What SUV to choose??

I'm posting this for a friend who has an 18mo. rf in a blvd. and a new baby coming in August. She is ready for a new vehicle but doesn't know which suv to choose. She likes the Pilot & Highlander but her husband wants a forester. What would you guys recommend?

Any of the three would be very good choices, in my opinion.

Isn't the forester a car seat nightmare? And I thought the Highlander had a smaller 3rd row vs the Pilot

Seats usually install okay outboard in the Forester, especially because LATCH is rated to 60#. It's only the middle that's a problem, and it's narrow for three-across.

The Pilot is certainly the biggest of those three. In terms of safety, all are very good.

We have been car shopping and the pilot is the only one with a tether anchor in the third row. The highlander is nice if you are only going to have 2 kids and put the seats in the captains chairs or outboard positions. The third row has enough room on both the highlander and the pilot for a person that is 5'8" and 34 in inseam b/c the second row is adjustable. However, on the 2008 versions, which is what we were looking at the highlander had more leg room in the third row b/c the center seat is removable plus it offers easy access to the third row w/out removing an outboard carseat. We had 3 regents in the second row and I got all of the carseat on the seat w/out a problem in the SBP. Safety...I think they are both similar.

The forester seemed to small for us and we never installed carseats into this car, nor did we test drive it.

HTH ~ Jen

IMO, the Forester has similar interior space as the CRV or Rav4. It's very small & tight in the front & 2nd row seating, especially with a seat in the 2nd row. Otherwise a good commuter car.

The Highlander is bigger, but still smaller than the Pilot. The main thing that turned me off from the Highlander is the 2nd row middle section, as it's not long enough to secure an infant seat base to it. The seat base would overhang too much on the Highlander 2nd row, and you would be forced to place the seat in the outward position. Also, not seat related in the rear, I'm tall so my knees touch the dash when the driver's seat is all the way back. So putting a seat directly behind the driver's seat for me wouldn't work.

In the Pilot (I'm going off of the 2009 model, since I've been looking into it a lot), there's a lot more room available in the front, 2nd, and 3rd row seating. Feels very similar to my Sequoia in terms of interior space (still bigger in the Sequoia) but there's ample amounts of room in the Pilot. If the Pilot had more power and a few other things, I'd pick one up right away. But out of the 3, that's my best choice.

Thanks everyone! My friend is going with the Pilot :thumbsup: