Tall driver, harnessed 3 in a row, good city mileage

DH has a 2006 sentra which I despise. It is basically impossible to get 3 in a row without much teeth gnashing. He is also 6'3" and has bad knees so he needs the seat to go as far back as possible. Kids are 5 next month (41lbs, 45" or so, 5T shirts, still fits in a marathon 70 with a bit of room), 3 (ff'ing in this car, 38lbs, 41", right at 4th slots of radian), and 14months (32", 27lbs, outgrowing 24m onesies - top of the charts all the way around with bonus long torso and big head - she outgrew the coccoro right at a year). Right now, this car is used solely for daycare dropoff of the older 2 and his commute - ~25 miles roundtrip, all over backroads.

My car is a 2009 mazda5 which I LOVE but DH does not because it hurts his knees. It's getting to be a tight squeeze but I really don't feel comfortable driving a bigger car so I'd love to keep it as long as possible, in which case it might make more sense to have DH get a outback or other wagon for more cargo space. We never roadtrip but it gets tedious having to clown car in every costco run.

What would be top recs for our needs for new cars in either the compact sedan/hatchback department or wagon? I'm very willing to pay for good safety features but don't need premium features, DH really could care less about cars as long as he fits well and it's reliable.

(I have a zillion seats at the moment including 2 radians, 2 frontier 85s and a 90) but we'd buy whatever's necessary to make it work.)

The 2013 Outback has a lot of room in the back seat. DH and I are both on the tall side and have no problems with leg room up front. In fact, my Dad is 6'6" and he rode in it a few times and commented how nice and roomy it was (unlike my mom's Corolla which he says "he has to screw himself in and out" LOL).

On long trips/highway you'll see great gas mileage. On our way to vacation last month I hit 33.3 mpg (Subaru says you can get "up to" 30 mpg). I have the 4 cylinder, which does get better gas mileage than the 6 cylinder. Plus, it's AWD.

All that being said, I only have one little one, not 3.

You could get either a new or used long wheelbase German sedan - those have great rear seat legroom (which of course translates into front seat legroom.) An Audi A8L or a BMW 750Li would fit the bill. Only other excellent legroom option out there is the Ford Flex, but it doesn't sound like you want something that big.