SUV with biggest boot

[sleepfortheweek]

We are thinking of getting a new car this year, and looking for your wisdom!

We currently have a Peugeot 5008 which has been a great car but there's a couple of things wrong with it now and so we are thinking of trading it in.

We have 2 kids and two large dogs. Boot space is the top priority, as both dogs travel in there. We often do long journeys a few times of year, so plenty of space in the middle row is ideal too.

Other than that, something that drives well and is safe and reliable with a good infotainment centre.

I'll not give a budget as I'm interested to hear people's opinions without a budget in mind.

Have been looking at ones such as (but not necessarily new) :

Volkswagen Toureg
Land Rover Discovery
Volvo XC90
Mercedes GLS

Our first xc90 did 200k miles without any issues before we sold it. Then bought a brand new one which was similarly fab.

Depends on the cost - happy to get second hand up to 3/4 years old

If you can live with the snobbery, have a look at the Citroën Berlingo, Peugeot Rifter, and Vauxhall Combo Life. There's also a Toyota version, the Proace City Verso. They're all the car car with different badges.

Low boot floor, huge boot, plenty of middle row space. Low running costs, also available as electric.

XL versions have even bigger boots with seven seats, third row removable.

Not seen mentioned yet - Maserati Levante has a really good size boot - 580l with the seats up and 1,625l with seats down (compared to the XC90 at 356l seats up and 1,856l seats down).

They have depreciated pretty hard - not the cheapest running costs - but could be in budget...

If you're going to a Volvo dealership check they have a V90 as they withdrew estates from the UK market for a year or two but have brought them back thankfully from later last year - might be a bit of a lag.

Glad the first comment was to consider an estate, generally larger boots, safer, less heavy and much better for dogs joints!

Not an SUV but check out a Tesla Model Y. The boot is huge and cabin quite spacious

Would the boot be big enough and high enough for 2 dogs?

Try this www.automobiledimension.com/large-suv-4x4-cars.php

which for us led us to then watch videos on the cars and their boot spaces. You can search by car, by category etc. If you click into the specific car it will show you the previous model sizes too.

I’ve had a Mercedes ML and currently have a GLE. Both lovely cars and the space in the GLE is fab.

We have a basset hound so being able to jump in and out by herself was also important as she’s 26kg. Unless you’re keeping a ramp in the car, I don’t think high up SUVs are practical for larger dogs when they get older.

Our estate has been fantastic but if we did replace it the 4x4 estates are tempting. As I say, when boot space is the priority it makes no sense to be looking at SUVs instead.

Thanks folks - we hadn't considered an estate as I personally prefer the look of an SUV but it's certainly given us something to think about regarding the dogs. Our eldest dog is 13 and can still get into the Peugeot but does need a run up so a lower car would definitely suit better for her

Yeh miss our xc90. Kids miss the space and height from that too. It was great for drives to the continent.

Why not a VW Tiguan rather than a Tourageg
more economical on fuel, plenty of space for 2 kids and 2 dogs

I’ve had 2 Audi Q7s and the boot is enormous with the back row of seats down. With the back row up the boot is quite small

They're not very big and certainly not big enough for two dogs in the boot. I looked at one previously and decided to go for a Mondeo hatch as they're massive - would have preferred the estate but was in a rush and couldn't find. Tiguan is a little bigger than a golf and taller.

If you are considering the Touareg, also look at the Skoda Kodiaq. It's a budget version of the same car. I have a Skoda Karoq which is the budget version of the VW Touran and I love it. I know someone who has a Kodiaq and who loves it too.
A colleague bought an XC90 last year. He had had one on order in 2009 but had to cancel the order after the company went bust in the financial crash. Our boss started up a new company and my colleague became self-employed. After years of driving Audis he finally got his XC90 and from day 1 hated it; he is now driving another Audi.

Octavias aren't sexy but they are lovely to drive and plenty of room even in the back. I got a double mattress in the boot almost flat, too, so TONS of space. I miss ours, when my car dies I'll be getting another!

VW are introducing a model between a Tiguan and a Toureg to replace the Tiguan AllSpace called the Tayron.
I'm in Ireland and it's arriving in March apparently.
Has it been brought in to the UK already ?

I'd get a Skoda Kodiaq if you want a giant boot

If you are able to consider electric my Tesla Y has a huge boot and an additional one at the front. I can get 3 strapping 16 year old boys in the back seat as as well
We have a large dog so when we go away he can have most of the boot and the luggage can go in the front

The Subaru Forester and Outback have big cargo areas and are wonderful, very reliable cars,

I’ve recently replaced my old Land Rover discovery with a Kia EV9. It’s massive. Much more boot space than the Land Rover, even with 3 rows of seats up. If you only have 2 dc the middle row can be just two large seats so they are very comfortable (we went for 7 seater as frequently seem to have a full car).

It's much lower to the ground than the Land Rover too - so easier for your old dogs.

I don't think it's as big overall as some of the others you mention but we have a RAV4 and it has the best boot space of any similarly sized models. We have two labs so this was important, the boot height is relatively low for an SUV style car too.

I have actually been looking at that - not keen on the appearance but seems to tick all the other boxes. A bit out of our price range and no second hands quite yet but if we can hang off a couple of years I'd definitely consider one

With cars like the EV9 it's worth looking at whether it's possible to fit a dog guard with the 3rd row down or whether they're flat it you want to use a crate. We weren't specifically looking at that model but in some of the models we looked at that had the 3rd row of seats were problematic in that respect. Our dogs would stay in the boot but I'd don't want them to be flying projectiles in the event of a crash. The boot size with the 3rd row up wasn't generally big enough for labs for longer journeys.