Carseats in an Expedition

U

Unregistered

Guest
Looking for advice from anyone who has owned or who owns a Ford Expedition. Right now our current vehicle is too small so we are on the market for a larger SUV.

Our Kids-
2 year old forward facing in Evenflo symphony
2- 10 month olds rear facing in Chicco Keyfit 30s.
PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THAT SOMETIME IN THE NEXT FIVE MONTHS THE TWINS WILL BE SWITCHING TO A REAR FACING LARGER CARSEAT MADE BY SAFETY 1ST.

Right now we are looking at a 2006 Ford Expedition that has the quad seating. To anyone who is unfamiliar with that term, it means two captains chairs in the first row behind drivers, then a 3rd row bench in the rear.

We are also looking at a 2008 Ford Expedition, that has all bench seats.

Now for anyone who has one or had one, which do you find to be an easier seating arrangement.

Two in the quad seating, third child in the third row?
OR
Three Children Across on the Center BenchSeat?

Looking for advice, as we cant really go out test driving every model. Considering we dont have a sitter, and each vehicle is four hours away from us. Thanks in advance!
 
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MotoMommaNH

New member
Bumping up for you because I'm not familiar with Expeditions. However, if you plan on the three across situation , it's going to depend a lot on the seats used. What are the Safety 1st seats you plan on using? Would you consider replacing the Symphony if need be? It's pretty wide and may not work in a 3 across.
If those are things you want to avoid you may want to go with quad seating to makes access to the third row easy.
 

T4K

Well-known member
I've had a Navigator and if the seats are the same there is tons of room in the 3rd row. However, only one top tether so the middle would be the ideal location for the forward facer.
 

jess71903

Ambassador
I have an 05, although no quad seating, and only 2 kids. The Expedition is really roomy, though, and 3 across should be easy to do. You might have to be willing to replace one or more of your car seats. I wouldn't let a particular car seat change my choice on such a large purchase. The 3rd row is comfy, even for an adult. Just for some perspective: we took ours to Orlando. We went with another family of 4 and when we got there, all of us rode to/from Universal Studios in our vehicle. Middle row was a Recaro Prosport and True Fit FF, then an adult. 3rd row was a 5 stepped older kid, Nautilus in booster mode, and another adult, with 2 adults up front.
 

jgomez411

New member
I have a 2004 with the Quad seating and honestly, if I had 3 younger children, I would go for a bench seat. You are still probably going to need to check and/or buckle your 2 YO in and that wouldn't be very easy with rfing seats in the captains chairs and your 2 YO in the 3rd row. Like PP said, the bench seat is very wide and fitting seats shouldn't be an issue. At one point my DD (3 YO) insisted on sitting in the third row and it was irritating climbing in the back everytime to make sure she was buckled correctly.
 

ks1978

New member
I have an Expedition with bench seating and with three in carseats-I think I would prefer the bench seating. I've had three across easily there and I think it just makes it easier to have them all right behind you. That's not a guarantee that the three seats you want to put there will fit, but like a precious poster said, I wouldn't let the carseats you own influence the car you buy. The bench seat is pretty wide though-I would think many three across combinations would be possible.
 

jess71903

Ambassador
Unless the mileage on the 06 was significantly lower, or it was a whole lot cheaper or something, I'd lean toward the 08, both because of the bench in the middle, and because it's the newer body style.
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
The 2006 has 73,000 miles for $8700, bottom of the line package, no heated seats or cooled seats, or powered seats. Also has a jump seat in between driver and front passenger instead of console. Ex-reservation vehicle. Ugly paint color

2008 has 120,000 miles for $10900. Xlt package, so not fancy, but powered seats, leather seags, grill guard. Pretty blue color

We are,no longer looking at the king rranch that was a 2006.

The safety first carseats i have are 17.75 inches wide. Rear facing and forward facing seats. They were purchased because we tried to do three with with them in our xterra but that .75 inches and thr width of the symphony made it impossible, by two inches. However, thr expedition should be able to have that symphony, and those two safety first carseats go three wide, because an expedition is alot wider than the exterra. I think im starting to shy away from quad seating, the one time i used it in an enclave, i hated it!
 

An Aurora

Senior Community Member
I adore my captain's chairs but if I had twins and a toddler, I wouldn't want to deal with that seating setup. you'll have plenty of room for a three across. But if you're going to put all three in the second row, you could totally get by with your current vehicle, unless of course you want a new vehicle anyway. New seats are cheaper than a new car!
 

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