Nissan Rogue or Pathfinder vs. Honda & Toyota

rew829

New member
Hello!

I'd love some input on the Nissan Pathfinder and Rogue verses Honda and Toyota comparable models. I drive a Civic now and my biggest complaint is the KICKING from my preschooler. I'm sure once her feet get a little longer it wont be as big of an issue, but I have failed to find a car seat that would reduce the issue until that day (she's average height with a longer torso). The other complaint is that I can't fit a 3rd kid comfortably in the back seat (where they are safest being under 12). My airbag doesn't turn off & pushing the passenger seat all the way back isn't always an option depending on which side the car seat for the 4 year old is on. I'd *love* a 3rd row. I saw that both Nissan models offer a 3rd row, whereas, say a Honda CRV does not.

Car seats I have an Evenflo Secure Kid & britax Frontier (older model exp 2018) - preschooler is 35 ibs, so she will be in a harness for awhile; other kid 5 steps (5'3" I think?, 10 yrs old). We also have a Graco My Ride she still fits in, but doesn't prefer. That is the worst seat for kicking issues.

I'd love to be able to fit lots of options for seating when we have friends or scouting trips (IE: multiple car seats/booster/teen sized-kid combinations) and gear.

I drove a Nissan Pathfinder this summer and it wasn't bad at all. I haven't looked at the Rouge. Upper trim Nissan Pathfinder is about the same price as a lower level trim Odyssey or Toyota last time I checked. So I'm really curious besides price what factored into the decision to buy one over the other.
Thanks!
 
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aeormsby

New member
Which models of Toyota & Honda are you looking at? We just got a 2015 Pathfinder, I'm pretty sure not much has changed in the newer models. We didn't look at the Toyota Highlander (if that's what you're looking at) because it is quite a bit smaller, same for the Rogue. We looked at an older Acura MDX which is pretty similar to the Honda Pilot, and it too was much smaller which surprised me, they seem bigger from the outside.

I only have 2 kids but we like having one larger vehicle for camping, carpooling and for when our parents visit. I also wanted decent space behind the 3rd row so we could do road trips with 6 people. The MDX's 3rd row was TINY!! It was crazy, where my knees bent were about 3-4" past the amount of room there was, and the 2nd row didn't adjust. I think it would be very tight for any kind of seat other than a NBB. My kids are 9 & 11 so in NBB's & starting to not need boosters. I needed something where they would fit in the 3rd row as they grow.

The things I love about the Pathfinder - headrests in all positions, 2nd row adjust front to back (so you can give more room to the 3rd row if you're using it or give lots of room to the 2nd row if you're not), decent space behind the 3rd row (not as much as our Saturn Outlook had, but better than anything else we looked at). It handles good in the snow (4WD).

If you're not going to use the 3rd row often and won't need storage space when you do the smaller ones will probably be enough. If you want to fit bigger kids or adults in the 3rd row make sure to pay attention how easy it is to get into the 3rd row also.
 

DMS721

New member
I have a 2015 Nissan Pathfinder, and two of my co workers have now purchased one after riding in mine. I love it for all of the reasons aeormsby stated. We only need a third row when my parents visit or if I need to drive a friend somewhere. If I needed a third row on a daily basis, I would probably get a minivan. It is pretty easy for my parents or my kids to get into the third row. There is enough leg room for an adult since the second row has adjustable seats. The trunk space is decent with the third row up, and there is a ton of space when the third row is down. For seats, so far we have used the britax advocate, the britax frontier, the recaro performance HBB booster, the chicco HB booster, and the britax parkway. All have been in various positions of the car and have not had any issues.
 

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