3 across in 2nd row of Ford vehicles, or use of 3rd row?

[ArizonaMama]

What an amazing community this is!!

My husband and I are considering having a 3rd child but if we do have another I will have to get a different vehicle. I currently drive a 2003 Ford Focus SVT (ZX3 body style) and there is NO way a 3rd seat will fit in that one. We also have a 2001 Ford Excursion but we can't afford to use it as our daily driver, it's basically our Friday fun car and what we use to pull our travel trailer. We prefer Fords, I love the ergonomics of them and my husband is a service advisor for Ford so it would cost us less in the long run to own a Ford. Plus they are just awesome

I have a 6 year old son and a 3 year old daughter, both in Britax Frontier 85s. The cars we've been looking at are the Freestyle, Taurus X, Edge, or Fusion. I prefer wagon/hatchback/suv style cars, but I do like the styling of the Fusion as well (plus the better gas mileage!!). Has anyone done 3 across in any of these vehicles? Or have two children in the second row of the Freestyle or Taurus X and one child in the 3rd row? I'm wondering how hard it would be to get a child in and out of the 3rd row constantly. These two cars come with second row bench or buckets, which is why I'm trying to decide which route to go - if it's tight for 3 across the 2nd row bench, I'd opt for the 2nd row captians chairs and have my son sit in the 3rd row. Also, I think I heard somewhere that the 2nd row seats slide forward and backwards? Could anyone confirm or deny this for me?

I have looked at the Volvo CX90 (same platform as the Freestyle and the Taurus X) so I would consider that too, but the fuel economy is far less than the Ford versions and more expensive for us to fix. I can't see myself driving a minivan, I'm much too much of a car lover to drive a "boring" car like a minivan - no offense And I like the VW Touareg, but that's WAY too expensive on gas and repairs too (I would love the diesel V10!).

Also, what infant/convertable seats do you recommend? We would be buying a new seat for the baby. I really love Britax, but I have heard that the Chico Keyfit30 is a very good seat and many people love the Radian.

Thanks for your help!! :thanx!:

 

[An Aurora]

I drove my brother in law's 2003 Focus while on vacation and fit my three kids just fine! It actually had more room than my SUV. I did a RF Combi Coccoro, FF Radian and a Graco Turbo booster for my oldest.

Posted by a robot and susceptible to unrelated and potentially inappropriate AutoCorrects.

 

[BookMama]

Welcome to Car-Seat.org.

I don't have any particular knowledge of the vehicles you're considering.

However, just to clarify, is your Focus a 2-door or a 4-door model? I've had 3-across in my Focus wagon (same back seat as the sedan) for nearly two years. You're not gonna be able to do it with two Frontiers in the mix, but it's totally do-able. When DD2 was still in an infant seat, we had the Keyfit plus two Radians, and they fit just fine in our Focus. :thumbsup:

 

[monstah]

I have a 5, 3 & 2 year old and we drive an 06 Freestyle with the 2nd row bench. My best advice? Run away! To put it bluntly, the Freestyle sucks if you have more than two car seats. You can't fit 2 in the second row and still have access to the third row. Three across the 2nd row is near impossible. I have been working on a reasonable set up for 2+ years now and I hate it. Two or less kids? I would be raving. It's a cool car, just NOT car seat friendly.

Captains chairs for access to the third row would be a huge improvement for me. I still don't like how little room there is in the third row. Not for comfort, but for head excursion in an accident. I can see how easily the third row occupants can smash their heads on the second row and that kind of worries me. I have been considering trading our bench for a bucket.

We Ford. We also own an Explorer and that one is much more car seat friendly. I have heard the Edge is a great family hauler but that was from someone with 4 kids and no car seats.....

When our Freestyle gets traded in, we will be moving to an AWD Sienna. It just has so much more of what my family needs at this time.

Hope to help, happy shopping!! Feel free to PM me with any specific questions RE: the Freestyle and car seats.

 

[macmomma]

I personally would not put three seats in the middle row...no access to third row. I have two seat in the third row and one in the middle- it works great for us!

 

[Melanie]

Ford Flex is good for those of us who need a minivan but are tired of driving one. 3 across will fit on the bench with the right seats. I'm almost positive it won't work with 2 Frontiers. The only wonky thing is a rear facing seat doesn't work in the middle of the 2nd row. It has plastic that interferes. With the right seats, you can also do two and still flip the seat to get to the third row. The third row is pretty roomy. My 6'3" hubby fits back there. I've also put 1 carseat in the third row and loaded from the hatch. Fold the other third row seat down and it's pretty easy. It's also available with 2nd row captains chairs, which would make getting a child to the third row much easier.

 

[jess71903]

I have an '06 Explorer and can do 3 across the middle row. When I do that, it's because I wouldn't need access to the 3rd row (i.e. it's folded down for cargo room). I only have 2 kids, but if I had 3, I would do 3-across the 2nd row day-to-day, and move 1 or 2 to the 3rd row if we had others that needed to ride with us and needed the 3rd row.

 

[JasonDallas]

I personally would not put three seats in the middle row...no access to third row. I have two seat in the third row and one in the middle- it works great for us!

That's one thing I like about the 2011 Sienna over our Flex. In the Sienna you can have 3 seats in the 2nd row and still get to the third due to the 23" of 2nd row travel. Otherwise, the Flex is actually easier to load the third row up with kids.... whether loading through the side doors or rear hatch.

Jason

 

[socialworkmom]

I have a totally different perspective on the Taurus X (very similar to the Freestyle). We have one with 4 kids and absolutely love it We just went on a 6 hr trip to Missouri and brought my mom with us and all 7 seats were used. It worked perfect!! Here is my set up (we have the bench seat in the middle). 2nd row seating had a nauti car seat behind the driver, my son in a LBB in the middle and myself, mom or DH in the seat behind the passenger. 3rd row had my 8 year old in LBB on drivers side and a nauti car seat on the passenger side. The key for us with access to the 3rd row is leaving your passenger seat open so you can fold the seat down and pop it forward to get access to the 3rd row. So, you could put your son there if you moved him into a booster. I understand he is in a frontier now, but considering the fact that you aren't pregnant yet and baby wouldn't be here for close to a year, you could work on booster training if you felt he was ready for it.

S

 

[kathysr98]

First, I must say I miss my SVT Focus SOOOO much! I dearly loved that car (I've had two of them), but with my tall dh & a rf kiddo, it just became too hard to drive.

I loved moving to the Freestyle because of the CVT. I had driven nothing but manual transmission vehicles for years, and on the rare occasions I would drive an auto, I was constantly looking for the clutch & shifter . The CVT never feels like it needs to shift, so other than occasionally jumping in & trying to mash the brake to the floor with my left foot, no problem!

I have a RF Radian in the middle of the second row of mine & can fold the passenger side seat. I does brush against the side of the RN, but doesn't hurt it. In your situation, I would consider it, but would prefer the Flex. It's currently my dream daily driver. It's a bit wider than the Freestyle & considerably longer.

The Freestyle, Flex, and Explorer would all make my short list of third row vehicles.