Quote Originally Posted by aly View Post
We need to be able to transport our bikes and/or two German Shepherds. We do dog rescue, so we need room for cages, puppies, etc. I'm currently having to commute over 50 miles to work (hopefully this will be over soon and I'll be able to ride my bike to work again) so we need decent MPG.
I guess the recommendation depends a little on the size of the kennel that you need to carry (and what else needs to go in the car).

We're on Suby #4 in our house, having strongly considered a Honda Element before buying an '08 Outback. We've had '92, '96, and '97 Legacy wagons, all of which have gone well over 100K miles, and all of them managed to get mid- to upper 20s in gas mileage in our mix of town and highway driving. The new car has a dash computer that calculates average mileage, and is consistantly reading 24-26 around town and some highway. We can hit 30 mpg on a long trip without the bikes on the roof. The bikes kill the mileage though- 24 on the highway.

As far as cargo goes, a 42" crate (folded) is a tight fit with the back seats up, due to the footprint of the cargo area. The older cars could take the folded crate easily with the seats up, but I never tried to put the crate in unfolded- would have required laying the seats down. Plenty of cargo room otherwise. Dog fits happily on the back seat, although it might be a tight fit for 2.

Good luck on the car hunt!