Which vans with 2 buckets and 1 bench seat?

Saramomofmany

New member
I'm curious if anyone knows which vans(years/make, etc). that have 2 bucket seats and 1 bench seat? I should add that we would only be able to get something older, so probably 1996-1999 range??

For our 2 older children they are in Regents, so I'm thinking our best chances of fitting in a van would be if we had 2 buckets for the huge Regents, and then try to fit the other 3 on a bench seat.

Thanks in advance, Sara
 
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miraclebabies

New member
My sister just got a 2003 Pontiac Montana and she has 2 catian chairs in the middle row and a bench in the back row. I has two remote slidding doors. We put both our DD's rear facing in their MA in the captian chairs and it fit really well. A few years ago I had a Chevy Venture which is basically the same as the Pontiac and it also had 2 captian chairs and a bench. At the time I had a daycare and could place all 5 carseats in it.
 

mominabigtruck

New member
My mom's 98 caravan has two captains chairs and a bench in the back. I'm not a huge fan of it installing seats because of the seatbelts, it has lightweight locking belts instead of the retracting belts I'm used to. I have put 5 seats in it though so it is doable.
 

keri1292

Well-known member
Our 99 Windstar is available with two buckets and third row bench. It also comes with 5 tethers! Not sure if you could get 3 across the bench seat though. It has good crash test results and we got ours for less than $4,000. :thumbsup:
 

lilmama2dsndd

New member
I have a 1997 GMC Safari, it has the 2nd row as bucket seats and the 3rd is a bench. DS's regent fits great into the bucket seat

It however does not have top tether anchor points, but GMC will install one for free, any additional cost almost $65 for the kit & installation.
 

Granola

New member
Our 2000 Plymouth Grand Voyager came with two middle row (outboard) captain's chairs and a third row bench seat. The vehicle was retrofitted with tether anchors by a Chrysler technician.

We only have one child and wanted him in the center of the second row, so removed the captain's chairs and moved the bench seat forward to the second row where he rides in his Regent.

The bench seat seems very short to me when installed in the second row, and it would be impossible to fit other seats next to it with the Regent in the middle of the bench, but it should work fine with two outboard seats (though we haven't tried it yet).

I wanted to add that last week we transported another child in our car and put the captain's chairs back in the second row for the trip. One child was in a Marathon and the other in a Regent, and they fit perfectly.
 
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CDNTech

Senior Community Member
Our 2000 Plymouth Grand Voyager came with two middle row (outboard) captain's chairs and a third row bench seat. The vehicle was retrofitted with tether anchors by a Chrysler technician.

We only have one child and wanted him in the center of the second row, so removed the captain's chairs and moved the bench seat forward to the second row where he rides in his Regent.

The bench seat seems very short to me when installed in the second row, and it would be impossible to fit other seats next to it with the Regent in the middle of the bench, but it should work fine with two outboard seats (though we haven't tried it yet).

You can fit three across that bench... as long as it's the right combination. ;)
 

Granola

New member
Hi Jen,

What are some examples of some other combinations that would work (with the Regent in the middle)? My DH swears no other seats will fit next to a center-installed Regent, so this would be good info to have ahead of time for the next time we have to drive other kids. Thanks! :)

I should add: because I really don't want to move my DS outboard when transporting other kids!
 

CDNTech

Senior Community Member
Hi Jen,

What are some examples of some other combinations that would work (with the Regent in the middle)? My DH swears no other seats will fit, so this would be good info to have for the next time we have to drive other kids. Thanks! :)

I should add: because I really don't want to move my DS outboard when transporting other kids!

I've never seen a Regent IRL... just read/saw pictures of how big it is (hazards of living in Canada ;)). Possibly two Radian's although I doubt it. I don't know if you can fit three across when one of those three is a Regent.

If they're all FFing, then...
3 Radian's will easily fit.
MA, Radian, MA will fit.
Ma, Radian, Parkway will fit.

Ummm... various other combinations will fit, but none with the Regent that I know of, sorry. :eek:

ETA: For what it's worth, my kids have *never* ridden in the center, they've always been outboard... unless I have 5 kids in the van, no one uses the center. :)
 

melniemi

New member
I saw that the Chevy Venture was mentioned and I have one and think that the 3rd row is very small. Depending on which seats you have, it may be doable. My only success was Highback Turbo, keyfit w/base, highback turbo. I have a solid back row rather than the split bench and I have leather seats - I could not get an acceptable ff radian install in any of the 3 seats in the 3rd row. I felt that was my only hope for 3 harnessed across. A cargo *might* fit in place of the Turbos, but I didn't try it. I don't have access to a bunch of seats to try out different combos. Good luck. It seems like lots of people have great success w/3 across in the caravans.
 

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