Acura MDX owners: Please let me know your experience

I need a new car and are debating whehter I should get the Acura MDX, Odyssey, or Sienna. My preference is Acura MDX but was told that there wasn't enough room and not easy for children to get in and out. I have three children under 5 yrs old. We go on a trip at least once a year. So, enough cargo space is also important.


1. What year of MDX do you have? How is your experience? Has it had any problems, i.e. mechanic issues?

2. Do you think you have enough space with MDX? What can you store when the third row is down? A stroller, bags of groceries? How's about when it is up? Two big luggages and others?


3. Is it difficult for children to get into the third row? Is it a lot of trouble to put a child in the carseat on the third row?

3. Can you put three carseats on the second row, RF and FF?

4. We currently have Britax Boulevard, Decathlon, and Graco Snugride. My youngest will outgrown the infant seat soon and in need for a carseat. I am wonder whether I should get the Frontier 85 or another convertible.

Which Boulevear, Decatholon and Frontier 85 fit on the MDX's second row? If not, which one should I get?


DC#1: 4 yrs old:43 inches, 35 lbs.
DC#2: 2 yrs old: 34 inches, 30 lbs.
DC#3: 2 months: 22 inches, 11 lbs.

5. Are you happy with your MDX? Would you rather get the Odyssey/Sienna?

Thanks so much,
Kathy

You buy a new MDX, don't drive it, and I'll trade you my '05 Sienna. j/k Not really. I'm ready to make a change, but my dh isn't. Sigh.

Love my MDX for what it is. I only have 2 kids but if/when we have a 3rd I wouldn't see a need to move to a van.

The cargo area is HUGE. And when we need to have the 3rd row up and still need cargo, we have this:

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Thule-684-Terrapin-Hitch-Luggage/dp/B000CQ20A0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=sporting-goods&qid=1282957604&sr=8-1"]Amazon.com: Thule 684 Terrapin Hitch Mount Luggage Box: Sports & Outdoors[/ame]


1. What year of MDX do you have? How is your experience? Has it had any problems, i.e. mechanic issues?
2007. No mechanical issues, knock on wood


2. Do you think you have enough space with MDX? What can you store when the third row is down? A stroller, bags of groceries? How's about when it is up? Two big luggages and others?
Each week, my 2 kids in a Frontier and a RFacing BLVD pick up 12 1/2 bushels of produce for our weekly CSA pickup, plus 8 dozen eggs and one cooler full of milk. Last week that included 24 watermelons on my middle row floor too.


3. Is it difficult for children to get into the third row? Is it a lot of trouble to put a child in the carseat on the third row?
When my sister visits we load the 3rd row with 2 Frontiers or a Frontier/Radian. Not an issue at all.

3. Can you put three carseats on the second row, RF and FF?
Yes, lots of combos

4. We currently have Britax Boulevard, Decathlon, and Graco Snugride. My youngest will outgrown the infant seat soon and in need for a carseat. I am wonder whether I should get the Frontier 85 or another convertible.
My preference would be Driver's Outboard : FF BLVD or DECA middle FF Radian, Passenger Outboard: RF BLVD or DECA

Which Boulevear, Decatholon and Frontier 85 fit on the MDX's second row? If not, which one should I get?
They all fit. Just depends on what set up you need. The middle seat tends toward the drivers side and then leave lots of space on the passenger side. The Radian will fit either FF or RF next to either of those seats if placed in the middle.

I don't own an MDX, because we opted for the Sienna and THEN the Odyssey. We do have an XC90, and I've made some comparisons between SUV life and minivan life before. Minivan life is wonderful with younger kids. My older kids are fine in the XC90. Younger kids? Every...single..time we open doors in a parking lot I have to scream to them "DO NOT OPEN YOUR DOORS" in the SUV. Sometimes they do--usually on my van.

The big difference I find with cargo space is that the Odyssey and Sienna have a deeper trunk. You can put a double stroller UPRIGHT in there, and still have lots of room. I also worry less about cargo flying from the rear into kids in a crash, because everything is secured deep down in the cargo area. My older kids can buckle themselves, and climb over the centre-centre (8th) seat to get into the rear row, whereas the MDX and XC90 have the slide foward seat access so you can't install a seat there and expect to get by it.. BUT you can install three across in the MDX whereas the Odyssey and NEW (2011+) Sienna you can not. The 2011 Odyssey apparently you CAN.

With all minivans you can climb into the trunk and easily buckle into the rear row. With the MDX, it's a bit harder to get through that cargo space

I'm not sure how your specific seats will fit. We looked at the 2008 MDX and it's actually what sold us on getting the Touring model of the Odyssey (we looked at an MDX Touring and loved the features).. My friend's MDX is the old bodystyle and I am pretty sure we could get about anything three across there, as is the case with my XC90.

I really think that with younger kids, you'll be much more sane with a minivan. Now that my kids are older, the SUV isn't too bad but the cargo space and ability to move around in the van is *wonderful*. The SUV feels a bit more cramped...although we had a rental Suburban for a few weeks and that thing had room for all of us...to sleep.

-Nicole.

moonsky said:

1. What year of MDX do you have? How is your experience? Has it had any problems, i.e. mechanic issues?

2. Do you think you have enough space with MDX? What can you store when the third row is down? A stroller, bags of groceries? How's about when it is up? Two big luggages and others?


3. Is it difficult for children to get into the third row? Is it a lot of trouble to put a child in the carseat on the third row?

3. Can you put three carseats on the second row, RF and FF?

4. We currently have Britax Boulevard, Decathlon, and Graco Snugride. My youngest will outgrown the infant seat soon and in need for a carseat. I am wonder whether I should get the Frontier 85 or another convertible.

Which Boulevear, Decatholon and Frontier 85 fit on the MDX's second row? If not, which one should I get?


DC#1: 4 yrs old:43 inches, 35 lbs.
DC#2: 2 yrs old: 34 inches, 30 lbs.
DC#3: 2 months: 22 inches, 11 lbs.

5. Are you happy with your MDX? Would you rather get the Odyssey/Sienna?

Thanks so much,
Kathy

Click to expand...

1. What year of MDX do you have? How is your experience? Has it had any problems, i.e. mechanic issues?

2007 (first year of the 2nd generation MDX's.) No mechanical issues. We did have the leather fray and tear on the drivers seat, but the dealer replaced it.

2. Do you think you have enough space with MDX? What can you store when the third row is down? A stroller, bags of groceries? How's about when it is up? Two big luggages and others?

I have never owned a minivan, but I often think I would have more room in one. The MDX is a midsize SUV, so while it has a good amount of room, I wouldn't call it spacious. We almost always have the third row down. This week I had a P&T double stroller and four carseats (that needed to be recycled) in the back under the cargo net. I can go grocery shopping at 3 stores and fit everything back there without any problem.

3. Is it difficult for children to get into the third row? Is it a lot of trouble to put a child in the carseat on the third row?

Kind of. Depends on what seat you have installed in the center of the 2nd row. You can always load kiddos from the back into the 3rd row though.

3. Can you put three carseats on the second row, RF and FF?

Yup. I have had many different setups in the 2nd row. The Radian really only fits rear-facing spacewise in the center though. If you have it outboard passenger side, the front seat is practically unusable. It just takes up so much room front to back.

4. We currently have Britax Boulevard, Decathlon, and Graco Snugride. My youngest will outgrown the infant seat soon and in need for a carseat. I am wonder whether I should get the Frontier 85 or another convertible.

Which Boulevear, Decatholon and Frontier 85 fit on the MDX's second row? If not, which one should I get?

They would all fit nicely. I have put Frontiers back there just fine, but haven't tried out the FR85 yet. My DD is currently in the Recaro ProSPORT and it fits nicely.

5. Are you happy with your MDX? Would you rather get the Odyssey/Sienna?

I am happy. My DH would never go for a minivan, plus I like the luxury that the MDX offers. I love my hands free controls.

. . . Acura MDX is my dream car . . . .

jeno said:

Love my MDX for what it is. I only have 2 kids but if/when we have a 3rd I wouldn't see a need to move to a van.

The cargo area is HUGE. And when we need to have the 3rd row up and still need cargo, we have this:

Amazon.com: Thule 684 Terrapin Hitch Mount Luggage Box: Sports & Outdoors

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Click to expand...

Does this box affect the drive and performance of the car? It is ok to attach it according to the car manual? Thanks.

QuassEE said:

The big difference I find with cargo space is that the Odyssey and Sienna have a deeper trunk. You can put a double stroller UPRIGHT in there, and still have lots of room. I also worry less about cargo flying from the rear into kids in a crash, because everything is secured deep down in the cargo area.

I really think that with younger kids, you'll be much more sane with a minivan. Now that my kids are older, the SUV isn't too bad but the cargo space and ability to move around in the van is *wonderful*. The SUV feels a bit more cramped...although we had a rental Suburban for a few weeks and that thing had room for all of us...to sleep.

-Nicole.

Click to expand...

Hi Nicole, You bought up a good point on the luggage flying during the crash. Are there nets or any products sold in the market that can secure them?

I consider the SUV because I found both Sienna and Odyssey have some safety issues. Though there have been no recalls on Sienna on uncontrolled accelerations, some incidents have incurred and posted on edmunds (http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/WebX/.f105086!make=Toyota&model=Sienna&ed_makeindex=.f105086

Odyssey has known for soft brake and transmission problems. I guess brake failure is managable than accelerator one as there is unlikely that all brakes would break at the same time.

My search actually starts from Sienna or Odyssey. The space is nice but I am uncomfortable to drive Sienna. I avoid Odyssey because it will be difficult to often be in/out the car service with three young children. Several people told us that their Odysseys have a lot of mechanic issues.

moonsky said:

Does this box affect the drive and performance of the car? It is ok to attach it according to the car manual? Thanks.

Click to expand...

It fits into the trailer hitch which we had added onto our MDX. It affects performance when in use somewhat I'm sure but not enough to change the way I drive. It doesn't stick out past the vehicle like a roof top carrier does.

I currently drive an 05 MDX. I absolutely love it. We did have to problem with the torque converter but it was replaced under warranty and it's the only issue so far. It gets around 17 MPG on average. We have 3 boys ages 13, 10 and 6. The 10 year old rides in the back in a SK Monterey booster and the 13 rides in middle row with the 6 year old whom is in a regent. Haven't had to fit 3 seats in the middle row but I believe it could be done with the right seats.

That being said I completely agree with Quassee. I drove a van until 2 years ago. It was much easier when the boys were younger. THe vans are more spacious and do have a larger cargo area. The MDX cargo area is quite small if you have the 3rd rows seats up. If you fold them down then it's huge back there. We use the third row alot but no longer have the need for a stroller. Our BOB stroller was sold after purchasing the MDX.

I guess I am trying to say that if you don't mind driving a van then that would be the easiest by far with younger ones. No flying doors to worry about and alot more room. As the kids get older you will not need so much room IMO.

As I said I the MDX but it was an adjustment going from our van to the MDX. I missed my van for a while but we really didn't have the need for a van any longer and my DH was so ready to be minivan free.