Car seats in third rows of SUVs?

Hi All,

We are expecting twins in December, so we are looking for a seven seat capacity car. Reason being that we live in Manhattan so only have one parking spot in the place that we are buying, so we want to be able to take our parents (or a couple of friends) in the car along with the kids and us (so 6 people).

One question - we are looking at the Audi Q7, the Acura MDX, and perhaps a Land Rover LR3. Can you put a carseat in the third row for all those cars? The Q7 seems like it shouldn't be an issue because it has LATCH in the third row, but I got conflicting answers from the Acura dealer, and haven't gone in to look at the LR3 third row yet. I love the Q7, but it is expensive so my second choice is the MDX, but haven't been able to find out if car seats are OK in the third row since I don't think that the MDX has LATCH back there (the dealer sent me an email that talked about bungies, etc. and I dind't understand).

In my mind, I was envisioning that when my in-laws are in town, we would move one of the car seats from the passenger side in the second row back to the third row on the driver's side, and then my wife can go into the back, and my in-laws into the other two seats (they are older so it would be hard for them to get into the back I think).

Thanks in advance!!

I have carseats in the third row of my 07 MDX all the time. It is 100% allowed and there are top tethers for the third row making it even better! Seat installs are easy in the third row as well as in the middle row.

I love my MDX very much and I highly doubt you would regret buying one if that is the route you choose to go. We had a short list of 7 passenger SUV's when we were shopping and even though the MDX was on the lower end of our price range it still beat out many competitors for us. Acura hit the ball out of the park with the current generation MDX.

Great thanks!

I assume you just use the seatbelt - I am sure I will get good at it once I do it a couple of times. I think we will end up with the MDX since it is so well priced compared to the Q7 (as much as I love the drive and interior of the Q7, we do have college to think about.)

UWSDad said:

Great thanks!
I assume you just use the seatbelt - I am sure I will get good at it once I do it a couple of times. I think we will end up with the MDX since it is so well priced compared to the Q7 (as much as I love the drive and interior of the Q7, we do have college to think about.)

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I do just use the seat belt and then attach the top tethers. I have never run into any installation problems with the MDX as it is super carseat friendly. When you do put carseats in the third row you will need to remove the headrest completely. And in the middle row you will want to remove them or flip them around if they are in the way.
Once you get your new vehicle (whatever it may be) if you have any questions you can post here in the carseat installation forumn and get all the help you need!

Enjoy your new ride!