Question Chevy Traverse anyone??? please help

I need to replace my family car that was totalled 3 months ago. My dad found me a great deal on a Chevy Traverse and he said if we buy new he'd be willing to help with payments for a while at least. (He has an issue with buying used cars) But I'm just not sure if it will work for us. Before I lug all the kids and all our stuff down to a dealer, I was hoping someone with expirience in a Traverse could answer some questions for me.

1. How much cargo room is there with all 3 rows UP?
I have 4 girls so leaving the back row down is not an option. We would have my youngest dds walker (folds very thin) and/or her wheelchair (also folds suprisingly thin but its really heavy) and her emergency med kit (small duffel bag) back there almost all the time. How much room do you think would be left for backpacks or groceries?

2. How easy is it to access the third row from the driver's side?
My youngest needs to be in the 2nd row passenger side in a 5 point harness. from the pics I've seen, it looks like that would make it impossible to access the 3rd row from that side of the car. Or is there some secret that I'm not aware of?

3. How much leg room is there in the back?
Could my teenagers and/or adult relatives/friends sit back there comfortably for an hour or more?

4. Can I put boosters in the 3rd row?....in the center 2nd row?
Where would the safest/most convenient spot be?

5. Would you consider it a good/safe car for new drivers?
My 15 year old has her permit and would likely be driving it at least occasionally.

6. Any other 8 passenger options I should be considering?
The Toyota Sienna is out. I wanted to love it but just didn't feel safe driving it. (Totally a personal fit thing. Nothing else against it.) Honda Odyssey is an option but might be stretching our budget even with my dad's help. And I'm thinking it will drive like the Sienna. I don't have any idea what my other options are.

WOW this is a long post! Sorry about that. Anyone who reads the whole thing and can maybe answer a question or 2 deserves a prize.

Thanks in advance for any advice/info you can offer me. I really appreciate it.

Anna

Another member just bought one hopefully she sees this.

Don't have any experience with the Traverse but I have an Odyssey and have driven my grandpa's Sienna. They do not handle the same at all. I much prefer the Sienna personally - smoother and quieter, but DH claims to not fit into one. So we have an Odyssey. I do still like how it drives.

I don't have a Traverse but we test drove one recently. I highly doubt it would have enough cargo space for you with the 3rd row up. Unfortunately, I think most of the crossovers will not have enough cargo room for you.

I have an 8 passenger Saturn Outlook which is the same as the Traverse/Acadia/Enclave.

1. How much cargo room is there with all 3 rows UP?
There is a decent amount of room - I can fit a large cooler behind the 3rd row when we're on trips with the 3rd row up. I think it's better than a lot of vehicles with a 3rd row. I'd say around 18" or so.


2. How easy is it to access the third row from the driver's side?
My youngest needs to be in the 2nd row passenger side in a 5 point harness. from the pics I've seen, it looks like that would make it impossible to access the 3rd row from that side of the car. Or is there some secret that I'm not aware of?
The 2nd row seats tumble forward to access the 3rd row. The passenger side is the '40' side and the driver's side is the '60' side (the driver's side & middle move together). So it's not possible to access the 3rd row if a harness seat is installed in the 2nd row on that side. The passenger side seat is wide enough that even with a Frontier installed there I can still tumble the driver's/middle side to access the 3rd row. If you want access on the driver's side the harnessed seat needs to be on the passenger side.

Need to take the kids to school, I'll be back to get to the rest of the questions.

I'm back...

3. How much leg room is there in the back?
The 3rd row is pretty roomy & comfortable (as long as the 2nd row is moved forward). We've taken ours on road trips (driving about 6hrs/day for at least 4 days) with my MIL & FIL and we've had an adult in the 3rd row without too many complaints.

4. Can I put boosters in the 3rd row?....in the center 2nd row?
My DD is just starting to booster, I'm not sure how much the interiors have changed (they look pretty similar when I glance in new ones at the dealership) - the headrests in the 3rd row are forward tilted and non-adjustable. I think they cause more issues in the 3rd row than the 2nd. There is no headrest in the center positions of both rows so a HBB in those spots should work fine. My DD has used a Harmony Literider in the outboard positions in the 3rd row and it worked great. The other cool thing about the vehicle is that it has built in shoulder belt adjuster straps, kind of like the straps that come with the LBB's. The helps adjust the shoulder belts in the back for smaller/shorter riders (we use them for my short MIL too).

5. Would you consider it a good/safe car for new drivers?
I guess, my main hesitation would probably be that it's not a small vehicle and your sight-lines out the back & sides are reduced compared to smaller vehicles. It might be harder for a new driver to maneuver in a parking lot (I'd advise getting the option with the back-up camera, we don't have it and I kind of wish we did in hindsight).

6. Any other 8 passenger options I should be considering?
I think it's closest competitor is the Honda Pilot/Acura MDX, we didn't look at those when we were buying (we checked out the Highlander which is smaller).

Hope that helps a little

aeormsby said:

6. Any other 8 passenger options I should be considering?
I think it's closest competitor is the Honda Pilot/Acura MDX, we didn't look at those when we were buying (we checked out the Highlander which is smaller).

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Just an FYI, the MDX seats 7. The Pilot seats 8.

I looked at them and crossed it off our list because of the lack of headrests in the middle of both back rows. You're needs may be different than mine, but I have a teen and wanted to be able to put adult sized people in any seating spot. It was a big peeve I had with my prior van.

Could you do with 7 passenger capability? If so, take a look at the Ford Flex. They're about the same price new as the Traverse. The cargo area in the rear has a well like a minivan so it gives a surprising amount of room with the third row up. With all the seats down there's a ton of room. I recently had an entire dissembled bunkbed and two twin mattresses in mine, with room to spare. It sits a little lower than the typical SUV so easier to load and unload people and stuff. The basic model has a lot of "extra" features not found on most other veh's basic models. Back up sensors (great for a new driver), Sync is fabulous-it's kind of like Onstar but runs through your cell phone so there's no monthly fee. It has a My-key that's great for teen drivers. You can program it do specific things, like not go over 80mph, cant turn off off traction control, radio won't go up too loud, radio won't turn on unless from passengers have their seatbelts on. My daughter is newly licensed and has driven my Flex quite a bit. Our other car is a Civic and easier for her, but I feel like if she gets used to a larger car something small should be a piece of cake.

The Pilot doesn't have much cargo room. I think you'll find that unless you get something giant like a suburban, they'll all lack cargo room with the third seat up.

Would you consider a mini-van? It's going to give you the most for your $ and probably have the most cargo room.

I would test drive an odyssey if I were you. I test drove a sienna and felt the same way you said and then drove the odyssey and much preferred it! It felt sturdier.

I can't comment on the Traverse, but I can comment on the Flex vs a minivan. We had a Flex for 2w while on vacation. It was nice enough, but it is not a vehicle I would choose if I needed to transport 4 children plus large cargo on a regular basis. It had waaaaay less cargo room than an Ody because it isn't as high (bottom of floor to roofline).

In your situation I would get a minivan.

Thank you all for your responses! This is a lot of information. All very helpful.

I would test drive an odyssey if I were you. I test drove a sienna and felt the same way you said and then drove the odyssey and much preferred it! It felt sturdier.

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:yeahthatlove: I test drove the odyssey today without the kids. Definitely a top contender right now. But it's the most expensive option and that's a big factor.

Could you do with 7 passenger capability? If so, take a look at the Ford Flex. They're about the same price new as the Traverse. The cargo area in the rear has a well like a minivan so it gives a surprising amount of room with the third row up. With all the seats down there's a ton of room. I recently had an entire dissembled bunkbed and two twin mattresses in mine, with room to spare. It sits a little lower than the typical SUV so easier to load and unload people and stuff. The basic model has a lot of "extra" features not found on most other veh's basic models. Back up sensors (great for a new driver), Sync is fabulous-it's kind of like Onstar but runs through your cell phone so there's no monthly fee. It has a My-key that's great for teen drivers. You can program it do specific things, like not go over 80mph, cant turn off off traction control, radio won't go up too loud, radio won't turn on unless from passengers have their seatbelts on. My daughter is newly licensed and has driven my Flex quite a bit. Our other car is a Civic and easier for her, but I feel like if she gets used to a larger car something small should be a piece of cake.

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:thumbsup::thumbsup: Okay........You sold me! I WANT a Flex for my kid to drive!!!! Might not work for the rest of us though. We *could* do 7 passenger. The car we're replacing was 7. But we only had 3 kids when we bought it. I'd much prefer 8 passenger for school carpooling/friends/family etc.

aeormsby, THANK YOU so much for answering *all* of my questions! Sounds like the Traverse is a possiblity for us. I'm excited to try it out with my girls.

I looked at them and crossed it off our list because of the lack of headrests in the middle of both back rows. You're needs may be different than mine, but I have a teen and wanted to be able to put adult sized people in any seating spot. It was a big peeve I had with my prior van.

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Someone fill me in please..... I can't put my teens in a seat without a headrest??? I've never heard this before.

anna said:

Someone fill me in please..... I can't put my teens in a seat without a headrest??? I've never heard this before.

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Ideally, no. Everyone that's not RF should have support up to at least the top of their ears to prevent/minimize head and neck injuries in a crash.

Yes, you want a person not in a safety seat (harnessed seat or high back booster) to have the vehicle's head support to the center of the head. This is also the reason for carseats being outgrown when the tip of the ears reaches the top of the carseat. Having support behind the head helps minimize whiplash in an accident (also the reason so many headrests are forward tilting, keeps the head from rebounding backwards after going forward).

There are a few carseats & boosters that don't have reinforced backs that also require the vehicle headrest or seat back to provide the head protection (primarily Dorel brand HBB, and the Apex & Go harnessed seats).

So for you with older kids and carpooling it might not work as well to have 2 seating positions in the back that are less safe for non-harnessed kids to ride in.

Thanks so much for that info. That makes a big difference for me. I only wish I'd known sooner. Obviously I want all of my kids to be as safe as possible.

So it sounds like I need to go with the Odyssey. Now for convincing my dad and dh that the extra $$$ is necessary. Wish me luck.

Just out of curiosity....anyone know if other cars besides the flex offer that awesome my-key feature or something like it? I'm thinking ahead for when the time comes to replace dh's commuter car.

I have a 2011 Traverse that I'm in love with. The lack of head rest in the middle positions was not an issue for me, as a matter of fact, it's a plus. I have 4 kids. But the middle seat is SO narrow that the only person that will fit there comfortably will be an 8-12yr old or so. And the seat backs are relatively tall, so provided good head support for the 10yr old that has ridden in that spot. Didn't bother me at all. But a kid any bigger won't fit there anyways, so kind of a moot point. Also, I'm glad to have at least 2 spots in the car where I don't have to worry about the angled head rests causing install issues.

But, the biggest issue will be cargo space. I have a small umbrella stroller in the back. And I can't go on a regular grocery shopping trip. Granted, mine are generally VERY large (think $300 worth of groceries). And there is no way I can do it in the Traverse with the 3rd row up. No way. No how. This has been the biggest adjustment for me (I downsized from a Suburban). I can't imagine a wheel chair or walker back there and still having room for much of anything else let alone grocery shopping unless you only get a few things (less than 10 bags).