Ugh...Vehicle advice

I'm looking at getting a "new" car (new to me). I have no freakin' clue what to get! I want the absolute best gas mileage that I can get (commute an hour each way to work) that can also fit my three dogs, in crates (aka must have seats that fold flat), and will live FOREVER with minimal issues. Easy, right? LOL Any ideas on what the smallest car/best gas mileage that can fit my three.

Kastle - has to be in a 36" SUV or regular crate
Limit - most likely will fit in a 30" regular crate but I have two 36" SUV crates already so if I could utilize those two that would be neat but not mandatory
Eden - 24" crate

I plan on hauling all of said crates to dealership to officially test before I buy BUT I would really like to narrow down my options so I'm not trying them in 100 million different cars because it's 100 degrees here and that sounds miserable. I hate car shopping.

So far on my list (years are based on price/reviews):
2009/2010 Toyota Matrix/Pontiac Vibe
2010 Chevy HHR
2006 and up Subaru Forester or Outback
2009/2010 Scion xD
2009/2010 Honda Fit

Help me! I'm going crazy trying to just narrow down to a couple so I can go look at them.

When Ryan was trying to convince me that getting a Passat wagon was a fantastic idea he brought one to my work and we started loading crates into it. I honestly don't remember how many crates we fit in it, but I took the biggest ones that we had on the shelves and there was so much room.

His is a 2006 and I love it. There are so many awesome little gadgets in that thing, and I hope it is still around when we have our OES.

This place has some cargo space pictures:
http://www.familycar.com/RoadTests/VolkswagenPassat/photos2006Wagon.htm

Those back seats can fold flat, though they aren't in this picture:

The Fit probably won't fit all those crates.

Here is mine with 2 crates... an intermediate sized Ruff Tough Kennel and 36" Midwest icrate. I also have to scoot the passenger seat forward a bit.

I'm having a hard time picturing all of those fitting in a Matrix as well. I originally was planning to purchase one of those (wound up getting a killer deal on a very slightly used Rav-4 while I was there instead), and Meg's crate alone was a bit of a tough fit. It's been a while, so maybe it wasn't as tight as I thought, but that is what I remember.

I adore my Rav-4, although the thing I loved best about the Matrix was how incredibly quiet it was. The Rav-4 is a bit noisier.

I think the HHR, Outback, and the Scion are going to be your best bet... you might be interested in the Scion xB too, it's older so you could get a better deal if you can find one that isn't super high mileage on the odometer. I still remember YEARS ago when a friend picked me up from the airport, and I sat in the back of that thing staring around, and she finally said "So what do you think?" and my response was "YOU COULD FIT SO MANY DOG CRATES IN HERE!" hahaha.

I'm not exactly sure when it comes to crate space as I don't use a crate in the car, but I LOVEEEE my Jeep Patriot. I have a 2010 and it's small but it still seems to have a lot of space. It drives like a car too which I love.

But we easily fit 4 dogs into my car when we went to the Chaz meet up. The Rottie I used to watch had PLENTY of space in the back too. And yes all my seats fold down.

But, worth looking into it. I love my Jeep.

Subaru Outback is wide and tall enough for 2 36" SUV crate side by side and could put something else sideways in front of them BUT the seats don't fold 100% flat so you'd probably have to put in a small platform.

My parents' Outback has fold flat seats - it's a 2000 though so maybe that changed when they did the redesign a few years back?

2010-2012 outbacks are very different

Yea they revamped the hatches too! So annoying because the extra slope on all the new designs made the cargo area less flexible.

The rear slope doesn't bother me. Keeps people from jamming crates all the way back in the crumple zone, and I can still put gear there anyway. The side slope is far less extreme...more "rounded" along the edges than sloped...but is a bit more annoying if you're looking for that extra upper corner space.

Then again at this point I will just be happy when I can use my hatch again. Figures some yahoo not paying attention crushes in the back end of my car right when I have a 50lb dog with a sore back. Picking her up and fitting her in the side door is a lot harder than doing the same at the rear door.

Thanks for the responses! My mechanic says he gets some weird problems with Vibes/Matrix (Matrices?) and the parts are a pain to get in. He himself has a Subaru so obviously he likes them...I was looking around, will I really notice the difference in gas mileage to the CRV/Rav4? What about the Equinox? I don't know what to get?!

Bummer! That takes out the Scion xD then I hate the look of the xB and it looks HUGE to me. So the 36" hits the hatch and the passenger seat back then?

I have an Acura MDX and I'm sure I could easily fit all of those crates.

However... my gas mileage is definitely NOT good. lol. I average about 17 in town and 20 on the highway. I do love the MDX, though!

Have you looked into the Honda Element? I was debating between the MDX and the Element, and the MDX won out because of the features. The Element is a really good dog car, though.

Oh my Outback averages 29 mpg. Varies somewhat. Recent roadtrip through low mountains (really big hills?) with all highway driving had me averaging 31.

The xB is going to be my next car. The only thing I'm sad about is that the rear seats don't fold flat. I haven't tried loading any crates into one yet but will be sure to do that before I purchase one.

The Equinox will most likely be my next vehicle. BUT Leah drove one when her HHR was out of commission and the seats don't fold flat. My dogs are smaller so my crates are smaller, so I'm thinking it will still ultimately work for me. Not sure how it will work out for your crates and arrangement. But I don't think you'll be getting the MPGs you're looking for out of it either way. If you get the 4 cyl 2.4 FWD version, it seems most people are looking at about 30-32mpg highway. No AWD, you'll get even worse mileage out of that. So yeah... I don't think you'll be getting what you want out of that.
Personally I'll be going V6 even though that will drop down a few mpgs... but that's the kind of girl I am, I don't mind sacrificing a couple mpgs for MORE POWER ho ho ho ho ho </Tim the Tool Man Taylor>

We have an Element, I'd like to get better gas mileage. We get about 23-24 hwy - I am using that to commute now in fact.

Oh, what year do you know? The seats folding flat is a must. My Pilot seats don't fold flat which drives me NUTS.

No, no that is great mpg - I know I am asking a lot for mpg AND all my crates. The Pilot gets 21 mpg on hwy so I would like better than that if at all possible!

Happyhound,

I'm thinking of buying the Honda Fit. Can you fit your 36" crate so it's parallel to the hatch? (Crate would have a side door.)

Could you fit two 36" crates that way? (One crate has side door to hatch, the other crate has front door to sidedoor of car.)

I've tried measuring with a tape measure at the dealership, but with the slight angle of the hatchdoor entry and the angling back of the front row seats, I'm not exactly sure if I'm picking the right spot for measuring.