Car for 3 kids? eta: Subaru Outback! (I think)

turtlejd · May 19, 2014

Our 2006 Prius was squished by a huge tree and it's been deemed a total loss by our insurance company. Now we're unexpectedly in the market for a new car. We've had a lot of issues with our Prius and DH really doesn't want to get another one. I've always been a Honda person and we're thinking of replacing it with a Honda. We already have an Odyssey so we'd like this other car to be able to fit our 3 kids, but usually just 1 or 2. We could really squish the 3 of them into our Prius but DD1 hated it! Our kids are 9, 5, and 3.5. The 9 year old rides in a hbb or lbb, the 5 year old rides in a Frontier or hbb and the 3.5 year old is FF in a Radian or Frontier.

What we're looking for:
1. Fits our 3 kids relatively comfortably, but won't be our primary vehicle for transporting 3.
2. Fuel efficient.
3. Smaller....

We're eying the CRV and Accord Hybrid. Opinions would be great or other suggestions! TIA!

cantabdad · May 20, 2014

Re: Car for 3 kids?

I looked at both the CR-V and Accord last year when car shopping. They can both handle a 3-across, but it will be squishy.

The CR-V has about an extra 2" across the backseat compared to the Prius. The Accord has 3" or so more than the Prius, but I found that it was somewhat less usable space because the outboard seats are more contoured/bolstered.

Also, the floor of the backseat is flat in the CR-V, which makes for more comfortable seating than having a hump in the center as in the Accord... though not an issue if the center kid's feet don't touch yet.

The hybrid Accord is a nice car and gets great mileage, but it is so much more expensive than the base non-hybrid model (MSRP $29K vs. $22K) that with today's gas prices, the breakeven point is way out beyond 100,000 miles. The battery pack also takes up some of the trunk space -- though perhaps that's not an issue since you have the Odyssey for longer trips and hauling stuff.

Some of the diesel VWs get great gas mileage, especially on the highway -- you might look at the Jetta Sportwagen or Passat. Maybe also the Mazda5; it's not that great on gas (21/28 mpg) but it's compact and versatile. You could leave the 3rd row folded down except on those occasions when you have all 3 kids at once.

If you haven't totally given up on Toyota, the Camry Hybrid is a little more spacious in the backseat than the Prius and gets respectable mileage.

turtlejd · May 20, 2014

Re: Car for 3 kids?

Thanks for the info! Good to know about the crv vs accord usable space. Forgot about those humps in the middle! The Camry sounds promising too though I think dh is done with Toyota. We don't do a ton of freeway driving so not sure how well the diesels will be. Thx so much!

turtlejd · May 20, 2014

Re: Car for 3 kids?

We've also been looking at the Hyundai sonata hybrid and I'm open to other suggestions too. Dh said its important that the three kids can ride in it pretty easily because he doesn't like switching cars. And I just realized DD1 plays the cello. So eventually a full size cello is going to need to fit in there somewhere.

We also looked at the Mazda5 when shopping for the odyssey and I'm mildly obsessed with the car. Just don't like that there's no option to seat 3 in the middle row and the back row kinda scares me because it's so close to the trunk.

EmmaGrace'sMom · May 20, 2014

Re: Car for 3 kids?

I would stay away from the Honda Hybrids, they're batteries just don't last like Toyota's. I also remember researching the Hyundai Hybrid, and the gas mileage just wasn't up to par. The Altima has a roomy back seat, as well as the Camry.

Just curious, what issues have you had with your Prius? I have a 2010 and love it so far.

CarSafetyGuy · May 20, 2014

Re: Car for 3 kids?

turtlejd said:
Our 2006 Prius was squished by a huge tree and it's been deemed a total loss by our insurance company. Now we're unexpectedly in the market for a new car. We've had a lot of issues with our Prius and DH really doesn't want to get another one. I've always been a Honda person and we're thinking of replacing it with a Honda. We already have an Odyssey so we'd like this other car to be able to fit our 3 kids, but usually just 1 or 2. We could really squish the 3 of them into our Prius but DD1 hated it! Our kids are 9, 5, and 3.5. The 9 year old rides in a hbb or lbb, the 5 year old rides in a Frontier or hbb and the 3.5 year old is FF in a Radian or Frontier.

What we're looking for:
1. Fits our 3 kids relatively comfortably, but won't be our primary vehicle for transporting 3.
2. Fuel efficient.
3. Smaller....

We're eying the CRV and Accord Hybrid. Opinions would be great or other suggestions! TIA!

The Accord hybrid will have more room than the CR-V for 3 across. Of course, it'll also be more fuel efficient. What's your budget?

turtlejd · May 20, 2014

Re: Car for 3 kids?

EmmaGrace'sMom said:
I would stay away from the Honda Hybrids, they're batteries just don't last like Toyota's. I also remember researching the Hyundai Hybrid, and the gas mileage just wasn't up to par. The Altima has a roomy back seat, as well as the Camry.

Just curious, what issues have you had with your Prius? I have a 2010 and love it so far.

Thanks for the info! Will take a look at the Altima. Totally forgot about Nissan.

We've had issues with our Prius dashboard throughout the 8 years we've had it. The dash would sometimes not turn on, but the car would be on or we couldn't turn off the car, or we couldn't tell if the car was on or not because the lights in the dash wouldn't turn on. It was not good but we couldn't ever replicate it at the dealer until a few months ago and once it happened, I drove it straight to the dealer. Lucky it was a Saturday and we weren't headed anywhere at the time. It was replaced and then the back handle to the trunk recently just popped off I think from over use. I was going to reattach it with packing tape, but then the tree fell on it.

Also we had some deal where we bought coupons for service with Toyota when we first bought the car, but even though they didn't say they expired, they suddenly "expired" a few years ago.

I know a lot of people who love their Prius so I think ours may be just a fluke. DH is just sick of dealing with it after all these years. We also bought it at the time when there were waitlists and the price was way more than for a new one now.

turtlejd · May 26, 2014

Just wanted to say we test drove the Honda CRV and Accord with the three kiddos and they both were fine. We were thinking the CRV would be a bit better but we weren't in love with how it felt when we were driving it. Today we went to Subaru and checked out the Forester and the Outback and I'm 90% sure we're going with the Outback. We didn't bring the kids today because it's around the block from grandma's so we just dropped the kiddos off, but it seemed like plenty of room for our current car seat situation.

henrietta · May 26, 2014

turtlejd said:
Just wanted to say we test drove the Honda CRV and Accord with the three kiddos and they both were fine. We were thinking the CRV would be a bit better but we weren't in love with how it felt when we were driving it. Today we went to Subaru and checked out the Forester and the Outback and I'm 90% sure we're going with the Outback. We didn't bring the kids today because it's around the block from grandma's so we just dropped the kiddos off, but it seemed like plenty of room for our current car seat situation.

Definitely check that carefully. The Outback is a fabulous vehicle...but 3 across could be tough in it. My bff has a newish one (2013 she bought brand new) and I can't even imagine getting a Frontier, Radian, and booster in it, but to be honest, I haven't even tried. I just imagine it would be really tough. It didn't seem to me like it would be very friendly to a three across, but I'm not super experienced w/3 across scenarios or the Outback.

I've gotten 3 across in my mother in laws Sonata though, and it seemed fairly easy. Was a while back though.

turtlejd · May 26, 2014

Thanks! We're just doing FF Radian, Parkway (I think), and bubble bum or maybe Incognito. I just realized that the Parkway and Radian are being replaced by insurance because they're covered with glass and tree debris since they sawed the whole tree on top of the car....so guess I need new carseats too. Wasn't thinking of that!

Will definitely check before we actually purchase though! Thx!

cantabdad · May 27, 2014

turtlejd said:
Thanks! We're just doing FF Radian, Parkway (I think), and bubble bum or maybe Incognito.

Will definitely check before we actually purchase though! Thx!

Definitely worth double-checking before making this large of a purchase, but we have an Outback and I'm almost positive that the combination of seats that you listed (Parkway, Radian, Bubble Bum) will fit. I know that I have done Radian-BB-Oobr on ours.

Also, if everything still fits this way, I might suggest putting the FF Radian in the center seat. I'm not as fond of the seatbelt fit in that spot and the center head restraint is lower than the other two, so you might want your backless booster rider in one of the outboard seats.

turtlejd · May 27, 2014

cantabdad said:
Definitely worth double-checking before making this large of a purchase, but we have an Outback and I'm almost positive that the combination of seats that you listed (Parkway, Radian, Bubble Bum) will fit. I know that I have done Radian-BB-Oobr on ours.

Also, if everything still fits this way, I might suggest putting the FF Radian in the center seat. I'm not as fond of the seatbelt fit in that spot and the center head restraint is lower than the other two, so you might want your backless booster rider in one of the outboard seats.

Thanks! Is the Oobr narrower than the Parkway? Though I think my DD may be too tall for it.

cantabdad · May 28, 2014

turtlejd said:
Thanks! Is the Oobr narrower than the Parkway? Though I think my DD may be too tall for it.

They're about the same, in the range of 17"-18" wide. With the Oobr latched in, there's still space on the outboard side for the cupholder (otherwise "wasted" space from a 3-across perspective). A non-latch booster would give you a little more flexibility in positioning if that's an issue.

~joanna~ · May 28, 2014

We have a 2013 outback and can easily fit a parkway, bubblebum and frontier in the back. That is our exact set up.

turtlejd · May 28, 2014

~joanna~ said:
We have a 2013 outback and can easily fit a parkway, bubblebum and frontier in the back. That is our exact set up.

Thanks! That would be awesome if the Frontier can fit too!

~joanna~ · May 29, 2014

The bubble bum is a little hard to buckle but not really a problem for an older kid.

Car for 3 kids? eta: Subaru Outback! (I think)

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