nor do mine. It hauls everything. The flat platform is great. My ampeg SVT just slides in perfect. I have Hanks bed in it and he travels with me everywhere. He is 70 pounds and only 7 months old. Gonna be a whopper!

how about a TRE edition Odyssey? Like this:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1461037188.jpg

^^ like your thinking, but the thought of two 100 pound plus lanky legged pooches slammed against the back door from acceleration won't win points with the missus :D

Good to hear about the caravans. They are less $ out there in the market. I've hauled a fully dressed 3.6 in one and no problems at all

So far, pelican members have been confirming my thinking on brands. No Routan ! Gotta have the electric sliders; much easier to handle the two while actually being inside holding them at bay. Good suggestions

the Routan IS a caravan from what I know. Just has VW badges on it...badges? We don't have no badges...we don't need no stinking badges...
As far as big dogs banging around inside they do get used to riding quickly but in an emergency situation stop yeah they would go flying. Do you have big crates to transport them in?

I would also advise to stay the hell away from the Chryslers and VW. A friend's Caravan was so bad that he traded it in mid-vacation for a Honda Pilot.

We have a 2012 Nissan Quest LE as our family truckster, so far so good at 65k. I'm not a huge CVT fan but it's acceptable with the V6. Interior is nicer than the Honda or Toyota and they are cheaper.

Lee's suggestion of the Mazda5 is a good one, we had a 2013 Grand Touring model before the Quest. They are cheap, fun to drive, easy to park, get nearly 30 MPG, and can be had with a stick. Plenty of room for two dogs. I wish we hadn't outgrown ours.

Routans were indeed Chrysler RTs with a partial reskin. New rear quarters, front fenders, fascias, lighting, hood, wheels. Different suspension tuning, different IP skin and I think door trim panels and maybe side trim panels too. Maybe the shift calibration was different but I doubt it. 3.5L only. They were built on the same line as other RTs in Windsor, Ontario.

I am partial to Chryslers because I think the all-position fold-into-the-floor seating ("Stow 'n' Go" marketing name) is brilliant and they are great highway cars, and also because I used to work for pre-FCA Chrysler so I had lots of access to them. I've used them for moving and road trips and they're terrific for it. I think the reliability (particularly transmissions) is OK enough that I'd be willing to buy one, though in terms of quality appearance, especially interior materials, the Toyota and Honda kill it. Post-facelift Chrysler RTs have good enough interiors, and the new Pacifica a very nice one, but early RTs have really cheap-looking plastics that plagued everything Chrysler made in that era.

Acura MDX/Honda pilot. 130k+ miles, needded nothing beyond routine service. (filters/fluids/brakes)

The rebuilt transmissions for the Mopar vans have a better 2nd gear cog which is one of the weak points. They are pretty durable units if you get one with a replacement tx in it.

Take care of it and they do fine. A transmission cooler helps as well.