Advice on what may be a suitable vehicle please

amistupid

My twenty year old stepdaughter has three years no claims during that time she's been driving a Renault Clio 1.2L, which is just about done for.

She now has two dogs, medium szed which she wants to transport in her next vehicle.

Any suggestion of a low insurance group (The Clio was group 3) reliable vehicle that would be ideal for dumping dirty dogs in (Oh matron!)

About £3,000-4,000 limit.

Of course it would also have to be economical to run.

Does such a vehicle exist?

One of the family have recommended a Kia Carens

Thanks Adey.

catflea

Ok, are we looking at hatchbacks or estates? Obviously saloons are out of the question.

I did have a large/medium sized pooch and he was more than happy in my fiesta and later the rover 100 - with two a bit more space might be required. What breed are they?

I'd personally be looking at estates with two woofs (and have a dog guard fitted) obviously being 20, the insurance isn't going to come cheap, but 3 years NCB should help to mitigate that.

Maybe something along the lines of a Golf Estate? They are a little harder to find than the hatchbacks but have a suprising amount of room inside. The 1.6 petrol shouldn't be too bad to insure.

Other suggestions (not recommendations)

Daewoo/Chevvy Tacuma - one of my mates has one of these, its spacious and is relativly well screwed together, but driving it is a soul destroying experience.
Vauxhall Agila / Meriva
Skoda Felica estate
Ford Focus Estate
Vauxall Astra estate
Peugeot 306 Estate
Toyota Yaris Verso (horrifically ugly imho, but could be a gem in this circ)
Curve Ball - Honda HRV
Fiat Multipla
Hyundia Matrix.

All of those are available as a 1.6 or lower....

Of course there are more out there....


Oh, and Kia? Bleugh

amistupid

catflea wrote: »

I'd personally be looking at estates with two woofs (and have a dog guard fitted) obviously being 20, the insurance isn't going to come cheap, but 3 years NCB should help to mitigate that.

Two dogs a Springer and a Lab.

At the moment she is paying £320 third party no excess.

Thanks very much for taking time to respond. I shall look at those options, hopefully we've got 3 months to find something suitable.

I didn't make it clear in the OP but limit £4,000 no finance on top of that.

vikingaero

My God Adey! Is the the first time out of The Arms for you?!

colino

A good,easy to look after, all-rounder would be a 1.6 petrol Focus. (I'd stick with the hatch though).

vandanfc

Ford Fusion 5 door hatch - comes in a diesel - 1.4 engine ???

olly300

I met someone over Xmas who transported her two dogs of a similar size in the back of a ford focus 1.4 3 door hatchback. So you don't need an estate just a hatchback with a decent size boot.

amistupid

vikingaero wrote: »

My God Adey! Is the the first time out of The Arms for you?!

I heard they were a tough bunch here.

Everyone's so nice.

vikingaero

Citroen Berlingo/Peugeot Partner or Renault Kangoo would be ideal.

goldspanners

what about a fabia estate tdi? they hold thier money quiet well. or the bigger octavia (insurance might creep up here) both good for high miles.

if she doesn't do a lot of miles then petrol would be a better option,i can recommend the ford focus for reliability and being cheap to run regarding spares and servicing,at best 43 mpg on a run at worst 35 mpg around town. plenty of good ones around your price range like this maybe?
ive got the hatchback but i don't think this would be much good for dogs to be honest,i would prefer the estate for dogs.

AdrianHi

Fabia estate came to my mind to. Surprisingly roomy and comfortable car for it's size. I might suggest sticking with a petrol unless she does long distance driving.