If you have a 3 row SUV do you have a bench or Captain's chairs in your middle row? Are you happy with what you have? Pros? Cons?
Also, if you want to share which SUV you have and your thoughts on it, that would be great! We have looked at so many this week and are still having a hard time making a final decision!
apricot / 431 posts
@catgirl: we have a 2015 Honda Pilot. We bought used in 2016 because they changed the body style in 2016 and I wasn’t crazy about it. We have all 3 kids in the middle row, and plenty of room for 3 car seats. This gives me a huge space in the back which is super nice and I anticipate using more and more as they get older. We honestly only use the 3rd row occasionally and it hasn’t been a problem when we need to. However, this does definitely limit the space for suitcases, etc in the very back. Also I don’t think 3 car seats would fit well in the 3rd row.
kiwi / 583 posts
We have a 2020 Hyundai Palisade. The middle row has captain seats. I like it because it makes it really easy to get to the third row and it's really comfortable for an adult to sit in the middle row. We only have one car seat for now, and hardly ever use the third row. We love our Palisade though, and it tows our camper well.
nectarine / 2018 posts
@MommySLP: thanks we looked at a few pilots this week. I really liked them but DH wasn’t as happy. Still in the running though. We aren’t worried about three across.
@Lahela017: The palisade is currently one of our top contenders, along with the telluride (since they are super similar). I like captain’s chairs a bit more but DH slightly prefers a bench. Getting a little nervous though because it seems that a lot of people have trouble with booster seats in both vehicles. DD is currently harnessed but will start using a booster in the next few months.
kiwi / 583 posts
@catgirl: yeah, I don't have any experience with booster yet, but I absolutely love our Palisade. I like how it drives and feels. We tested a Telluride too, but I thought the Palisade was a smoother ride. It might be in my head though. We've had Hyundai vehicles for many years and have always been happy with them.
nectarine / 2018 posts
@Lahela017: we thought the palisade felt a little smoother too. But the new 2022 telluride comes with a lot more things standard on the lower trims, which is feeling hard to pass up. I’ve also heard there is a big difference on the drive of the telluride when comparing the 18 inch and 20 inch wheels. But it’s awesome to hear you love the palisade!
persimmon / 1082 posts
@catgirl: In the same boat.
Looking at Toyota Highlander with captain seats.
Turing infant and toddler in captain seats and 4 year old five point harness in third.
Will just need to make sure carseat( not base) is removed to get to third seat. Spoke to certifiers who said 4yo is safe in back especially with new vehicles. Gives a small back but will have DH in certain days and won’t do shopping with all kids. Really for going to A and B and when I return to work.
nectarine / 2018 posts
@cake2017: we looked at the highlander and wanted to love it because my dad has an older one that is awesome. But it felt like one of the smallest third rows we looked at 
I could barely fit in the third row - my head was pushed into the ceiling. And DD’s harnessed seat that will transition to her booster was too tall to go in the third row.
persimmon / 1082 posts
@catgirl: I see! we won’t be sitting in the 3rd row or have any adults back there. What booster seat do you have?
nectarine / 2809 posts
@catgirl: we have a Chevy traverse and absolutely love it. It’s bench seating. We have 3 kids. The younger two are in the middle row and the oldest one is in the back.
coffee bean / 47 posts
We have a pilot with bench seat and love it, but we have one rear facing and one forward facing car seat so on the rare occasion we use the third row, they have to be agile and climb over the bench seat or in through the trunk. I think bench vs captain really depends on your car seat configuration and how often you’ll use the third row. We got the pilot more for the cargo space than the extra seating so we didn’t feel the need to upgrade to the higher model with captains chairs.
nectarine / 2018 posts
@fmmtk: makes sense! We only have one LO who is harnessed but will be moving to a booster soon. We envision having to use the third row a fair amount, but not constantly. For the time being it will most likely be an adult or two that will be in the third row - but typically only one car seat in the middle row. In the next few years I think it will be more of DD's friends in all seats. I think we will be legitimately fine with a bench or captain's chairs, we just can't decide 
. Some models we are looking at have captain's standard, some have a bench standard, some have a choice - so it may just come down to which vehicle we pick.
persimmon / 1064 posts
We previously had a 2012 Yukon xl with captains chairs and now have a 2016 Yukon xl with a bench seat in the middle. We MUCH prefer the bench seat. We have 4 LOs still in car seats (DS1 is 7 and recently switched to a booster). It’s easier to fold the seat forward for DS2 and DS3 to load into the third row than it was to go through the middle of the captains chairs.
clementine / 830 posts
we have a bench which was definitely the best choice for us, because we have three little ones and weren't ready to have one in the way back. plus, we mainly use our car for longer trips, and so we need more trunk space. my BIL had recommended we get captains chairs because his 3 kids are a bit older and they are mainly using it to drive around town, so they don't usually need as much trunk space.
pomegranate / 3973 posts
@CatchAFallingStar: Also had a Traverse and LOVED it. We had captains chairs, with 2 car seats in the middle and older DSD in the back.
Now we're in a mini-van (I do love everything about it as well, except that it's a mini-van lol).
clementine / 911 posts
I have a 2018 Honda Pilot with a bench seat in the 2nd row. Overall, I've been really happy with it. My favorite feature is Apple CarPlay. 
I have the touring model, and if I had it to do over again, I'd look for the EX with entertainment system instead. We don't love the 9-speed transmission and the engine turning off every time we stop. (It can be slow to start up again at red lights or stop signs. The touring model is great for highway driving but not as much in the city where we live.) I hear they improved it in later years, though. One thing I wish it had is 3rd row access with a car seat installed, like the VW Atlas. When we do use the 3rd row for extra kids, we just have them go through the trunk. I also haven't been able to get 3 car seats across with our existing seats but probably could if I bought new ones (but I don't plan to because that's not a common thing for us).
nectarine / 2018 posts
@krispi: I didn't love that feature on a lot of the cars we drove but it was most annoying on the honda. You can turn it off at the start of every ride, though it's silly to me you can't turn it off and have it stay off indefinitely. The pilot is generally very three across friendly (with the right combo of seats). We aren't worried about three across though. The car seat tilt friendly second rows do sound nice, but only work if the seat is installed with lower anchors so eventually it wouldn't be a choice. DH thought that feature was really cool until I pointed out DD's seat in installed with the seat belt.
nectarine / 2018 posts
Our current top two SUVs both have overlapping seat belts on the bench seat, so it will be pretty hard (if not impossible) to do three across on the bench. So either way it will seat the same number of passengers, just deciding if we want to pay more to have the captain's chairs.
Though DH surprised me this morning by saying he really wants to give a serious look to the toyota sienna. I thought we were strictly looking at SUVs but he is intrigued by the sienna hybrid and it's mpg.
nectarine / 2242 posts
We have a new Traverse with captains chairs and really like it, though there aren’t as many latch anchors as I assumed (we had looked at so many suvs I forgot to double check that once we narrowed it down!) But our 2 oldest kids are in boosters so doesn’t really matter for us. I definitely prefer captains chairs, my 8 year old sits in the 3rd row and it would be hard for her to operate even the easy flip bench seats to get in during school pickup. Also the captains are super comfortable as an adult as well. Trunk space in most of these is really tight though if you keep the 3rd row up - we also have an Odyssey and love that way more for the trunk space and how it handles more like a car!
pomegranate / 3231 posts
We have a VW Atlas. We purchased it when I was pregnant with our twins. We also have an older singleton, so it was important to me to set up the car with three seats across. I did not want to have one or more infants in the third row, and I did not want to permanently sequester my then-4yo in the third row. (I was very hung up on making sure he was included and not ignored as we welcomed his baby sisters.) We started out with two Chicco Keyfits and a Clek Fllo, and now we have two Clek Fllos and one booster.
The Atlas has a 40-60 split in the second row and 50-50 split in the third row. For the past three years, we've pretty much kept the third row folded down and used the extended hatch space for storage, especially our double stroller. There have been a handful of times we needed a seat in the back for a friend or relative.
We only just yesterday folded down the 40 and set up the rear two seats for boosters so we can carpool with another family to camp! My son is super excited to finally sit in the third row!
My twins will stay in the second row for as long as they are in front-facing car seats. Then once they graduate to boosters we can move everyone around a bit more. My oldest only has one more year til he doesn't need a booster.
pomegranate / 3272 posts
We have a Palisade and I am so in LOVE with it. It's one of the nicest cars I've ever had. We have the captains chairs as it just seemed like the best option. I didn't see the need to have to mess with the seats every time someone needed to get in the back. I will say that it's not super easy to buckle in the seatbelt in the captains chair when there is the car seat since the buckle is sort of set into the seat and you have to go into it at the right angle. My 8.5 yo is fine but my 6 yo is still working on it. Not a huge deal.
We test drove this, the Telluride and the Subaru Ascent. The Subaru just felt sort of meh after driving the Telluride and the Palisade. And I would have been happy with a Telluride too but it was a 6 month wait for one at the time and they had Palisades on the lot so that made it easy. Either way, super happy with our purchase. We've had it for almost 2 years now.
nectarine / 2018 posts
@ElbieKay: I loved the interior of the atlas! The third row only having two seats makes way more sense to me than all of the other SUVs that have three small seats back there. DH is 6'2" and could sit in all three rows comfortably. Unfortunately, DH did not like driving it at all.
@Mommy Finger: So funny. We were originally planning on the Subaru Ascent but can't get over how small the third row is compared to others. Now we are essentially down to the telluride and palisade (unless DH was serious about looking at the toyota sienna). We both prefer the exterior of the telluride and the interior of the palisade. The telluride seems to have more features at lower trims and our dealership is allowing deposits on the incoming ones, so we are slightly leaning towards it. The buckle placement is a concern for us (in both the telluride and palisade) with DD's current seat - I can install it in harness mode but not sure if she could do the booster. We may need to look into a narrower booster when the time comes (our britax is one of the widest boosters). I wish they had made the buckle stalks longer in all models, and had placed them closer to the edge of the captain's chairs. They are set so deep without much wiggle.
@HappyBaker: The traverse seems to be popular. It is known for lack of lower anchors and tethers, as well as still not having headrests or usable headrests in all positions. Though I think that was all somewhat addressed in it's most recent redesign. With only on LO it would all be workable but it's longer than most of the other SUVs we are considering.
nectarine / 2018 posts
Can I also just say how frustrating it is that so many large vehicles are just not designed to actually hold a lot of people. Short or missing headrests. Headrests that tip forward which can make installing seats difficult. Overlapping seat belts. Seat belts that are positioned too far forward in third rows to allow safe fits. Seat belt stalks that are so short it's hard to use a booster with. Lack of tethers or tethers positioned in ways that don't allow for safe installations. Seats that aren't deep enough for boosters that don't allow overhang. I feel like I had to rule out so many vehicles before even seeing them or driving them because of these issues. I really wish these things were being addressed more on new models...
pomegranate / 3231 posts
@catgirl: We went to the NY Auto Show before selecting our vehicle in 2018. The only two 3-row SUVs in the size class with actual legit 3rd row seats and enough legroom for an adult were the Atlas and the Ascent. We went to the show expecting to fall in love with the Q7 but the interior space was a complete joke. The only other way to get a comfortable third row was to go up a size class. My husband wanted to consider a Ford Expedition but it was $10k more, and I could not see myself parking it on the street in our urban location.
eggplant / 11716 posts
@catgirl: we have a 2021 highlander hybrid that we got last September. We only have 2 kids, but we really wanted a bench seat. My oldest is 8 now and can use a booster in the 3rd row when I need her to, but our most frequent visitor is my mom, so it’s so easy for her to sit between our girls when she visits. Our kids are still in regular car seats (a clek foonf for my 6 year old snd a Diono Radian for my 8 year old), but both can use a car seat for “special occasions”, ie. Short in town trips if we have two extra adults riding with us.
I think the highlander is probably the worst for car seat configurations, but we couldn’t pass up the amazing mileage. We also wanted certain features including a tow hitch. At the end of the day, I only have 2 kids and 98% of the time we are driving just the 4 of us, so the gas mileage trumped everything else.
I have a very long commute and filling up my tank only every 8-9 days instead of twice a week has been pretty amazing. When I’m off work (like now, in summer), I can go 2 weeks or more without filling up. I regularly get 36 mpg. Our old SUV would get like 18-23.
apricot / 285 posts
We have an 2020 expedition max with a bench and love it. I really wanted to consider the sienna but my husband refused. Other than the price and overall size it works awesome, we have all 3 kids across the bench so we have the large trunk for travel.
If you can follow the car mom on Instagram or google her website, she has reviewed many of the cars mentioned and installs car seats etc. it is super helpful.
clementine / 911 posts
If you're open to the Sienna, you might also want to check out the new Kia Carnival. It has the features and space of a van but looks more like an SUV.
clementine / 920 posts
@krispi: I just saw the Kia Carnival at daycare pick up and really like the way it looks.
We have a Honda Pilot and got the captains seats in the middle. We have a car seat and a high back booster in those seats and still have access to the third row which we mostly use when we have family in town.
nectarine / 2018 posts
@Anagram: I really wish the Highlander had worked for us. The hybrid one is pretty perfect on paper but we just couldn’t get over the size of the third row compared to others we are looking at. We did love driving it though.
@krispi: @Bluemasonjar: We looked at the Kia carnival. Parts of it were really nice. We found it less comfortable than the telluride, though the cargo space is better. We’re only interested in the sienna because it has AWD and is a hybrid. I think we are still more likely to do an SUV, but who knows.
apricot / 286 posts
We have a Subaru Ascent which I just love everything about. We’ve had it for 3 years now and it still feels so smooth and solid - just like new. We have really snowy winters so the AWD is a huge plus and I feel it works better than other AWD vehicles we’ve had in the past.
No matter what you get - I highly recommend the captains chairs. It makes using the third row so much more practical. Before this we had a Pathfinder with a 2nd row bench and hardly ever used the third row because it was a pain to get to.
honeydew / 7235 posts
We just got a 2021 Toyota Highlander - and we went with the Captains chairs which so far I love. We had a Honda Pilot before and getting to the third row was a bit of a pain, it's a lot easier for the kids to crawl through this way, and I do like you can keep half the third row down (same with Pilot).... Having captains chairs is one less seat though which might not be ideal, but it's fine for now!
grapefruit / 4045 posts
I have the Telluride with captain seats. We really wanted the captain seats and are happy we got them. It's really pretty nice for a Kia.
pomegranate / 3272 posts
@catgirl: I was laughing internally a bit this weekend as my BFF took my kids down to visit my ILs in her rented Grand Cherokee (long story there...) but we put the boys' seats in the car and had a hard time buckling them in due to the buckle placement and DH quipped that for a Grand Cherokee, it's not very grand... total dad joke. But I think car makers just don't give a rats you know what about car seats sometimes.
pea / 24 posts
Anyone test drive the new Jeep Grand Cherokee L yet? It is Jeep’s new 3 row version of the Grand Cherokee.
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