Acura MDX, VW Touareg, Mercedes MLK

Can anyone offer any info on these vehicles as far as overall satisfaction, as well as ease of install of car seats? We currently have one rear-facing True Fit, and soon will also have a Graco Snug Ride to install too. Looking at buying a new model of either of these 3 vehicles in the next month or so.

I've considered the MDX, Touareg and ML at various times.. The MDX is far more reliable compared to the other two (FAR, FAR more reliable) and tends to have fewer problems. Might I also suggest the Landcruiser Prado/Lexus GX470 as a better alternative to the ML and Touareg? The GX470 wasn't originally sold in Canada but is now easily available here due to it being a popular import.

NHTSA and IIHS will have crash test information for some closer comparison, I'm just speaking to reliability based on my own research. I ended up getting a Volvo XC90 after investigating about 10 different cars in that class--although I was looking into the MDX when I bought my Odyssey (MDX vs Odyssey--Odyssey won on space alone).. Oh and the XC90 didn't "win" for reliability--I have a T6 and they have known transmission problems. It won for looks, handling, safety, and options

-Nicole.

Thanks for the reply!
We actually had just started considering a Volvo XC90 today, but it really wasn't officially in the running yet. Good to hear your reasons for choosing it over the others. I would love an Odyssey, but we aren't convinced that we NEED a van since we will only have 2 kids, although the thought of all that convenient space makes me want to run out and buy one anyway.

I know the 3rd row in the MDX isn't exactly huge. I just worry that if we did need to fit in another passenger, or maybe another car seat , that we would really need a 3rd row. Did you try installing car seats in the MDX when you were shopping? If so, did you have any specific issues, and what type of seats did you try in which positions?

We actually need to get two vehicles to replace the ones we have, so we are looking at a VW Tiguan for the 2nd (this one needs to be a bit cheaper than the other). Gets good ratings all around, and I love my current VW.

The rear row of the MDX is fine for FF installs, and I would assume it would be okay for RF ones for an older child but didn't check. Obviously the MDX rear seat space (side to side) is much better than the Pilot.. But if you need to ever put adults in the back, the Odyssey is the best option--really any minivan with good front-back space (meaning about anything but the MPV or SWB Sedona type..) The XC90 is USELESS for front-back space, so my 14 year old (5'10") cannot actually sit in the back of our XC90 and sits in the front passenger seat instead--his legs are way too long. You also don't want to install seats into the rear of the XC90 if you can avoid it--they initially had a restriction on rear row installs which was lifted, but other than a booster I haven't braved installing anything back there.

Have you looked at the 2011 Sienna thread? If I was in the market for a new family vehicle in the next while, the Sienna would be #1 on my list. Even with two kids. It took a lot for me to get over giving up my SUVs (we were a family of five in five passenger SUVs for quite a while!) but once I did, I didn't regret it. I absolutely love the comfort and the space. I balance off the minivan-ness by having my second vehicle be a nice SUV And next year, when my oldest starts to drive, I have an excuse for the sports car, right?!

-Nicole.

What was the problem with the 3rd row in the Volvo that prohibited car seat installs? Just the size? I worry about that with the MDX too because the headrests of the 3rd row seats nearly touch the rear window... seems a bit close to be safe.

Thanks for the Sienna thread tip. I'll give it a read.

It's more a problem of installing a rear-facing seat in the back row--there just isn't the distance between the rows to do it, without the seat being bolt upright. I haven't even bothered to try, because I know there just isn't the room there.. As for forward-facing, since there are no tether anchors back there and we're both Canadian it's not an option.

The thing I really DO like about the seating, however, is that the three across in the centre row is actually quite wide. We have three kids in the centre row all the time, and we utilize the built-in booster seat centre-centre for my 6 year old.

-Nicole.

http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=114500&highlight=acura+mdx

Check out the thread above. It was one that I started when I was trying to decide on a new SUV for my family with three kids in carseats and the MDX was my top choice. In fact, we're getting one this week.

I got LOTS of helpful info about carseat installation for this car. Several women with an MDX chimed in and one woman (DaniCPST) actually took pictures for me of her three carseats in different configurations in the MDX. It was incredibly helpful. All the pictures she took are in the thread. Definitely check out the link. :thumbsup:

Good luck!

We just traded our MDX for an Odyssey yesterday I loved my MDX and if the second row would have been more roomy (with bigger doors and higher
roof) we wouldn't have traded.... we only have 2 kids but the van is so much more convenient for us. Also we never used the 3rd row in the MDX b/c we had to have one of our britax blvds installed in the seat that folds down to get to the third row.

We also considered the Touareg when looking at the MDXs, but the MPG on those aren't very good.

Having owned two of the current model Mercedes MLs, one GL, and one R class.. all built on the same platform, I will say that the four cars have been quite reliable. I haven't had anything really go wrong with either. There was a service bulletin to repair something on one of the ML's tail lights a while back but it was done while the vehicle was in for service. I had a True Fit (forward and rear facing) in my R and ML for awhile and it fit beautifully. I have also installed my snugride in my GL and ML with no problem. The back seats are practically identical. I haven't found a seat that hasn't worked with these cars yet... including the Britax Frontier, Radian (forward and rear facing), Safety 1st safeguard go hybrid, and Boulevard. I'm sure I'm forgetting a seat or two. We really like our cars. I have also been able to install all the seats with LATCH and seatbelt. I really find the seat belts easy to work with.

Thanks for the replies, everyone, and for the link to the other MDX thread! I appreciate the info on the ML also - we really like that one too, but didn't get a chance to try our car seats in it yet so I was wondering how they would fit. Good to know that you have never had any problems. I guess we'll just have to figure out which options work best for us... I really think a van would be so convenient, but I just don't think we can take that step yet.

So we are still deciding on which SUV to get, but pretty much have the MDX at the very top of our list now (followed closely by the ML). I think the Touareg is out based on so many consumer reports of unreliability.

I know a few of you have said that you haven't had too many issues with car seat installs in the MDX, but has anyone tried a rear-facing Radian in the middle row? If so, does it fit well, or is it stubborn to get it to work? We don't have one yet, but I'm hoping to upgrade to the XT so we can have the extra rear-facing pounds when my LO outgrows the True Fit RF limit.

carseatcurious said:

I know a few of you have said that you haven't had too many issues with car seat installs in the MDX, but has anyone tried a rear-facing Radian in the middle row? If so, does it fit well, or is it stubborn to get it to work? We don't have one yet, but I'm hoping to upgrade to the XT so we can have the extra rear-facing pounds when my LO outgrows the True Fit RF limit.

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Another member here took pics of the Radian installed centre and outboard in this thread http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=105971 Read the whole thread as there are pics throughout it in different posts. It is more reclined in the centre than it is outboard, but it fits between the 2 front seats so doesn't interfere with how far they can go back. After I saw these pics, I tried an outboard install in my MDX. Outboard, it puts the driver's side to far forward for DH to drive and although there was room on the passenger side for me, I get a lot more room than others seat. Both in the centre and outboard, the angle was more than DD usually sits at. Also, I couldn't get an install that I was comfortable with outboard, but I think some of that is just the way Radian installs and it wasn't anything wrong per say, just not like I am used to with other seats.

The My Ride and True Fit both install really nice outboard. You can get more recline out of the My Ride in the same amount of space, which may be better for a younger baby if you have limited space with a taller driver. The True Fit installs nicely forward-facing. I have not yet got an install that I am comfortable with forward-facing, I lean towards the My Ride actually being incompatible forward-facing. Graco wants the entire base of the seat on the vehicle seat bottom and when you do that, the rear of the base is raised off of the vehicle seat, which Graco U.S.A. says is unacceptable. Also, the recline forward facing is greater than the recline rear-facing! But, it's a great rear-facing seat in the MDX.

I tried to install a True Fit in the MDX. Rear-facing is great. Forward-facing there is a bit of overhang at the base of the seat. Can't remember if this is allowed with the True Fit or not? Definitely cannot get the True Fit in the 3rd row either RF or FF as with FF there is zero leg room at all. I am disappointed in this as from the photos that the person posted of seats installed in the 3rd row (in the link about the MDX provided in this thread), it looked as though there may be quite a bit of leg room. When I tried, the seat just touched the back of the middle row seats.

Also tried the SnugRide - I think it will be fine as well, although a bit of a trick to tighten down in the outboard seats just because of the positioning of the LATCH connectors and the seat edges.

Anyone else out there have experience installing various seats in the 2nd/3rd rows of an MDX (new models)?? Hoping for as much feedback as possible before we make our decision.

Thanks again!

carseatcurious said:

I tried to install a True Fit in the MDX. Rear-facing is great. Forward-facing there is a bit of overhang at the base of the seat. Can't remember if this is allowed with the True Fit or not? Definitely cannot get the True Fit in the 3rd row either RF or FF as with FF there is zero leg room at all.

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I don't think you're going to get any seat rear-facing in the 3rd row. There is just simply not enough room for the seat to fit front to back.

We installed the TF forward facing just a couple weeks ago and used it that way for part of a day. We did NOT have any overhang. I know how you got the overhang, if you have the vehicle seat back fully upright and just place the TF on the vehicle seat so that the TF bottom is fully on the vehicle seat, you will have overhang off the front and a large gap between the back of the TF and the back of the vehicle seat. If you put the back of the TF against the back of the vehicle seat, then you get a huge gap between the back of the base of the vehicle seat.

What you need to do is recline the vehicle seat fully. Doing this enables the back of the TF to fully contact the back of the vehicle seat. It also puts the base of the TF entirely on the vehicle seat without overhang. You will have a small gap between the rear of the TF base and the vehicle seat but as long as you put enough pressure into the TF when installing, that gap will go away and the entire base will be contacting the seat. The end result will be, ALL of the TF base on the vehicle seat (no overhang), ALL of the TF base contacting the vehicle seat bottom, and ALL of the rear of the TF contacting the vehicle seat, AND enough recline to not get head slump when child is sleeping. Unfortunately I didn't take pics of it when installed FF as we were in a rush to leave for out of town and on the way home she rode RF. If I get some time today I can install it FF and get pics for you if you want?

carseatcurious said:

Also tried the SnugRide - I think it will be fine as well, although a bit of a trick to tighten down in the outboard seats just because of the positioning of the LATCH connectors and the seat edges.

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The SnugRide should be completely fine. We had a SafeSeat (now Snugride 32/35) that was used for 6 months in the MDX and it installed nicely without any trouble.

I would love some pics of your TF forward-facing, if you have the time.

I'm not concerned about rear-facing anything in the 3rd row (like you said, there definitely won't be space for that). I was just surprised by there being absolutely no leg room when I tried it FF, so I was wondering what other people's experience has been with the TF or others FF'ng in the 3rd row.

Does the car manual indicate that installing a car seat with the seats reclined is okay? Since it was a demo, the manual was not in the car for me to check when we had it out today. I know some vehicles don't allow that.

The Snug Ride seems okay, but I think the base of the regular SR is slightly different from the SR32 (not positive, but I'm pretty sure I read that on here somewhere), and we have the regular one.

We also got to try the ML again today, and the back seat is definitely bigger than the MDX (wider and deeper from front to back, with slightly more leg room). But the seats in that one are also more angled, so we would need to use pool noodles to get any recline on a rear-facing seat. The TF was nearing 90 degrees just as it was. In the MDX my LO's TF was good without any help. I also really like the 3 sets of LATCH in the MDX. So many considerations... sigh...

I might not get pics tonight, but will do so tomorrow. The MDX manual has no restriction on reclining the vehicle seat.

I believe the SnugRide base is narrower than the SnugRide 32/35 base. The lower anchors actually are narrower than the width of the SnugRide 32/35 base and the base rests against the side bolsters of the rear seat rather than flat against the back. Just have to be careful when you tighten that you don't end up having the base move inside one of the anchors and end up with a crooked base.

ETA: sorry I am slow on pics. Promise I will do it, it's just when I've had the time to do it, the MDX has been gone with DH! And when it's here I haven't had the chance.

carseatcurious said:

We also got to try the ML again today, and the back seat is definitely bigger than the MDX (wider and deeper from front to back, with slightly more leg room). But the seats in that one are also more angled, so we would need to use pool noodles to get any recline on a rear-facing seat. The TF was nearing 90 degrees just as it was. In the MDX my LO's TF was good without any help. I also really like the 3 sets of LATCH in the MDX. So many considerations... sigh...

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In my ML I haven't needed a pool noodle except with my SS1/SR35. I'm not even sure if I would need it now. The person who installed that seat for me (a long time ago) was obsessed about over reclining seats. All other seats have been great rear facing including the Radian which many people seem to have a problem with the recline. Our TF installed FFing with no overhang. I'd take a pic but we don't have it anymore. I just installed my SR the other day and didn't need a pool noodle in my GL which has a similar backseat to the ML. I can test it if you like.

carseatcurious said:

I would love an Odyssey, but we aren't convinced that we NEED a van since we will only have 2 kids, although the thought of all that convenient space makes me want to run out and buy one anyway.

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And we've got only one kid right now (a second is on the way, but we didn't have him coming when we bought) and we've got an Odyssey. Used to have a Passat wagon which pretty much had an unusable center seat (whoever was there would be squished between a person and a car seat) and were looking for a vehicle that could handle both our family as well as at least two other adults comfortably (my parents and brother live nearby, my sister-in-law and her boyfriend are nearby, and my parents-in-law end up visiting relatively often, and it just seemed silly to take two cars if we wanted to go eat together or something).

One of the big things we wanted is a third row usable by adults, which rules out nearly everything with a third row (they expect only kids to use them, and sometimes have the back of the seat touching the rear glass which I don't feel safe about at all). Some of the other front-runners for usable third rows were the Mazda CX-9 and Ford Flex.

That's of course just us, we wanted a third row that I could fit in (just under 6' tall) and that had cargo room behind (both for carrying bags/stroller/whatever for an outing as well as making sure anyone in the back isn't in danger in a rear-end collision). If you don't need the third row as much either for adults or car seats, smaller third rows let you get into a smaller vehicle without being SOL on the rare occasion you do need someone extra.

We actually need to get two vehicles to replace the ones we have, so we are looking at a VW Tiguan for the 2nd (this one needs to be a bit cheaper than the other). Gets good ratings all around, and I love my current VW.

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Not being sure which model you've current got, I'll give the standard caution about being careful about the country of origin. As "euro-snob" as it sounds, the German-built VWs (VINs starting with "W") do typically enjoy better quality than at least the Mexican and Brazilian (unless something's changed in the past few years). Not to say you shouldn't go that way, it's just something to keep in mind, especially if your current VW is a German one. (For example, my 2002 Passat was awesome, my wife's Brazilian-built 2004 Golf TDI I'd only call "okay". The Mexican-built models at least used to be the ones with complaints of all sorts of electrical things failing, Brazilian was the better build, but still not as good as the German models.)

Also keep an open mind about ratings, especially if you end up using Consumer Reports for reliability ratings, since the reliability is purely from surveys, and so the responses aren't objective (see for example the 1.8T Passats going from loved to hated after VW got a bad batch of coilpacks and a very small number of Passats actually having issues from it -- VW replaced every coilpack in every 1.8T Passat for free, I'd never had any issues with my particular Passat for the 8 years I'd owned it, yet it was listed with horrible reliability all from this one issue).

I fibbed.... I still have my old true fit. It is in my hubby's offce. Learning curve was supposed to send me a tag to get it shipped back but they haven't yet. I can take pics of it in my ML or GL if you like.

carseatcurious said:

..installs in the MDX, but has anyone tried a rear-facing Radian in the middle row? If so, does it fit well, or is it stubborn to get it to work?

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I didn't click the link Techno provided yet, but I am pretty sure she linked to my pictures of the Radian XTSL in my MDX, which is an '07.

I currently have the XTSL rear-facing center with LATCH and it is at about a 39 degree angle. No problems getting it at a 45 degree angle either. And with a seatbelt install, I can get it as upright as 30 degrees (the max. allowed.)

Now outboard is a whole 'nother story. :thumbsdown: The seat is a beast and here is my latest attempt to get it upright outboard, which was just last week:



It is just too reclined. I tried all the tricks and I lost. I think its just impossible due to the seat bight and the boot on the Radian.



So for rear-facing, the Radian only works in the center. I also doubt you could get any seat rear-facing in the 3rd row.

I hope that helps a little.