[Apex1815]

This is a massive Dog.
Considering the height of the pet, third row of Mahindra Scorpio should be the ideal place for him.
Since your concern is specific to your pet, I suggest that call the Test Drive Car to your home and Test drive it with your dog on-board. Ask sales person to drive for a while and you observe (while you seat in the middle row), how comfortable is dog in the third row.

[Reinhard]

Originally Posted by gautamkhadse

Get a tata winger and remove the rear seats.

Originally Posted by handsofsteel

Noted. Thanks. Will keep this in mind while exploring.

Winger won't be the right choice of IMHO. As a private vehicle its a bit too large - to park and travel in on most cases of personal use. Secondly - I think we can forget about crash-safety in case of a van like this. I'm hoping that safety will still remain for the 2nd vehicle.

[Moroder]

Surprised no one mentioned mobilio. We use a mobilio to take our GSD. Its spacious and he really loves the rear AC, also the large glass area gives an airy feel. You can pick one relatively cheap these days and dont worry about any minor nail or teeth marks on the seats and dashboard.

[ndnesh]

My friend uses the Honda WR-V for his Husky and the Husky is a really happy dog in there, he sits in the boot and has access to the 2nd row windows.

[handsofsteel]

Originally Posted by Moroder

Surprised no one mentioned mobilio. We use a mobilio to take our GSD. Its spacious and he really loves the rear AC, also the large glass area gives an airy feel. You can pick one relatively cheap these days and dont worry about any minor nail or teeth marks on the seats and dashboard.

Yes, the brv was mentioned and is being considered. (By extension, the mobilio too).

Originally Posted by ndnesh

My friend uses the Honda WR-V for his Husky and the Husky is a really happy dog in there, he sits in the boot and has access to the 2nd row windows.

That's ruled out here because of the size of the dog. Also, the wrv and jazz (that I currently have) are the same on the inside so doesn't make sense to go on for it.

Originally Posted by Reinhard

Winger won't be the right choice of IMHO. As a private vehicle its a bit too large - to park and travel in on most cases of personal use. Secondly - I think we can forget about crash-safety in case of a van like this. I'm hoping that safety will still remain for the 2nd vehicle.

Absolutely! As it is meant for the four of us too

Originally Posted by Apex1815

This is a massive Dog.
Considering the height of the pet, third row of Mahindra Scorpio should be the ideal place for him.
Since your concern is specific to your pet, I suggest that call the Test Drive Car to your home and Test drive it with your dog on-board. Ask sales person to drive for a while and you observe (while you seat in the middle row), how comfortable is dog in the third row.

I agree with the size related aspects, but as I mentioned, it is a very bouncy vehicle and my family is motion sick.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by TrackDay

One question I want to put out there to dog owners since I don't have experience, wont the pet sit across the seats as shown here ? Or do they get restless and need to move around all the time ?

Car seats won't give them the space to stand up, move or turn around. For short rides, it may be ok. But for long drives, it will cause stress.

Most animals will be restless unless given sedatives when they are traveling in cars. They want to turn around, sit up for some time and lie down mostly. That is the reason why it is advisable to place them in the back of a SUV where they have the freedom to move, sit up or lie down. The sides are padded with a single cot cotton mattress and a large rubber sheet. Trust me - I speak from experience, they will remain so comfortable that they would bug you to take them again and again.
And this way you can drive almost normally in plains. You can't do slaloming with pets inside. You will have to slow down in winding roads or in hills.

[RT13]

On the subject of the third row folded down - if that’s the config you’re looking at in any car, please examine whether it is truly folded completely flat and locked in place. This is the case in our Hector Plus. However some cars may have it fold but not exactly lock down flat and it results in a floor that slopes upwards from main boot space to the top of the folded seat, and it also moves vertically on bumps and undulates. For general storage of luggage this doesn’t matter but for a dog it can result in a very unnerving ride.

Also, for a Dane it needs to be a really tall boot to let him stand when he needs to. At least I’d factor these in.

Ingress from the boot - theoretically nice but I’m not sure too many cars have both the size and space inside as well as the low boot lip to allow that. Ertiga maybe but again AFAIK, when the third row is flattened, there’s a sort of ridge/rise between the part with the folded seat and the boot part. And I don’t this it locks flat. Also, it’s not a very wide car and it narrows over the wheel wells so all-in-all I’m not sure it’s a great space for a Dane. Just being in the third row is probably better in it IMO. Same for the XL6. The XUV500 might be a tad better. One solution (we are thinking about ourselves) for rear access in cars with a high boot lip is to get a folding ramp like this - https://www.amazon.in/Trixie-Product...=1&ext_vrnc=hi

Have a look at the Hector Plus though before you decide. Tons of space for the 6 footers you also mentioned although I don’t think you’ll get the automatic in under 20 on road. Other variants you would though.

Cheers

[sinhead]

As others have mentioned, the dog will get up multiple times during the trip - to bark at what he sees outside the window, to cuddle/ sniff/ lick the people in the front seats, any bumps in the road will unsettle him. For our dog, cotton filled gadda didnt work, it used to get warm i assume (not sure).

He was very stubborn to not sit/ lie down "across" the seat - he preferred -> butt in the boot and his head and legs towards the front seat . So I had to keep something on the car floor to raise it to the level of the seat.
Later on with arthritis & hip displacia he didnt enjoy being in the car for more than 15mins.

Wish you the best of journeys.

[akshay4587]

Originally Posted by ACM

1) Pre-owned Hexa.
2) V- Cross with luggage bay covered into box shape. Is an available accessory.
3) Pre-owned ML250, GL350
4) .... Nah nothing else really.

Great Dane, will barely be able to fit inside it, since the ones available sit parallel to roof height.
This can't be an option unless one get's a custom one made with enough ventilation; another problem is no Air conditioning!!!!

[VWAllstar]

Originally Posted by handsofsteel

Dear friends, I have a large sized dog. To be precise, a Great Dane(think scooby doo). My present car is a hatch. I am thinking of upgrading/getting a second car so as to accommodate him on our trips.
To put things In perspective, he's 1m+ tall on all fours and a body length of 1m. (Image courtesy-Wikipedia) I am specifically looking for cars with three rows and a split second row so that some of the second row and the third row can be folded (flat?).
Would be grateful for any suggestions.
Note-I have considered the V cross and rejected it as I do not want to expose the pet to weather.

So did you finalize any car? Quite a lot of suggestions in the thread. Pretty good ones indeed. Among the plethora of car suggestions, this one is unique. Help us out to know, which one did you purchase and if yes then some feedback.

[handsofsteel]

Apologies to everyone here for the late reply. I am logging into the forum after more than a month. Just went through all the suggestions, absolutely brilliant.
I have been out of the country for the last month procuring and transporting the single most essential commodity in the country today. Will be busy in this pursuit over the next few weeks as well (or till the situation alleviates).
Also, with the present restrictions (registrations halted, showrooms and places closed), physically checking out these cars will take some time. Then the tough job of managing test drives and final selection.
( I can see the test drives with my pooch getting interesting with lots of photos )
I promise to keep you all updated with my selection.
A big shout out to all of you once again.

[handsofsteel]

Ok.. An update, went to the Mahindra showroom to check out the Thar. Had a crazy brainwave of using the convertible variant as a two seater with the dog at the rear. (This would've given me a great excuse to buy one) An idyllic thought which I abandoned the moment I saw the Thar. Found it very crude with insufficient space even up front. Also, the rear seats do not fold flat. If I were to remove them, the bay area is not flat. End result- discarded.
Back to the search

[Agarwaka]

Hey, @Handsofsteel, which car did you go for eventually? How's it working out?

[msarunms1987]

@Handsofsteel, I don't know if you have already made a choice and I may be very late. But here are my 2 cents:

I owned a large German Shepherd and the 3rd bench row seating of Scorpio (read, 2010 model) was as if it was designed for him.
It is super-wide, has plenty of place for a fully grown German Shepherd to sit and even turn around. Even the height was perfect (in fact, more than enough) for him. But the problem is that there were no dedicated A/C vents for the 3rd row. While I was hoping to have him spend his last couple of years of life in a car that has a 3rd row with dedicated A/C vents, fate had other plans. He died at 11!

He has been going around in cars since he was 45 days old. He loved car rides, particularly when he was let to put his head out of the 2nd row windows! He always wanted that gush of wind on his face. In spite of having the A/C at speed-3, he wouldn't sit comfortably - more so in summers! We had to either move our people to the 3rd row and have him sit in the 2nd row or drive with windows open (while he gets some fresh air at the 3rd row).
He couldn't bear long drives with the A/C on.

So my recommendation to you if you have still not put your money on one: No matter whether you decide on an SUV or an MUV, ensure that you choose one that has dedicated A/C vents for whichever row your Dane sits in. Mind you, Great Danes are giant breeds and will need a lot more space and air than a German Shepherds.

So, MG Hector, Current Gen Scorpio, Kia Seltos, Hyundai Creta - all these should not even be in your list.

Mahindra XUV500, XUV700 7/6 seater, MG Hector Plus, Hyundai Alcazar, Toyota Innova Crysta, Tata Safari 2021 - These are the things you should be looking for, in your budget of 20L.

PS: We may have a GreatDane soon at our home and soon might have to trade off our 11year old Scorpio. I am hoping that the 2022 Scorpio will have 3rd row A/C vents. Considering that we are accompanied by our pooch for most of our long trips and I don't want to worry about potholes/bumps to be a headache, Large/Wide tires, high Ground Clearance and a 3rd row A/C are my biggest priorities

[VwRabbit]

The old Scorpio and Safari are best suited for ferrying around furry friends, i am happy Mahindra still has removable side facing jump seats for the Scorpio classic.