pet connection

I stopped reviewing new vehicles for our DogCars.com site because I was falling behind when my dad was sick and then dying. Kim picked up reviewing out of Southern California, and Keith kept the home fires burning on the site, which became pretty quiet during a time when the economy was so bad that almost no one was even considering a new car and the car companies were scrambling for their very survival.

Things seem to be easing up some, based on the interest we’re seeing again in the DogCars.com reviews. And I’m a better place, too, which is why when Honda woofed I agreed to take a look at their new Dog-Friendly edition of the Element, with built-in crate, ramp, bone-stamped matting and ultra-tough, stain-resistant upholstery.

The test vehicle arrived a little while ago, and I gotta say: It’s pretty cute.

More after a few days of driving …

.

It’s probably just a coincidence that in the same week that global leaders are convening in Copenhagen for the world climate summit, Kim Campbell Thornton, auto reviewer for PetConnection littermate DogCars.com, has completed a week’s test ride in one of the most environmentally friendly vehicles on the market: the 2010 Toyota Prius.

Up to this point, the gasoline-electric hybrid Prius hadn’t been seriously considered as a potential DogCar because its design didn’t fit the typical layout that we look for in a canine carrier. Most DogCars, we surmised, need to have rear portions that are squared-off – not sloping – in order to adequately handle canine crates and dog beds. So the Prius’ long, sloping hatchback was quickly ruled out as a possible DogCar contender because it appears to take away valuable crate space.

However, during her weeklong test drive of the newly redesigned, 2010 Prius, Kim came away pleasantly surprised at the deceptively spacious interior of the highly-popular, four-door hatchback sedan.

I had my doubts about the Prius as a dog car, but like the magical Weasley tent in the Harry Potter series, it has a more spacious interior than its compact appearance suggests.

Kim put the Prius through the test and while she isn’t ready to claim it as the perfect DogCar, she did find it to be more canine friendly than its main hybrid competition, the Honda Insight.

And best of all, she liked not going to the gas station as often as other DogCars. The Prius averages around 50 mpg in both city and highway driving. It is also classified as a Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicle (SULEV) and, according to Toyota, the Prius:

“. . . is built using processes that reduce emissions in every stage of the vehicle lifecycle, from production and driving, through to eventual disposal and dismantling years down the road.”

That’s news that would even please the Copenhagen crowd.

Read Kim’s full review of the Prius here, and the rest of our vehicle reviews at DogCars.com.

Things have been pretty slow over on our DogCars.com Web site since the economic meltdown. The car companies were too busy struggling for survival to give much thought to promoting their cars, so some of our ability to test-drive new cars was curtailed. Then, too, car-buyers lost much of their interest in replacing their old vehicles, and if they had to, they tended to buy used instead of new.

I took this to the extreme, passing on a last-model used car to replace my increasingly unreliable minivan and snaring two vehicles with lots of good service left for less money combined  than one-quarter of the cost of a new economy car. My Plymouth van got donated to charity, and in its place I have a ‘97 Toyota Previa van as my DogCar (one owner, 102K miles) and an ‘86 Mazda pick-up  as my daily driver and weekend farm truck (one owner, 65K miles).

Kim and Keith are still driving and reviewing vehicles — Kim has the Kia Soul this week, with review to follow soon — but I actually got tired of driving a new car every week (I know, seems funny even to type it!), so I’m not reviewing at all.

Seems some people are wading cautiously back into considering new cars, though. Of course, the Cash For Clunkers program really moved the merchandise, but even with that over we’re seeing traffic up on DogCars.com, and more e-mail from people asking about different models.

The media is showing increased interest, too, as evidenced by  in this piece from the Deseret News (Utah) about people considering their dogs when buying a car:

More than 30 percent of people consider their pets’ needs when picking out a family vehicle, according to a recent survey by LeaseTrader.com. That’s up from 12 percent in 2006 and 8 percent in 2003. The trend’s not lost on car manufacturers and auto insurance providers, who are making adjustments to make sure Fido stays safe and comfortable on the road.

[...]

Molle Hess, a science teacher at Hillcrest Junior High, for example, had a long list of things she needed to accommodate her five dogs. She wanted a van with rear air, double doors, removable back seats and enough space to fit four dog crates.

“I told the car salesman, ‘I won’t buy the van if the crates don’t fit,’ ” Hess said. “I made him take out the seats and put in the crates right then just to make sure.”

Such demands are far from unusual, said Taylor Johnson, a sales manager for Ken Garff Honda.

“People bring their dogs in all the time to see if they ‘like’ a particular car,” he said. “Just the other day I thought I’d made a sale and the guy told me, ‘Oops, sorry. My dog won’t fit in the back of that.’ ”

Car dealers, eager to accommodate doting pet-owners, which, according to a recent American Pet Products Association survey, represent more than 40 percent of the population, are starting to offer pet-accommodating add-ons for popular vehicles.

Check out the article here.

While I’ve always bought vehicles with the dogs in mind, my ‘98 Plymouth Voyager SE was the first purchased with the dogs at the very top of the list.The first thing I did after buying it brand spanking new was pull out the rear bench seats, the better to get crates and dog gear in.

Rare was the time I turned over the engine without a dog or two (three or four) in the car.

The Voyager has been a good vehicle: Countless river runs, lots of training trips, competitions and a coast-to-coast drive to live in a beach house in on the Florida Panhandle for a few months in the winter of 2000-1.  My heart dog, Queen Heather, spent her entire life with me in that van, which I named Forest, as in Green.

And now they’re both gone.

With 12 years and close to 100K miles, the Voyager was becoming increasingly unreliable. So I stole my brother’s little truck — an ‘87 Mazda pick ‘em up with less than 65K miles — as my daily driver (he bought a newer used truck), and also snared neighbor Judy’s ‘97 Toyota Previa van as my DogCar, because it was in better condition.

In the end, I didn’t sell ol’ Forest — I donated him, to Capital Public Radio. Quite a few people responded to my Craigslist ad, but I just got the feeling a lot of them were planning bad things for Forest, and I didn’t want him involved in the smuggling of drugs, puppy-mill pugs or undocumented workers.

So … he went to charity, with lots of Heather’s fur still in him. He just left, and yes, I feel sad. Yes, I know that’s crazy, but it’s still true.

***

I even gave away the plates.  My “FLTCOAT” vanity plates will end up on another person’s car in SoCal — she wanted them, and I … am planning to leave the state in the not-to-distant future. So they’re gone, too.

End of an era, truly.

Images …. all pretty self-explanatory, except for Roger and Me: That’s McKenzie sitting on the hay.

Suddenly, my brother and I (we’re best friends, with different houses,  some merged finances) have more vehicles than we need. He has a convertible, currently blanketed and tucked in gently at our mother’s garage until summer. He’s driving a used pick ‘em up truck. I’m driving a used pick ‘em up truck. And I additionally currently own not one but two minivans: The ‘97 Toyota Previa I recently bought from my neighbor Judy, which came fully equipped with Varikennel 500s, and my ‘98 Plymouth Voyager (pictured, with its Bark magazine sticker showing, forgot to mention that one), which is on the way off the used-car lot that my home has become.

To accomplish the goal this weekend (I hope), I put an ad on Craiglist this morning:

‘98 Plymouth Voyager SE — one owner, low miles – $950

The good: Incredibly low mileage for a 12-year-old van — 90K — dark green exterior, gray cloth interior. Great AC, power windows, nice sound system, newish tires. 20ish mpg. Should be a good transportation car for years. One owner, regular servicing.

The bad: Sagging left front bumper (bolt broke, doesn’t impede driving), electrical short in door, neither interior nor exterior very pretty. This was my “dog car.” The rear bench seats have been stored since 1999 in the garage, so they’re like new. But the rest … well … allergies may be a problem and the fastidious dog-hater will not like this vehicle, possibly even after detailing.

The good or bad: Obama sticker, under which is an anti-Bush sticker. If you’re a Rush-Beck person, the karma on my dogma may be very wrong for you.

Price is $950 dollars firm, cash or registered check . I’m giving a good break off low private sale Edmunds book for you to pay for detailing and to deal with the electrical short.

Seems there are a few potential buyers already, and my brother will be dealing with them this weekend. But I knew I would get a nastygram,  and I was not disappointed. Paraphrasing over the f-bombs, removing the caps and hyper-exclamation pointing, here’s the meat of it:

I wouldn’t sit where your fat ass has been and I wouldn’t let my kids sit where your shitty mutts have been, either. Obama? It figures. Another clueless socialist, but I don’t expect YOU to care about the future of this country. You’re another dog freak who hates children.

Yeah, well … that’s why I put all the details in the ad. To save everyone some time. You’re welcome!

Actually, I’m surprised I got only one such response, but the day is young …