you buy choose from dealer stock, I think build to orders are still taking over 3 months to deliver.

 

[Dadskier]

https://blackflag.jalopnik.com/i-slept-in-a-volkswagen-atlas-and-it-was-better-than-mo-1819162433

 

[DanoT]

A friend with a family of 5 has an AWD Chrysler Town & Country van, purchased because of the unique seating arrangement. There is one 2nd row passenger behind the driver, and two 3rd row seats positioned over the rear wheel wells. This creates an isle up the middle of the van for skis, so no need for a roof rack.

This seating configuration also allows for easy entry/exit for 3rd row passengers.

 

[newfydog]

The space and moving things around inside is great! I kind of which the 2nd row had a ski passthrough (there's not enough room for some 180's with just the third row down), but if you get the captains chairs that would solve the problem.
.

Thanks for the input. We're looking at something only a weird dog person would do: Remove the second seats, creating a big middle area with a low step for the dog. The dog rides in there daily. Extra passengers are in the car maybe once a month, and can use the third row. The Sienna is usually set up like that.

It looks like the second row would come out, rails and all with just a few big bolts. The dealer said they have not done that yet but looks reasonable. Probably want the full split- bench second seats rather than the captains cars. Any thoughts on that?

Would the 20" wheels be better than the 18"?