I am planning on getting a new three row vehicle some time this summer. What three row vehicle do you have, and what do you like and dislike about it?
My top contender is a 7-seater Subaru Ascent right now, but I am also considering a VW Atlas.
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We have and love the Atlas!
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We have the Subaru Ascent and absolutely love it. It’s amazing in the snow and drives really nice.
I really love the bucket seat 2nd row because it makes the 3rd really accessible and useable. We had a Nissan Pathfinder before that and barely used the 3rd row because it was such a pain to get to.I honestly can’t think of anything I dislike about it...maybe that our nearest Subaru dealer is 200km away so when we need to get it serviced it’s a bit of a pain. But obviously that doesn’t apply to most people!
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@Mrs. Champagne: How is the trunk? I have not seen an Atlas in person, it just looks good on paper. The Ascent's could fit our Joovy Caboose and that's about it.
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@charm55: I have an Outback now and have test drove an Ascent three times. The only thing I am worried about is the trunk. With an 18 month old and a 6 week old we'll need a double stroller for a long time.
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@Ms. RV: I feel like it has more trunk space than our Pathfinder did, but we also aren’t carting around strollers, etc anymore so it could just be my imagination, ha.
When my kids were that young we had the Pathfinder and just left the 3rd row folded down pretty much all the time. Now that they are older (4 and 6) we leave the 3rd row up and definitely get more use out of it these days for driving around friends, cousins, etc.
We love Subarus ..we have a Legacy that we bought used a long time ago . It is still running like a charm and has given us zero issues.
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Flex! It's a great lower price option. Drives beautifully, good trunk, decent gas mileage, easy car seat installs.
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We have a CX-9 and it's been fine for us as a family of 4, but it won't cut it for long once LO3 arrives. The best thing about it it (and why we bought it) is it handles really well compared to the other big cars we drove. But it lacks a lot of family-friendly features so we're looking to move to a mini van soon.
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Following along - we have a mazda5 with 3 car seats and it works but barely - it’s basically car sized (vs suv) so the third row is tiny and I can barely fit my city mini if all the seats are up. If I forget to take the stroller out before grocery shopping it’s kind of comical! I’m thinking we’ll go minivan eventually but not sure. I love sliding doors which I do have now.
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Land Rover Discovery. It’s awesome, but probably overkill if you don’t plan to tow a trailer or actually off-road (we do both - the kids love camping and off roading 🤪)
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@Ms. RV: the VW Atlas is amazing. We love it. So much space and yet not that big. Drives like a regular car. 5 stars all around
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Honda Odyssey
Don't know how anti-mini-van you are, but once the kids hit elementary school and start carpooling, having a *usable* third row is really important. Everyone at our elementary school seems to have traded in their SUVs for mini-vans, except the few families with the huge long SUVs with plenty of leg space on the third row.
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@Ms. RV: we typically have one seat in the third row folded down and easily fit our side by side double and some more. Like we took it to the airport with two suitcases, the double stroller, three kids, carryons.
We have the baby read facing behind the driver (18 months) middle is behind passenger FF (she’s 3.5) oldest is behind her in the third row still in a regular car seat (he’s 5.75). The best part is how easy it is to get to the back. The mid row seats fold in half so easily and he climbs back and I lean in to buckle.
When the baby was in the bucket he was in the third row. So easy to clip him back there.
One warning - if the middle row seats and not firmly in place and you hit the brakes, they fly forward and your kid smacks into the front seat. Very easy for this never to happen because there’s a red indicator that sticks up when it’s not locked in place. But it did happen to us twice at the start.
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@charm55: I love Subarus too. I would be keeping my Outback if my kids could behave sitting three across
@MrsSRS: Flex is no longer manufactured
@JennyPenny: Why won't the CX-9 work with three LOs?
@MsMini: We tow and off-road in our pickup truck or else I would totally add a Discovery to the short list. I am trying to stay under $40k too.
@JCCovi: I am not anti minivan, but I have never really paid attention to them until recently. I love the Honda vac idea!
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@Ms. RV: I have a used one!
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We have a Toyota Sienna and I really think that a mini-van is 100% worth it, esp we have a 3rd coming. But if we didn't have a mini-van, we would've went for the Honda Pilot.
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@Ms. RV: The third row doesn't have tethers so we don't want to put our forward facing seats back there. We've figured out a way to get 3 across in the 2nd row with an infant seat and I'm sure we could get a bunch of Radians or something once LO3 outgrows the infant seat. But right now we're already super jealous of sliding doors and I have a suspicion that 3 across is going to be annoying.
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@Ms. RV: my kids also can’t behave well enough to sit three across even though they technically could fit. Haha
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We have a VW Atlas and I really love it! I can't think of any cons. We got captain chairs in the second row which makes the 3rd row much more assessable. It has so much room. We also test drove the Ascent. - I like how it looks on the outside better then the Atlas but it's so much smaller on the inside and I didn't feel like an adult could ever sit in the 3rd row.
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@JennyPenny: That is crazy the third row doesn't have tethers! I wouldn't think that would be a thing!!
@Alexandra603: The third row is so tiny on the Ascent. But if I wind up with that I would probably put my forward facers in the back, my rear facer in a captain's chair and have the other one open for an adult.
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We researched just about all of them and finally test drove the Kia Telluride, Suburu Ascent, and Hyandai Palisade. Ended up with the Palisade and LOVE IT! Nothing else compared.
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@Ms. RV: lots of suvs have 1 tether in the third row. And some have zero if there is a bench in the second row. Vehicles are only required to have three tethers, even suvs and vans. There are plenty that have more than three but it’s definitely something to pay attention to. Both the car seat lady and the car seat nerd have some amazing graphics that show lower anchor and tether anchor positions. They also talk about how some headrests make some vehicle seats incompatible with car seats. Also that some seat belt locations are incompatible with booster uses and adults. There is a lot to consider when looking for a vehicle that will grow with your family safely.
If I were shopping for a three row suv with the focus on car seat compatibility, I would probably lean towards the Honda Pilot. And for vans the Honda Odyssey, Toyota Sienna, and Kia Sedona tends to be the best with car seats. Though some model years are better/worse than others - not sure if you are buying new or used.
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We will probably be going with a Kia Telluride with second row captain chairs because the third row is awesome and I think we can get a good deal on one. I really do want to see the Tesla model Y and I hope it gets released sooner than scheduled. That will obviously function much differently than the giant Telluride, but I still want to consider it.
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@catgirl: I have spent lots of time on Car Seat Lady. I love her graphics. Makes it very easy to compare!
@Mommy Finger: My first car was a new Hyundai. In the three years I owned it, I had eight warranty claims. I am sure my car was a fluke but it still left a bad taste about the brand.
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@Ms. RV: Well that's....scary.
@agold: We really liked the Telluride. In all of our research, the Telluride and Palisade were neck and neck. However, the Tellurides are hard to come by (at least in our area) and we would have had to order one that would take 4-6 months to come in. We couldn't wait that long so it made our decision a little easier. And I hope you can get a good deal. It's been hard to negotiate on those two because they're in such high demand!
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@Mommy Finger: Yes, they are hard to get in my area, too! My childhood friend's family owns a dealership, so its the only reason we are really considering this car. I hope the model Y sweeps me off my feet, but the timing of its release is going to make this difficult for me to wait on.
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We bought an Odyssey a few months ago and love it. I love a lot of things about it, but one of my favorites is how the middle seats can be moved side to side as well as front to back. Our oldest is in the back, so it’s helpful to be able to move the baby’s seat to the middle so she can easily get to the back.
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Chrysler Pacifica
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@LemonJack: This! The MagicSlide middle row on the Odyssey is everything and is, much to DH’s embarrassment, pretty much the biggest selling point on the car. With three kids who all still need car seats or boosters, the layout and flexibility of the middle row is key and being able to take extra kid or adult passengers… As my kids get older and into more sports, carpooling really helps me out so I like the ability to easily take other kids. There’s still plenty of trunk room with the third row up, and I was able to fold down 2/3 of the third row with all three kids in the car to move a large dresser I purchased unexpectedly at Homegoods one day! As for driving a minivan I am not thrilled about it, but I have a three-year lease and hope that by the time it is up my kids will all be a little bigger and we can move back to a large SUV like a suburban or Yukon XL. I prefer the feel of driving a big SUV than a van.
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I am happy with our Honda Pilot. It is plenty big enough for three kids, and I like that it is smaller than a minivan. We have an older model, the newer ones are a bit bigger. My husband was anti-minivan, and it is his vehicle. I find the third row acceptable to ride in. We don't use a stroller much, but we are able to fit in all of our stuff when we travel.
My oldest is in a booster in the third row and the younger two are in an infant seat in the middle of the second row and forward facing behind the passenger seat. Three carseats could comfortable fit in the second row, but my oldest cannot buckle himself in with that configuration.
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I wasn't planning on buying a new vehicle until this summer but I got an awesome deal on a Subaru Ascent that I didn't want to pass up... and it was the exact build I wanted- black exterior and black cloth interior, captain's chairs, and no moon roof. I take delivery on Thursday
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I just drive my sisters’ new 2020 ascent and it’s so nice. The third row is more roomy than our current Highlander and the trunk space with the 3rd row up is also bigger than our Highlander. It had a lot of nice tech features too. The repair records are great, and Consumer’s Reports rate it highest in that category.
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@Ms. RV: thats so fun - you will love it ! I really love ours.
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