Sedans or wagons that seat 6?

UlrikeDG

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus
Just out of curiosity, are there any current sedans or wagons being made that seat six? I know the Impala and the Taurus used to, but I don't think the current incarnations of either still do. Oh, wait, Edmunds says the Impala does seat 6, as does the Buick Lucerne.

Edit: I also see the Buick Lucerne, Ford Crown Victoria, Cadillac DTS, and Lincoln Town Car. Any others?
 
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Cathyliz

Senior Community Member
Have you looked at any Crossover cars? Some of them seat 6-8. The way it was explained to me was they're basically SUV's built on car frames so they get the gas milage of a car, but have the room of an SUV. Here's a site that reviews cars. I know one of the reviewers.
http://www.motherproof.com/crossovers/
I like the Saturn Outlook. :) I just can't afford it right now. :( Maybe in a couple of years.
 

Melizerd

New member
My Grandparents have a 01 Impala. You can NOT seat 6 people in that car. Technically you can sit 3 across in the front the middle is a lap belt only and no way anyone who's big enough to be out of a car seat and booster would fit there.
 

UlrikeDG

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus
I know there are other types of vehicles that can do it. I drive a minivan (Odyssey). I used to have an SUV (Pilot). I'm curious what the smallest/most fuel efficient options are for a family of 6.

My husband's car (a '91 Camry with a BUNCH of miles), is going to die eventually, and while he doesn't need much for his daily commute (2 miles each way, and he comes home for lunch), it would be nice if we could fit the entire family in its replacement if necessary. I just like to keep a bit of an idea of what our options are, just in case.
 

UlrikeDG

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus
Is there a tether anchor for the front-center position?

If there's only a lap belt there (which is to be expected in any vehicle that has 3 across the front row), the only person who can sit there is one in a 5 point harness, and having a TA for that position would increase the options (e.g., certain EZ-On products).
 

Melizerd

New member
I'm not sure if there is a tether or not, there's no way there's enough room for any harnessed seat, not even the radian.

I know SOMEONE here has an 01 Impala though because they were commenting that they bought it one year too early for LATCH.
 

Dillipop

Well-known member
I have a 99 buick that has the bench front seat. There is a lap only belt there and in the manual it explicitely states that no child seat should be placed there. It's really too bad, since that is all a lap belt is good for. There is no TA available for mine and I highly doubt there would be one available for any cars that have the 6th seat available.
 

Victorious4

Senior Community Member
My Skids' mom's Dodge Intrepid had a front center lap belt. I wouldn't want to use it except for a small dog in the Pet Buckle, though.
 

SafeDad

CPSDarren - Admin
Staff member
The Chrysler Pacifica is basically a glorified wagon, though they call it a crossover. It seats 6, but in 3 rows of seating. Better than having a third passenger in the middle front seat, though.

The updated model got a decent review in the latest Consumer Reports. The new Saturn Outlook got a very good review, all the more impressive considering that CR doesn't usually give high ratings to domestic models- especially Saturns.
 

Kecia

Admin - CPST Instructor
You can't ask for much more than this from the NHTSA:

http://www.safercar.gov/Cars/4089.html

I hope it does similarly well in the IIHS testing.

FWIW, CR gave the Outlook (and its sister vehicles Enclave & Arcadia) rave reviews in this month's (August) issue as well.

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/past-road-test/suvs-8-07/overview/0708_car_ov.htm

http://www.autoblog.com/2007/07/03/saturn-outlook-cleans-up-in-consumer-reports-comparo/

I agree that if it does well in IIHS crash testing then it looks like GM will finally have a real winner on their hands.

Kecia
 

Defrost

Moderator - CPSTI Emeritus
As you know, we just went through this, too. In spite of the seat belt issue in the third row, I still love it. It gets 28 mpg on the highway (22 in town), has an awesome turn radius, rides & drives like a car, and was in our price range. Everything else that had three rows of seating and seated 6 (meaning, no kid in the front middle) AND got decent gas mileage was way out of our price range. And since it's for hubby and he's not going to be hauling the entire family very often, I'd definitely at least give it a test-drive when the time comes.
 

etoilech

New member
Just out of curiosity, are there any current sedans or wagons being made that seat six? I know the Impala and the Taurus used to, but I don't think the current incarnations of either still do. Oh, wait, Edmunds says the Impala does seat 6, as does the Buick Lucerne.

Edit: I also see the Buick Lucerne, Ford Crown Victoria, Cadillac DTS, and Lincoln Town Car. Any others?

Man, it's too bad you're not over here... Honda has a new car that seats 6 called the F-RV. You could have a kid in a ff car seat in the middle between the driver and passenger (has ISOFIX, iirc) and three ISOFIX equipped seats in the back. We nearly bought it... it didn't have the cargo room we need for Erik's wheelchair (bought a Volvo v70). I remember you has a Honda when you were in Germany, no?

I wish I had more advice, I haven't the foggiest what would be to your liking over there. The Mazda 5 is really nice though if it's like the one we have here.
 

southpawboston

New member
Man, it's too bad you're not over here... Honda has a new car that seats 6 called the F-RV.

The Mazda 5 is really nice though if it's like the one we have here.

yeah, there are a ton of cool cars in europe that we don't get here :(

yes the mazda5 is essentially the same car worldwide, except only the US (and maybe australian) version gets the larger 2.3L motor :)
 

etoilech

New member
yeah, there are a ton of cool cars in europe that we don't get here :(

yes the mazda5 is essentially the same car worldwide, except only the US (and maybe australian) version gets the larger 2.3L motor :)

Actually, usually the Japanese cars sold in the USA are much nicer than the models sold here... we just occasionally luck out, lol.

The 2.3l engine doesn't sell well here, petrol is really expensive here, so we take the weaker engines... you don't need that much power to drive here roads are too clogged. ;)
 

UlrikeDG

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus
We rented a deisel Ford minivan for vacation the first time my parents came to visit (before we bought the Pilot), and I thought that would be a cool family car to have in the US. It had captain's chairs in all 8 seating positions, which made it very flexible to configure.
 

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