4x4 North America MIM Safe Variocage Double - Crash Tested Dog Cage, Double XXL / (00365)

The assembly instructions are hard to follow. There was some minor metal bending due to transportation but nothing major. However once assembled this is a fantastic product. There can be some rattling when the dogs aren’t in the cages but I think that’s mostly the middle divider. There can also be some rattling if the tie down straps aren’t taught. When the dogs are in the cage I hear very little rattling. They are happy. They can see out the back window if the stand up. (Border Collies). The expansion is great but not something you can vary every day. Just adjust to fit your car and then lock.

We did our research and knew going in that this was a big risk, cost-wise, assembly-wise, hassle-wise. That said our belief was that this would meet our needs the best out of the available options -- if it worked. But, if it turned out that the considerable hassle of assembly was too much for our skill level and bandwidth, we would also need to return it. For that reason, we waited for it to be available with amazon as the both the seller and shipper, rather than 4x4 (the american distributor) as the seller and amazon as the shipper. We had zero interest in "justifying" or begging for a return after putting in a few unsuccessful hours of blood sweat and tears.The absence of good assembly videos with good lighting and in English by the american distributor, 4x4, is nothing short of appalling and is a huge disrespect to US consumers. From the other reviews, consumers say that the distributor is friendly, responsive to phone call and emails, and will replace missing parts. That's great, but that is not the point. The point is about making it do-able -- PROACTIVELY -- for the consumer, and not waiting for a purchaser to even have to reach out in a state of frustration. Also, did it ever occur to them that some folks may be assembling this after business hours, and calling may not be convenient or possible? It sounds like they might know they are the only game in town, so why even put in the effort or cost of giving a few units away in exchange for some decent unpacking and assembly videos, or producing some videos themselves and then donating the finished crates to charity after the videos are done? The available official videos clearly were done in Europe, and not done in english, as there is no sound or narration, and the lighting is horrible, and the steps are done in different sequence than the written instructions. The written instructions, btw, are worse than the worst Ikea instructions. That's why many rely on youtube for Ikea assemblies, but guess what? No such helpful you tube videos for variocage. No wonder that the average consumers of this product haven't posted numerous assembly videos to youtube -- because the videos would contain cursing, tears, and broken marriages. Also, I recommend not assembling it near your dogs, as seeing Mommy and Daddy upset while putting together this loud contraption may not entice them to enter it later!Bottom line, this is currently the best we could find, and it will allow us to travel by car with less stress, and that's a good thing. The manufacturers and distributors clearly have their hearts and minds in the right place, despite their total brain farts around assembly videos.If you're handy, or you like super annoying projects to sink your teeth into, have some extra time, and don't mind risking the cost of sending it back to amazon (which I'm guessing would have been a couple hundred bucks in return shipping plus the nightmare of putting it all back in the box), then my guess is you'd have no issues. But, if you're just a layperson and don't like assembling things with unclear instructions, then have your tissues, your CBD gummies, and your marriage therapist on speed dial before ordering.

Let me start by saying, dang that took a long time to assemble by myself. A lot of the parts came bent, the door bars on one side are bent out 2 inches! It is difficult to get it to extend once put together. My GSD was able to chew off all the rubber bits on the telescoping side bars and chew the shorter door bar already after one day of use. It does rattle a bit when driving but not bad. it's really heavy and hard to take in and out of the cargo area. I think the doors are the strongest part, but every component bends with little manipulation. I'm most sad that it came with bent door bars

When put together it is a great pet cage. Open enough dog likes to look out and secure doors make it so he doesn’t even bother with pushing on them.Putting together alone was a task requiring about 90 minutes as I put on one section backwards not tracking front vs back on the top.Loved using it on 2,000 miles of travel. It is 100 pounds which makes it sturdy and safe but not easily removed by wife!

The crate was not bad to assemble if it was not all bent up! I had to work every piece in at least one area to take out shipping damage! The box looked perfect from the outside but inside the pieces floated around in the box crushing corners and bending sheet metal. If I did not have a dog show to go to it would have gone back!

We selected the VarioCage due to a friend’s recommendation. Had the rest of the cage been engineered like the door, it would laud highly. However, the rest of the cage is extremely hard to assemble and the quality of the design is severely lacking. Tabs and associated parts have to be wrestled into alignment and the adjustable bars are not well/designed for those cages that will be used at the outer limits of it’s “adjustability”. Once completed, it’s appearance looks “incomplete”. Edges are rolled to make some edges smooth yet the back looks like an Erector Set toy.The assembly instructions are a pitiful pictionary of what pieces go where, tiny rubber grommets are fitted into little holes that fall out during the assembly process, etc.. Guys, go back and design a cage worthy of the door you provide!!!

Have 2 dogs (35 lb Keeshond and puppy Border Collie) and wanted a safer travel style. 2 full sized crates do not fit in my old car so we had to go more expensive.Putting the kennel together was not difficult. Took about an hour and went smoothly. (Disclaimer: We are 2 engineers so take that with a grain of salt.) There was some bent metal (mostly tabs) but wasn't difficult to bend back as the material wasn't past the elongation point.Would absolutely buy this kennel again.

This is the finest vehicle dog crate we have ever seen. We travel over 30,000 miles a year with out dogs. They are always in crates or seatbelts. Hence, we saw this first class crash tested crate a good investment. I bit tricky to assemble because the instructions are drawings, and adjust for installation, but simply a fantastic product. Only wish it had a plastic bottom pan. Pricey but worth the money. The large fits our 2015 Toyota RAV-4 perfectly.