Question Can any minivans fit three across?

[mauraivy]

Hi all!

I have four children, a 5 year old daughter, 3 year old twin girls, and a 3 month old son. Our main family car, a Mazda5, was recently in an accident (no one was seriously hurt!) and was totaled. The insurance of the at-fault driver is paying for replacement seats for the three eldest and a new base for the baby (he wasn't in the car). We are also now in the market for a new car.

Previously, I had my 5 year old FF in a Nautilus, two rearfacing Marathons in the third row for the 3 yo twins (which could only be accessed through the hatch), and a Chicco Keyfit for the baby. It was a bit like a clown car. I have lower back issues and have already injured myself several times getting everyone buckled. Luckily the three eldest can now all buckle and unbuckle themselves, but I still have to access them to adjust straps. So my husband and I have decided we need to take this opportunity to get a bigger car. My preference is a minivan, but I'm willing to look at SUVs as well.

We purchased new seats for the three girls, 3 Frontier85s (turning the twins FF since they had almost hit the RF limits anyway). My hope was that I could come up with an arrangement where I could remove a seat in the 2nd row to give me easier in-and-out access: either 3 Frontiers across in the 3rd row, or 2 frontiers in the 3rd row and 1 Frontier beside the infant carrier on the 2nd row. We are currently renting a 2010 Grand Caravan, and I haven't tried 3 across the 3rd row (and it looks like they wouldn't fit), and it only has two captain chairs in the front. However, I've been looking at the new Honda Odyssey which, because of the feature that lets you scoot the middle seat of the 2nd row up and the two outboard seats out, it might be possible to take out one of the outboard seats and use the other seats for a Frontier and infant carrier. Does that seem feasible?

Do you know of any other van models in which 3 across the back would be possible or that has a similar 2nd row feature as the Odyssey (which is soooo expensive!). The frontiers are 19inch widths at the base, and the Keyfit base is 15 inches, I think.

Any help would be very appreciated. This whole process has been very overwhelming!

 

[Stelvis]

Even with the Ody I don't think you could get a 3 across in the third row that involved a Frontier. You could get a 3 across with two Frontiers and an infant carrier or convertible in the second row in wide mode.

 

[T4K]

There was a thread here once with three Frontiers across the center row of a Pilot. I'm sure you could get your configuration in that vehicle somehow.

I used to have an Expedition clone and the third row was quite spacious. Two frontiers would fit for sure but there was only one top tether.

If I were you, I'd look at putting two seats on each row AND finding a vehicle with a bunch of top tethers.

 

[emtb79]

I barely got 3 frontiers across in my 12 passenger van they fit but werent independently tight. I would do 2 in the middle and 2 in the back and buckle the 2 in the back then put the carrier in after that way you can reach the back easily.

 

[safeinthecar]

I had a Frontier, a ffing Radian and an evenflo high back booster in the 3rd row of a Sienna that I rented. I wanna say 2006-7 model year, but I'm not sure.

 

[MommyShannon]

I have 4 kids in an '06 Ody. This style lets you remove the center seat or console and slide a captain's chair over. It makes it easier to access the 3rd row. I've done a lot of configs with 2 ff and 2 rf. There is no way 3 Frontiers would fit in either row, but with 3 ff kids and 1 rf it would work well with a lot of set ups and you'd have 5 top tethers.

 

[kam1011]

I can do three across the third row of my Sienna easily, but it wouldn't work with three Frontiers. Those are huge!

 

[threeundertwo]

We have a 2011 Odyssey and previously had a Mazda5. We don't own a Frontier but I remember reading on this forum that you can get a Frontier in the middle seat in the 2nd row (we'll be transitioning to a combination seat in a few months so I was doing some research). Based on what I've read your plan of putting a Frontier and infant carrier in the 2nd row and removing a captain's chair and then 2 Frontiers in the 3rd row would work. The Nautilus does not work well in the plus one seat or in the 3rd row of the new Odyssey but the Frontier does.

We LOVE our Odyssey. With three kids it was a huge improvement for us over the Mazda5. So I think you'll be in heaven if you get one. The only thing I miss about the Mazda5 is being able to load my twins into the 3rd row through the trunk but the space in the Odyssey more than makes up for that.