Vehicle help please

[xeney]

We have three big dogs and a 2002 Toyota RAV4, which is too small for three dogs plus bikes unless the bikes go on a rack outside. We are also kind of in the market for a new car because we will soon be adding a baby to that mix. There are not many occasions when we'll need to have dogs plus baby plus bikes ... but we do camp a lot so we need to be able to haul kid plus dogs, and right now the only way to take all three dogs is to remove the rear seats. We may experiment with removing only one rear seat, but I don't think that is enough space.

We are going to look at the new RAV4, which is quite a bit bigger, and also the Highlander. We really love our RAV4 and don't want to replace it so we are trying to get something similar, if we do have to upsize. So I am going to be watching this thread for suggestions, too. Gas mileage is fairly important to us, although we don't commute by car and drive fewer than 5,000 miles a year so space, reliability, and 4WD are more important in the big scheme.

[chickwhorips]

yes i am thinking used. can't afford to buy new.

the dogs are two german shepards (100+ lbs each) and my peanut who is about a 100 lbs. i would like to fit the bike inside without having to really take it apart. it just seems safer to me to have it inside. if i have the bike, i would probably only have peanut and not the other two.

[Kitsune06]

I suggest an Isuzu Rodeo Sport, next-gen of the Isuzu Amigo. Very nice, can be converted to topless if you want, will transport large dogs and bikes (though I reccommend a rack on the back for the bikes)

good luck.

[xeney]

I would worry about a bike falling over with a dog in the car, especially if you haven't taken a wheel off. Unless your dog rides on the seat?