Question ISO: Non Mini-Van That Can...

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chekhovgirl

New member
fit three across in the middle row and has a third row that we can use when we have company in town. We are TTC #3 and have a Scion xB as our only car, so we'll have to get a new car if we have a third child, and overall we're looking for a car that can carry more passengers since this is our only car and when my parents or other people have come from out of town by some other way than car, we can't drive around with them at all.

I'm thinking that if we can fit the kids in the second row that we can have a decent amount of storage space on a daily basis, but have a functional third row when we need it. We're looking to buy something used at a final price of probably not higher than $17,000. There are many mid-sized SUVs/crossovers/wagons that seem to fit the bill, but when you throw in car seat compatibility then it becomes more complicated. Good gas mileage and safety is also a priority.

We would want to have this car for a while, so I'd need something that could fit 3 FF seats down the road. Radians or otherwise...

Can anybody help steer me in the right direction?

Thanks!
 
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mamakc

mamakc

Active member
I love love love my Ford Freestyle (also known as the Taurus X). They come w/ either captains chairs or bench seat in the second row. (we have the bench) The only 3 across I've done was a frontier85, radian xt, and britax RA50. Not even a struggle getting them to fit. The third row has two seats that my 6' husband and his large man friends can sit in comfortably. lol (they commented they have more room than their honda pilot's 3rd row) Three sets of LATCH, two outboard in the second row, one passenger side third row. Additional tether anchor in middle of the second row bench. Not sure if there's a tether anchor in the driver side 3rd row seat, never needed it so I never checked lol. I was looking for all the same things you are and this vehicle was the best of everything I needed. Did I mention I love it? lol Also, we are averaging 21mpg. There are shoulder belts in every seat and there are side airbags & all sorts of various safety features.
 
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Melanie

New member
If you wound up with a higher budget, or if you are waiting a while to purchase, check out the Ford Flex. They just came out in 09 so there aren't many used around yet. Since you already have a scion, I'm assuming you are ok with the boxy shape. It's loosely based off the Ford Freestyle/Taurus platform. It's super roomy. My 6'3" DH can fit in the 2nd row with room to spare and can fit in the third row.

What would your set up be when you have relatives? Would you move seats to the third row and have the adults sit in the second? I ask because with a bench 2nd row with car seats in it, it gets tricky to get to the third row. I can't envision grandparents crawling over the seat or climbing in through the hatch.

One thing to pay attention to in your search is top tethers. Some third row vehicles (Mazda 9 and Hyundai Veracruz for sure) don't have any top tethers. It makes the third row pretty much unusable for forward facing car seats. I'd also keep an eye on head rests. It's surprising, but even some new vehicles will have a shoulder harness but no head rest for the middle seating positions. They could only be safely used for car seats or boostered kids.

eta: Don't rely on the car salesman to point you to tethers. From experience, they like to say that cargo hooks are top tethers.
 
cookie123

cookie123

New member
One thing you might want to consider is how often that will really happen and if it's worth it to drive a huge vehicle all the time because you have people from out of town once or twice a year.

The other thing is - I know you don't want a minivan now, but you don't have 3 kids in the back right now fighting and carrying on about who touched who and who breathed on who:)

We lasted about 2 months doing 3 across in our 4 door mid sized sedan which I can't remember the kind - it was so long ago. Of course, we couldn't afford a large suv, so we went with a Caravan - this was back in the day and it was what we could afford. It was a great improvement, even with just the benches.

My dd now has a Sienna, with 3 kids. She has a captains chair out, the baby rear facing behind the driver and the 2 older kids are pretty easily accessible - they're forward facing in the rear. It's a nice workable set up. Also if you did the 8 passenger, you can do 3 across with alot of different child seats in the middle row.
 
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chekhovgirl

New member
Yes, we definitely want something that seats more than 5 people, ideally 7 instead of 6. We have family and friends that come several times a year and would probably come more if we had transportation readily available. We get by because we have public transportation around, or my husband will ride his bike and meet us somewhere, but it's not ideal, especially in winter. It seems silly to rent a car for those times, and since we'll have to get a new car to accommodate three kids anyway- we might as well get some extra seating. I'd also like to be able to transport another child if need be- someone else's, not mine :) And we want more cargo room in the back. Right now our stroller takes up most of the back and we have to shove stuff in every available nook of the car which drives me crazy.

That said, I'm not totally opposed to the idea of a minivan, I just would like something as compact as we can get that will still hold the kids and have extra seating which, when it is not in use, will allow us more cargo room.

I guess we either need something that has a 3 passenger bench seat in the middle and two seats in the back- could move car seats around temporarily to make use of the back seat when we need, or we need something that has captain seats and a three passenger seat in the back with decent cargo space behind it.

Thanks for the ideas so far. I was looking at the Taurus X, but I'm a little leery of buying a Ford. We'll check into it.
 
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unityco

unityco

Ambassador - CPS Technician
We looked at the Kia Rondo a while back. It seats 7 with a 3 passenger middle bench. The third row only has 2 seats and no tether anchors, so that may not meet your needs.
 
C

chekhovgirl

New member
mamakc said:
I love love love my Ford Freestyle (also known as the Taurus X). They come w/ either captains chairs or bench seat in the second row. (we have the bench) The only 3 across I've done was a frontier85, radian xt, and britax RA50. Not even a struggle getting them to fit. The third row has two seats that my 6' husband and his large man friends can sit in comfortably. lol (they commented they have more room than their honda pilot's 3rd row) Three sets of LATCH, two outboard in the second row, one passenger side third row. Additional tether anchor in middle of the second row bench. Not sure if there's a tether anchor in the driver side 3rd row seat, never needed it so I never checked lol. I was looking for all the same things you are and this vehicle was the best of everything I needed. Did I mention I love it? lol Also, we are averaging 21mpg. There are shoulder belts in every seat and there are side airbags & all sorts of various safety features.
Click to expand...

What are the top tethers like in your Freestyle? From the one picture I found of a bench seat 2009 I can't see any- are they located above like in a subaru?
 
LISmama810

LISmama810

Admin - CPS Technician
A used Honda Pilot? Great for three-across in the second row, and a decent third row for a couple car seats or small adults. Tether anchors in all positions.
 
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cwesis

New member
I have been on a similar search... I feel your pain on this. I've been looking at new rather than used, so what I say may not hold for the older models... with that caveat in mind, you might want to consider the Honda Pilot. The '11 that I looked at has LATCH and tethers anchors across all 3 of the 2nd row and LATCH and tether anchors for 2 of the 3 back row seats. I have friends with older models of the Pilot who are very happy with them. I know the '10 Acura MDX has a similar set up of LATCH and tether anchors, and I heard numerous very positive reviews from fellow mommies about the MDX (often something along the lines of "I drove my first one into the ground and plan to do the same with my second one"), but it's a bit more expensive and you'd have to go back further in model year to find one in your price range.

If you are looking for the most compact way to fit the most number of people in the most practical manner, then, as much as it pains me to say it, you probably should look back at the minivan option. I don't know much about the other cars rec'ed so far, but the Pilot is pretty large, and the MDX not much smaller. Most of the other midsized SUVs I looked at (Highlander, CX-9, for example) would be tougher to fit 3 across, especially if you wanted to have the flexibility to move just one carseat back in order to leave space for adults to get to the back. (I am expecting #2, and I was hoping to find an SUV that allowed me to NOT move seats around when a visiting grandma wanted to get in the way back.)

Happy searching!
Adele
 
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turtlejd

New member
I'm also on a similar search. We're expecting #3 in Nov and we're ready to replace my '97 Honda Civic with something. In my ideal world, I would also like a car that can fit 3 in the middle, have extra seating in the back just in case, and is compact. I haven't found a car that does that compactly. I've looked at some SUV's the Toyota Highlander, Mazda CX-9 and Honda Pilot. I believe they can all fit 3 across in the middle and then extra people in the back. The thing that is making me hesitate is that I've seen them parked next to an Odyssey or Sienna and they are about the same size if not larger than the minivan. They are also more $ and tend to have about the same if not worse mpg's.

I've also been driving around 3 kids this summer. We had a cousin visiting and now we're driving for some preschool field trips and 3 across is really quite crowded and honestly, a bit of a pain. DS can't fall asleep, there's so much noise and it's nice for them to have their own space. Then getting the right seats and making it all fit right is just stressful. I'm considering a Mazda5 right now mainly because of the space issue. I think it'd be nice for the kids to be able to have their own seat. I know the Mazda5 is still small and we'd lose a lot of trunk space always using the back seat, but it is compact.

I do have a friend with 3 kids who drives a Honda Pilot and loves it. I'm sure you could find a used one and I personally like the older ones better. If you're leaning toward SUV, I think it's a great choice. The thing with SUVs with 3 rows of seating is that they're not any smaller than a regular minivan...except the RAV4, but you can't get 3 carseats in the middle.

Good luck with your search!:)
 
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chekhovgirl

New member
I was considering the Pilot and others like it, but I do think in the end that we've decided on a used Sienna. Though we have yet to drive one! I thought by looking at more compact cars that we'd find better gas mileage, but this definitely has not proved true. I'd like something more compact to fit into city parking spaces like I can now, but I don't mind forfeiting that a bit. Thanks for all the help!
 
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chekhovgirl

New member
turtlejd said:
I'm also on a similar search. We're expecting #3 in Nov and we're ready to replace my '97 Honda Civic with something. In my ideal world, I would also like a car that can fit 3 in the middle, have extra seating in the back just in case, and is compact. I haven't found a car that does that compactly. I've looked at some SUV's the Toyota Highlander, Mazda CX-9 and Honda Pilot. I believe they can all fit 3 across in the middle and then extra people in the back. The thing that is making me hesitate is that I've seen them parked next to an Odyssey or Sienna and they are about the same size if not larger than the minivan. They are also more $ and tend to have about the same if not worse mpg's.

I've also been driving around 3 kids this summer. We had a cousin visiting and now we're driving for some preschool field trips and 3 across is really quite crowded and honestly, a bit of a pain. DS can't fall asleep, there's so much noise and it's nice for them to have their own space. Then getting the right seats and making it all fit right is just stressful. I'm considering a Mazda5 right now mainly because of the space issue. I think it'd be nice for the kids to be able to have their own seat. I know the Mazda5 is still small and we'd lose a lot of trunk space always using the back seat, but it is compact.

I do have a friend with 3 kids who drives a Honda Pilot and loves it. I'm sure you could find a used one and I personally like the older ones better. If you're leaning toward SUV, I think it's a great choice. The thing with SUVs with 3 rows of seating is that they're not any smaller than a regular minivan...except the RAV4, but you can't get 3 carseats in the middle.

Good luck with your search!:)
Click to expand...

I was eying the Mazda 5 for quite a while, but then I saw one in use with three kids in person by a friend who drives it while she nannies for two kids and her own son. The car belongs to the family that she nannies for. Her son is in the back seat and she has to put the seat down next to him to fit the double stroller into the car. When she was looking for a car herself I suggested the Scion xB like we have and the Mazda5 if they were thinking of having more kids. She said she's glad they went with the xB for the time being because it's more comfortable for the driver and has more storage room- but she only has one baby right now :)
 

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