suburban, tahoe, or freestar

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aja

New member
we have 4 small kids in carseats. we are car shopping right now. my husband is going to look at a few different cars today - a 2005 suburban, a 2002 tahoe, and a 2006 freestar.

the tahoe has all the fancy trimmings (leather, power everything etc). the suburban seems like a basic model. they are about the same price. the freestar is several thousand cheaper. it seems like it would suite our needs ok but i'm not in love with it.

what do you think? anything negative/positive about any of these? will the tahoe have enough cargo room with 4 carseats in it? is 2005 an ok year for suburbans? is the freestar an awful van? :D

i like that the suburban is 9 passenger. makes me feel like we'll never grow out of it.
 
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M

Maedze

New member
You do NOT want a Freestar. The third row is horrible, shallow, narrow, and nearly inaccessible. The vehicle also has only three top tether anchors, one of which is in the middle of the third row, making the two outboard seats nearly unusable for all but the narrowest of adults.

The Suburban has tether anchors in the middle row, 2 or 3 depending on the model, and just one in the third row, again in the middle.

The Tahoe has a similar setup with a few random variables (in some models, the third row tether anchor is shareable between the middle and outboard seats, only used by one car seat at a time, obviously.)

With four kids, you might want to expand your search to vehicles with more top tether anchors. Up until this year, the Toyota Sienna had tether anchors, 2 or 3 in the middle row and two in the rear row. So did the Kia Sedona and Hyundai Entourage. The Honda Odyssey has tether anchors in ALL seating positions EXCEPT the 2005 MY and excepting the plus 1 seat in 8 passenger versions.
 
jess71903

jess71903

Ambassador
My ILs have a Tahoe that I think is an '02. It's very roomy in the cabin and we've borrowed it for trips with another family. I've installed a Nautilus in the 3rd row next to a backless Turbo, and had my TF RF in the center and outboard in the 2nd row, no problem. The Radian is kind of a pain in it- incompatible in the center, but doable outboard. It has lower anchors center and passenger side in the 2nd row. Cargo room is very minimal with the 3rd row in use. It was my understanding that the biggest addition of space of the Suburban over the Tahoe was cargo area in the back.

We are currently shopping for a 2004ish Expedition. It has lower anchors in all 3 2nd row positions and top tethers in all 3 positions there, and 1 in the 3rd row.
 
A

aja

New member
thanks! the odysseys and sienna's are hard to come by around here (chevy country) and pricey or way high mileage when we do find them. our current daily driver is an odyssey with 250k miles :eek: (but 4 tether anchors!).

by the time the twins are ff jet will be in a booster full time and marvel may even be boostered (depending on how long we can keep them rf).
 
TXDani

TXDani

Senior Community Member
I would go with the Suburban over the Tahoe since you will always be using the third row. The Tahoe has hardly any cargo room behind the third row and if you carry a stroller with you it is a PITA.
 
A

aja

New member
DaniCPST said:
I would go with the Suburban over the Tahoe since you will always be using the third row. The Tahoe has hardly any cargo room behind the third row and if you carry a stroller with you it is a PITA.
Click to expand...

that's what i was thinking, too. i need a stroller to go out with all 4 kids. right now i have to take our stroller apart to fit it in the back of our 90's odyssey. :( PITA!
 
A

aja

New member
the lot he's at right now has a suburban with leather for cheaper than the other suburban and the tahoe. looks like we have a winner. :)
 
A

aja

New member
and now that we have it home and i've looked through the manual, there are 4 tether anchors (3 in middle row and 1 in the middle of the third row). :thumbsup:
 
TXDani

TXDani

Senior Community Member
Congrats on the new car...I hope you love it!

I just got a Yukon XL Denali this past weekend and I am in love with the vast array of options I have for carseat setups! Its nice having a big car and never having to worry about fitting everyone and everything.
 

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