Hellobee Boards

The Pacifica will be the van we buy next. It's the only minivan that comes in a plug in hybrid option (I think it gets around 84 mpg). You get cash back from the government for buying a hybrid that makes it not super expensive. Also, the third row folds completely down (the second row does too on the regular version, but can't in a hybrid because of the battery).

@Hypatia: but hybrid is still really cool and worth doing!

I’m a Toyota girl so I have the Sienna. Can’t gonwrong with a minivan with multiple car seats.

I also loved my Highlander but we switched to a Sienna when I had my second. I also just had my 3rd so it was the right call. The Highlander only fits two cart seats in the second row and not in the middle seat bc there’s no latch there. So we had to put the two car seats on the outer seats. Which meant the 3rd row was basically inaccessible unless you wanted to climb through the trunk. Also, with two car seats, no adult could sit in the middle seat comfortably. It was tight.

My husband is thinking Honda Pilot for his car bc it fits three car seats in the middle.

I like our Nissan Pathfinder, no real complaints.

But we test drove a Subaru Ascent last week and loovveee it. We currently have a Subaru Legacy which we really like and the Ascent drove very much like a “Subaru”. So we pre ordered an Ascent and are waiting for the first shipment to come in. I love the captains chairs, it makes getting to the 3rd row so easy.

Our Pathfinder advertised the ability to get to the 3rd row even with car seats installed - but we soon discovered that doesn’t work with rear facing or seat-belt installed forward facing seats. So captains chairs are better for accessing the 3rd row often, I think.

That being said, I only have 2 kids... if I had 3, I would most likely be getting a minivan. Probably a Toyota Sienna. Trunk space in a SUV is pretty limited when the third row is in use.

We just got a VW Atlas.

We looked at the Subaru Ascent, but it has a CTV transmission which was a dealbreaker for my husband.

We have successfully put our three car sets into the second row. (We opted against captain's chairs because we have a 4yo and are expecting twins. I was not ready to punt any of the three kids to the third row yet, though I'm sure we'll do that later.)

Once the babies show up, then I can report back on that aspect.

It's a really nice car. It's a little unwieldy compared to our old sporty sedan, but that is to be expected.

It gets terrible gas mileage though.

It was one of the few 3-row SUVs that had a legit 3rd row with reasonable legroom. If you put all the seats down, it has 90 cubic feet of cargo space which was about 10ft more than its competitors that we considered.

We went to the NY Auto Show in April to kick off our car search and sat in a TON of 3-row SUVs and minivans. I was really biased against a minivan. I also expected to splurge on a more luxury car like an Audi or a Lexus. My husband would have loved to get an Q7. But the third row in both brands was a joke and it would be impossible for an adult to sit there. So we ruled them out almost immediately.

The VW Apple Play integration is great if you are an iPhone user. We splurged on a package for the huge sunroof. Those are my two favorite features of the car. Plus I am sooooo glad to be out of the stupid bucket seats in our old car! They were so uncomfortable!!

You def should look at the Odyssey and Sienna. At the very least they can server as 'standards'! If we had a choice, DH would have gotten the Odyssey b/c he's a die hard loyal Honda guy. But we got the Sienna as a trade/hand me down and it's totally fine too.

I also think you should just go for a van. I was super anti van too but it's just so functional and practical with young kids! I figure we can go back to SUVs when they're older.

We have 2 in a Mazda CX-9 and I wish we had gone ahead and gotten a mini van. The third row is mostly useless and it had the easiest access (in our opinions) of any of the 3 row SUVs without captains chairs. Once we have 3 we'll probably try and do 3 across in the 2nd row instead of trying to figure out how to manage the 3rd row. So at least I would get an SUV with captains chairs, but I would love some sliding doors so much right now...

It isn't on your list, but I love my Kia Sedona. It felt a lot zippier than the Odyssey or boat-like Sienna. It also came with a lot of bells and whistles at a lower price tag.

We test drove the Sienna and Odyssey and went with the Sienna and have been happy with it. I don't think you can go wrong with either but definitely test drive to see how it feels to you!

I love our Sienna!

With 3 kids, I had a Honda Pilot and loved it. Third row had room and you still had trunk space in the back. But we just traded it in for an Odyssey. We wanted more storage room for trips as well as easier access to the 3rd row. My mom lives with us so she is frequently in the car with us as well as my FIL. We needed something a little easier for the grandparents who aren’t getting any younger.

@Mrs. Peas: she has an album on Facebook specifically for three row vehicles - both SUVs and vans of various model years. Great graphics that break down everything! Fitting car seats in cars is way more challenging than a lot of people realize.

@Mrs. Peas: We just went through this! We were 3 across in a Ford Escape and are expecting our 4th this fall, so an upgrade was essential.

I originally wanted a Honda Pilot based on reviews when we had looked when I was expecting our 3rd. However, the latest redesign puts the 3rd row seat lower, making even a person at 5'1" sitting with their needs in their throat, so this was out.

I really wanted to stick with an SUV, so I checked out the car seat lady's schematics for car seat configurations and found that the only SUV that left me with a lot of options to set the kids both RF and FF was the Ford Expedition. You can use both RF and FF in nearly all 6 back seating positions! The 2018 also has a feature where you can move the 2nd row seat forward and tilt it while a car seat is installed. The only downfall is it's huge and pricey (we were interested in the mid-range, Limited Max).

So basically yesterday we went to look at cars and ended up walking out with a 2018 Honda Odyssey Touring and I am now the proud owner of a minivan What changed was the nearly $25,000 price difference (reven more if you went with a less expensive model), the Odyssey still offered the same options for RF and FF in as the Expedition, and the fact that the Odyssey (Touring and Elite) offer CabinWatch so I can keep my eyes on the four at all times. This was a huge selling point for me as we have been having fighting and unbuckling issues lately. Getting a minivan also just made sense for our family at this time, as much as I didn't want a minivan. In the end I think we are going to be really happy with our purchase.

It’s not in your polls, but I love my Honda Pilot.