If we were going to go bigger than the Rondo/Mazda5, we'd just do a minivan I think; but I'll look into them, thanks!
Thanks for your perspective!
The passenger roominess was definitely better in the Rondo than the Mazda. I'm not anti-minivan, but I'm totally not comfortable driving bigger vehicles. The Rondo *just* rides that line between being too big to drive yet fitting 7 passengers. :thumbsup:
I *am* concerned about seats... it kept me up last night envisioning the different configurations I could use.
Right now, we've got one in a booster, so that's no problem at all. I've got one on the way and he'll go into a SR35 to start (curious how that will fit in the 3rd, though that wouldn't be his primary spot...) He'll also (hopefully
) be RF for a while, so the lack of tethers back there isn't an issue for US right NOW, however, it's when I think about traveling with others I doubt the car. We've got friends with FF harnessed seats that are required (in Canada) to be tethered, so none of their children could ride in the back. One family in particular we travel with has a son DS's age (but is a peanut.) Ideally, the boys would go in the back, two adults would go in the middle, and two more adults in the front (when the baby arrives, I'd put him in the middle-middle.
) Obviously, that's not going to happen in a Rondo, but it's not like I can't fit everyone safely - just not as conveniently as I'd like. I'm considering drafting a persuasive letter to Kia to convince them to come up with a retrofit similar to the late-model Caravan's for third row tethers. Anyone want to help with that?
ETA: The other thing keeping me up was where to put a stroller if we're carrying 6+ people. I have a small umbrella that would *probably* fit in the tiny cargo space, but baby won't be ready for that for a while. I had thought throwing one on the floor of the third row, at the kids feet, would work, but only if no adults were back there (good for my kids, but not if we've got any FFers with us.) Anything on the floor of the second row would be awkward for ingress/egress, regardless of who's sitting there. :scratcheshead: