Safe, 3-row car for narrow garage at top of steep driveway?

tribord

New member
We are looking to get a vehicle with three rows. We have a limitation of a narrow (93") garage opening at the top of a short, steep driveway. It takes some speed up the driveway to make it into the garage and it isn't possible to stop in front of the garage, back up a little, readjust and drive in slowly; you've got to be lined up correctly from the bottom of the driveway and ready for a quick, straight, shot. No problem in my 2006 Corolla, but I'm a little nervous when I drive in DH's 1999 4-Runner (80" wide including mirrors).

Must-haves:
-Seats 6 or more
-very safe
-Can be driven through our 93" garage door opening (automatic folding mirrors fine, and I could live with manually folding the driver's side mirror if it was my only choice)
-Can get up and down our steep, short, driveway without bottoming out.

Preferred:
-reliable
-new
-under $45K
-third row will work for occasional use by tall (6'-6'3") folks
-sliding doors

We test drove the new Highlander and Sienna and the only way they would fit is with both mirrors folded (manual folding only on these cars, which I'm not willing to do on the passenger side). Additionally, the Sienna bottomed out when I backed down our driveway.

So we need narrower than a Highlander and higher ground clearance than a Sienna. I've been so frustrated looking at dimensions online- except for Ford they don't seem to include the width with mirrors.

I was so excited to finally be upgrading to a safer, bigger, car, and was very deflated after our Toyota test drives. :( Hoping there is something that will work for us.
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kathysr98

Active member
Have you tried a Ford Flex? It's 80.1" with the mirrors folded, and auto folding mirrors are available on at least mid and higher trim levels. They are possibly on the lower level as well. It fits your price range, and I think it will have more ground clearance than a Sienna. It lacks sliding doors, but has lots of legroom in the second row, and the third is reasonable. Some models have second row sliding seats which could add (or subtract) legroom for those in the third row.
 

tribord

New member
Thanks for the reply! I hadn't checked if the Flex had automatic folding mirrors so that is good to know. What are your thoughts on the safety results? Per the spreadsheet linked to through this a post on this site (http://www.informedforlife.org/demos/FCKeditor/UserFiles/File/IFL NEW MASTER jan 27.pdf ) it is not recommended as one of the safest cars. It looks like a lot of test data is not available for the Flex: SAFETY: [IIHS frontal impact-small overlap rating in bottom 69%] [NHTSA ratings incomplete].

This is for both the FWD and AWD, but is one generally considered safer? We do get snow and ice a number of times in the winter where we live, and my husband's FWD 4Runner is a nightmare. My Corolla handles much better.

I had also thought about the Transit Connect but again it isn't in the top for safety.

Is pretty much any 2015 or 2016 vehicle going to be "safe enough", especially compared to our current vehicles?
 

kathysr98

Active member
Informed for Life, in my opinion, is only a good resource if the current year model vehicle has been tested by both IIHS & NHTSA. IIHS rates it as Good in everything but Small Overlap, which is Acceptable. I would call that a good rating. NHTSA hasn't tested it beyond giving it a 4 star rollover rating and indicating that it is at low risk for rollover. Additionally, a newer, larger vehicle will be safer than an older compact car simply because it has a weight advantage and new safety features are added to vehicles all the time.
 

kathysr98

Active member
As far as AWD vs FWD, I really don't know what's best. We don't get ice or snow here on a regular basis, so I don't have experience,
 

tribord

New member
I wanted to update here and say that we are cross-shopping the Honda Pilot, Volvo XC90, and hope to look at the GMC Acadia as soon as the 2017 model is here. The Pilot fits in our garage with driver's mirror folded but it is really, really hairy getting it in there. We didn't try the XC90 in our garage but it is narrower than the Pilot and has automatic folding mirrors, which is a huge plus. But it is more than we really want to spend and has no tether anchors in the 3rd row. The Acadia only has manual folding mirrors but is narrower than the Pilot so hopefully will fit, too. It is completely redesigned and hasn't been crash tested yet, but the previous version did well and I am assuming the new one would, too. Can't wait to see the Car Seat Blog full review of it.

We ruled out the Toyota Highlander based on the seat belt overlap issue, the Ford Flex due to the low ground clearance, the Dodge Durango based on low 2nd row headrests (probably too low for anyone 5'8" or taller), and the Mitsubishi Outlander based on an unsafe third row.

I will update once we finally make a decision. Heck, by the time DH finally agrees to pull the trigger the 3-row Suburu will probably be out!
 
Last edited:

tribord

New member
We got a Volvo XC90 and it clears our driveway and garage and we feel great about the safety. We didn't get a chance to look at the new GMC Acadia or the new Mazda CX-9 because they weren't out yet when we purchased, though.
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