Daily driver with space for a dog

That is nice of you to buy your own car to volunteer at a dog adoption agency. We rescued our personal dogs and they are part of family. But when have them in our vehciles they are without cages so they can be comfortable or stick their noses outside thr window when the vehicle is stopped while at a stoplight.

Do you travel with them each caged? If so what sizes are the cages and one of us with a larger vehicles could give an idea of what would work. Are you traveling on gravel roads that mean mud or small river beds? Do have hills that maybe be snow covered or have close to one foot of snow at a time?

I would get a 2018 Kia Soul. It is reliable, has a 10 year/100k mile warranty, and is spacious. You would want to put the back seats down to put your dogs in the back. There is no A/C vent in the back that I know of, so that may be a deal breaker. Check the ride before you buy because some people complain about the stiff ride. It is a really good value and comes with a ton of features for the money.

I know the VW Golf and Golf Sportwagen/Alltrack have rear seat A/C vents, but reliability is iffy and expensive, although the 2018s do have a great basic warranty. I really like how they drive.

If you need AWD, a used Subaru Outback, VW Golf Sportwagen, or VW Golf Alltrack are your best choices. The Subaru will probably be more reliable than the VWs, but I think the Golfs are priced lower. The Golfs will be more fun to drive and the Subaru will be a little more comfortable.