pet connection

Sometimes it’s the little things that turn one off (or on) about a prospective DogCar.

We know that a good DogCar must have room for our dogs (of course), preferably traveling in their crates or safety harnesses. It should also have easy access through doors that aren’t too high for our aging and arthritic pups; some off-road capability for training and exploration purposes; and seats that fold flat or are easily removable.

It’s that last criteria that has me a bit befuddled about the new, GMC Yukon Hybrid.

As a large sport utility vehicle, one would think that the Yukon would have lots of potential space for multiple dogs and their gear. After all, we’ve seen great amounts of space in much smaller vehicles, so the arrival of this big brute for testing purposes was eagerly anticipated.

Plus, as a hybrid, we could expect to save serious gas cash because of its ability to achieve much better mileage than the conventional version.

But I soon discovered that the rear seats of the Yukon Hybrid don’t fold flat into the floor, like many other SUVs and minivans. In fact, the second row of seats flip forward to open up access to the rear cargo area.

To optimize all your space for crates in the Yukon, you will need to physically remove the third row seats and store them elsewhere. This process means unlatching the seats from the floor, flipping them forward, and then lifting their 40 or so pounds out of the tailgate. I’m no weakling, but I found this process rather arduous and strenuous nonetheless.

And when I tried to put the seats back into their latched positions, I was stumped. I tried and tried to manhandle the heavy seats into their respective floor rails and get them to line up with their latches, but nothing seemed to work. Even the owner’s manual wasn’t much help.

Fortunately, the good folks who deliver and retrieve the test vehicles were able to rescue me from my madness. I don’t know exactly what they did, but in no time, the seats were snapped back in place, safe and secure.

Needless to say, despite the decent fuel mileage (20 mpg average) for an SUV, and the overall size and utility ability of the Yukon, I came away feeling like this vehicle falls a bit short for us dog lovers.

A more detailed review of the Yukon coming here soon.

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