Need sedan suggestion for potential 3-across

Argh - after many problems our "new" used minivan is getting traded back in to the dealer. Since we don't want another car payment, we want to limit our budget to something used, very reliable, and less than $12,000.

So far, we have narrowed it down to some of the smaller Toyota and Honda sedans, including the Corolla, Matrix/Pontiac Vibe, Civic, and Scion models.

We are also looking at Accords and Camrys but so far the ones in our price range have been pretty high mileage.

Anyway, right now we have a 19-month old and a two-month old. Both are RFing, using a blvd and keyfit bucket. Our goal, with the minivan, was to move the baby in to the blvd and the 19-month-old into a new RFing Radian within the next 4-6 months.

In addition, we are considering a new baby in the next two years and hope to buy a car that can potentially work with three seats.

Obviously, the cars we are considering are compact, but I'm not that familiar with their rear seats.

Which are the best options for us, carseat-wise? Do we have hope of puzzling three across in any of these (considering at least two would be hopefully be RFing)?

DH and I are both taller and need a decent amount of legroom ourselves.

Is this a hopeless cause?

No wonder that minivan was such a great deal...stupid lemon. Grrrr...

Did you consider the Chevy Impala? It has a huge back seat, great for 3 across. I'm pretty sure I've seen commercials for new ones being $11000. I've always requested that as a rental vehicle. I've had a Scenera for DD RF driver's side and had the driver's seat all the way back (or at least almost).

The Impala's do have a nice wide backseat and 3 sets of LATCH. I have a Ford Fusion and I have done a few different 3 across scenerios. We also have a VW golf that we can squeeze in 3 seats when we need to but it does require the front passenger seat to be moved up quite a bit.

Did you search the 3-across thread? That might give you a better idea of what might work for you in the future.

Thanks for the link! Definitely some good info there.

I just quickly looked at local Impalas in our price range...it would probably have to be around a 2005. And unfortunately those years get poor reliability ratings

http://autos.msn.com/research/vip/Reliability.aspx?year=2005&make=Chevrolet&model=Impala&trimid=-1

The Ford Taurus & Five Hundred both have a nice wide backseat. I seem to remember that they work well with the Radian as well.

nlschr0 said:

Thanks for the link! Definitely some good info there.

I just quickly looked at local Impalas in our price range...it would probably have to be around a 2005. And unfortunately those years get poor reliability ratings

http://autos.msn.com/research/vip/Reliability.aspx?year=2005&make=Chevrolet&model=Impala&trimid=-1

Click to expand...

The reliability ratings for the 2005 don't look too bad. I agree that pre-2005 are less reliable, but I wouldn't rule out a good deal on a 2005 based on those ratings.