Vehicle with Third Row

I know that minivans are the like the uncoolest thing around, but seriously, think about it. The automatic doors are amazing, especially when you have baby in one had, a diaper bag, and other kids to get into the car. Being able to hit a button and yell, "get in the car!," while worrying about baby, is worth every "uncool" glare you might get.

Seriously, cool people drive minivans.

I hear the subaru tribeca is great. I have a forrester now but I may have to upgrade to a bigger car and if I do, this will probably be the one. They are incredibly safe and get great gas mileage.

We've had a Mazda CX-7 for 3 years and I love it. It's very sporty & powerful and comfortable. Although it doesn't have a 3rd row seat, the larger version of it, the CX-9, does.

Have you tried narrower car seats in your current car? Sunshine Kids Radian http://www.skjp.com/ are very narrow and can fit 3 in a row in some cars. This is the car seat/boosters we use for our 3 and we have them in a row. We've got a Toyota Sienna mini-van for our entourage though so I don't know how the row size compares to your car. I have however heard of people using them in smaller cars. It's a thought perhaps.

Please note, this is all just my opinion. . . We're in the same boat and decided to purchase 6 Sunshine Kids Radian XTSL carseats (3 for each vehichle) instead of a new vehichle. My husb drives a Dodge Dakota pickup and I have a Chevy Malibu Maxx. We're not mini van people either, and I found that most SUV's/cars with 3rd row seats really leave you without any storage in the back. We have a double stroller that needs to fit back there and there is very little room when the 3rd row is in place. It's also difficult to climb back there, so ideally you need captain's chairs in the second row for access to the third. My Malibu Maxx (they don't make them anymore) is a hatch back, and I can fit so much in the back it's amazing. I know we'll still need more storage for longer trips, so we're just going to invest in a roof top carrier for those times.
Hope this helps. Congrats on your expanding family!
Oh- one more thing. You said you needed 2 boosters and a carseat. Sunshine Kids also makes a narrow booster called the Moneterey. Just make sure you have enough width to be able to maneuver to get the seat belts latched between all of the seats.

I love love LOVE my GMC Acadia. It has 2nd row captain seats and a third row bench seat and it's a GREAT vehicle. I'm a previous Honda girl all the way and really wanted a Pilot till my husband insisted I test drive the Acadia ...I converted on the spot. It's much more comfortable/"plush" than the Pilot and it has remote start so I can start it up and cool it off before putting my kids in which is my favorite feature! Highly recommend.

We have Ford Expedition and LOVE IT (it does eat gas like crazy though), 5 1/2 y o ,3 1/2 y o boys and a 3rd in 4 weeks, my hubby is 6.4 Our boys r still in 5 point harness and we can fit 3 britax car seats in the middle seat easily, so we only use 3rd row for friends.If you get Sunshine Radian seats you do not need to invest in the new car("just" $900 in the seats), since they fit 3 in the row in a small car. We went with the " truck", since it was only $1200 on Craigslist and hubby wanted something that would pull a boat:)
PS we can only fit double maclaren in the trunk though when the 3rd seat is up(one of those huge Graco doubles will not fit)

We have a Honda Pilot and I'm not overly impressed with it. My husband is right at 6 feet and it doesn't seem like there is much leg room for my son behind the drivers seat when he's driving. Also the 3rd row is extremely difficult to get to. The 2nd row seats are suppose to fold down and slide forward, but it takes a ton of force to get them to actually move, so we end up climbing in through the back. Go try for yourself. BTW, no way is there tons of room in the 3rd row, I'm only 5 ft. and I feel crowded. On the plus side, it is big enough to fit 3 car seats across the 2nd row, so we almost always have the entire 3rd row of seats folded down. We looked at all the SUVs with 3rd row options and this was our favorite but after driving it for a couple of years I'm not impressed.

We just got a Ford Expedition and I LOVE it so so so much. I originally wanted the Explorer or Durango with the 3rd row, but after seeing the Expedition, my husband was hooked. I thought it was way too big, but I gave in when I saw how little room there is in many of the other 3rd row SUVs when the 3rd row seats are up. Many of the 3rd rows are a joke when it comes to leg room, and when the seats are in use, forget about being able to fit a stroller or groceries in the back. The Expedition is a beast, and it took me a few weeks to get used to driving it, but now I think its perfect!

We just went though this 2 weeks ago when we got our new SUV. We turned in our minivan... soooo over driving it despite its convienience. Anyway... we did a lot of shopping around. We had intended on getting a Toyota Sequoia, which we had before the van and LOVED. The Sequoia was out of reach for us finiancially at this time so we started to do a lot of shopping around. Honda was running a special on the pilot, and they were very nice, that were quite roomy on the inside compared to what you see on the outside. We looked at the Tahoe, which had no room for a stroller behind the 3rd row, and the Traverse, which had the space in the back, but had a smaller cabin. We ended up getting a Nissan Armada and LOVE it! It came at at great price and is a very roomy 8 passanger. It has a sufficient amount of space behind the third row, and has a backup camera with a screen that actually shows you whats behind you! AWESOME!!! Good luck!!!

I HATE minivans!!!! My best friend and I always say "friends don't let friends drive minivans!" I LOVE OUR DURANGO! We only have the two row but my dad has the the one w/ the third row and I love it. When we get another car it will be a newer used Durango w/ third row :) Oh and my SIL has one w/ a third row the two older boys sit in the back because they can buckle themselves and the baby sits in the middle row. She leaves one of the middle seat portions folded down so that boys can hop right into the back.

I always love this question as I am researching now but not planning on buying until the spring. I have a mini van and LOVE it, it is a pontiac Montana, and if they still made them, I would definitely buy another. I can never understand why people don't like mini vans... I am not trying to convince you, I just don't get it! Mine has seating for 8 (although 3 adults in the third row wouldn't be comfortable), the seats fold up for easy access to the third row and 3 car seats or boosters fit easily in the second row, w ehave 2 bench seats but they are split so each one can fold down and or forward on it's own. I have lots of room for storage, I currently have a large stroller which I stand up instead of laying down, a playpen and room for kit bags or groceries depending on my needs of the day. Good luck with your decision, as of now, I am leaning toward a GMC Acadia. I like the look of them, 3 rows of seating and storage room.

I started with the 2004 Ford Explorer when I was pregnant with my first knowing that I wanted more kids. It seats 7: 3 in the second row & 2 in the third. I can say from my experience, we had an infant seat in the middle of the 2nd row & two full size boosters on either side & it worked well. The third row folds down to give ample space. And even when I needed to use the third row, I could fit a double stroller in the back (I have one that folds in half). The only time it was cramped was loading up to go away, but even then, I had no problem cramming it full of all we needed- and this even with four kids. When pregnant with #5 my husband decided we needed something bigger so he took the Explorer for a work vehicle and we upgraded the family car to the Ford Expedition exteded cab- it seats eight & because it is the extended cab it has lots of space in the back. I can't deny the extra space is great, but I would have been fine driving the Explorer still. (Although at this point, I am wishing I would have gone with a 15 passenger van because while I can comfortably fit my family, we can't take more than one additional person, which would be nice to be able to do)

*as for leg room, the 3rd row would certainly not be comfortable for your hubby, but I imagine he would be fine as either driver or passenger.

happy car shopping! and congrats on baby #3!!

volvo xc 90 we like it :) great in the snow and rain.. it is not a super huge car. also it has a built in booster seat if needed that pops out.. we bought ours used certified and it came with a 5 year warrenty and it was like new it was less than a year old.. like the safety features.. my husband is 6 3 as well but I am 5ft 1.. lol.. and I wanted something sporty and peppy easy to drive and park... love park assist.. or if u are looking for a little larger car the audi Q7.. they have great used certified cars too :) with tons of safety features.
Lenc

NO minivans!!! Go full size conversion GMC. :o)
OK i'm a little biased. BUT I love my van. Love it.
It has enough room for me to stand up and walk to the back. I can change a baby between seats on the floor.
It has enough room for 4 kids, in separate corners and three dogs, shepherds, and three cats.
It has three rows, four captians seats and a bench in the back
OK so it gets 12 mpg with the air conditioner running. The only car I would downsize to would be a Suburban.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE my van. I call it the Behemoth.

I have a Dodge Durango and love it! I DID NOT want a minivan either!! :) It has plenty of room and 3rd row seating...Good luck!!

We have a Toyota Four Runner. It has three rows and we love it. We also have three children and they fit comfortably in the car with a stroller. We have been driving our Four Runner for five years without any problems. (It wasn't involved in any of the recalls.) I just yelled into my husband and asked him how tall he is. He is 6'2". He said your hubby won't have any issue being 6'3". Many people tried to talk us into the mini van but we are simply not a mini van family. The Four Runner is a great alternative.

My car is a Mitsubishi Montero Limited Edition. 2006 was the last year they made it, so you can't get one new, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE this SUV!! I get about 20mpg in it. I haven't had any problems mechnically with it at all. I love the way it handles and it has some get up & go. I have gotten three adults and 4 kids in boosters and everyone was nice and comfy. I've also done 3 adults and 3 boosters and a carseat! So 7 fit great. the back opens like a door and I can get my 4&5 years old in that way instead of having to flip down the middle seat. and i still have room behind the third seat for about 7 bags of groceries!! I only have two complaints, one is that it has no cup holders in the back seat. For the third row, there are two on one side of the car. Can't tell you why that is, but Our boosters have cup holders, so we do ok. Second is that there is no auxiliary input line, which means I can't play music from my iphone!! I have asked to have my stereo upgraded for Christmas. Also, my car has leather seats, so real easy clean up with the little ones. Also, I like the body style and because it is a limited, there aren't a bunch of them out there, so it is easy to spot my car. hope this helps you. Mine is about to be paid off and I told my husband that i'm driving it till it won't go no more. the outside has a little wear on it, but the inside still looks almost brand new. Plus the A/C really cools it down quickly, which is a must in South Texas!!

Wow i posted almost the same exact question 2 months ago! After what felt like endless shopping and back and forthing (my new word) we decided on the Chevy Traverse. We got the 7 seater because bucket seats were a must to make it easier to get into the back row. I LOVE it! It drives well and has all the same features as the more expensive GMC Acadia and Buick Enclave. We have room for our double stroller in the back and for more room we just fold down the two back seats, leaving the single seat as is being that we already have a car seat in it. We actually have 3 car seats in the car: 2 in each bucket seat for my 3 year old and 1 1/2 year old, and one in the rear seat for my 2 1/2 year old niece who I frequently watch and for our future 3rd child coming in 2011. I love also that it has cup holders on the doors of the passenger seat so my 3 year old get her own cup and replace it in the cup holder instead of throwing it on the floor. It also has tons of storage in the car itself for cds, sunglasses, small toys for the kids, etc. Good luck!
BTW, we really didn't want to sit all our kids across a bench seat because we frequently drive to restaurants or events with my parents (dad is 6'1") and we wanted them to be able to get in the car without climbing over the bench seat and car seats.

We have the Honda Pilot. It fits my 6'3" husband really well - even in the 3rd row there is a ton of leg room. The second row has split seats. It can easily fit 8. When the third row is down, there is more room in the back than in my husband's previous car (ford explorer). With the 3rd row up, you will definately have room for a stroller but probably not much more. However, if you have 3 kids in 2 rows you'll have room for other stuff on the seats/floor. I think 2 of the models come with a dvd player. Love that.

We have a Acura MDX which we really like on multiple levels, it drives smooth and has a lot of nice features. However, the only thing we do not like is how we get in and out of the back seat. I would have preferred the Buick Rendevous from my memory for the 3rd row seat. When you have the car seats in the second row, the seats won't come down. Putting them in the back seat would be very tough to get the kids in them so we put the booster back there. That means we have to open up the back of the truck for our son tro crawl into his booster. Accessing that 3rd row is extremely important to take into consideration.

The Chevy Tahoe and Suburban both offer third row seating and plenty of storage space. They even offer an option of having 'mini-van' seating that allows for easier in/out of the third row. I am like you and don't like minivans and one of these will be our next vehicle.

Ford Flex. Same overall length as a minivan, but more headroom (your tall husband will appreciate that). Not quite as high as a SUV, which is important when dealing with car seats. Plus, you can feel good about buying American. We are so happy with ours!

Hello,
We have 4 kids and have a Suburban we love it my hubby is 6ft and have plenty of room and we have even taken my father 6'4 ' and he had sat in the second row and has had room. our suburban has 3 rows with the second and third row seating 3 each. and when we had 3 there were times we would just use 2 rows and they fit if you needed all the extra room in the back, but now we use all 3 rows and still but a double stroller in the back and are able to do all the grocery shopping and go on vacation for a week and have plenty of room. love our suburban I also am Not a mini van person. Also i dont know what state you live in but we are in PA and the registration on a suburban is 36$ just like a car, they classify it as a stationwagon so it saves on that. just so you know if you are looking at a suburban the tahoe is similar but it is shorter so you dont have the same amount of room for the trunk. Hope tis helps good luck :)

Our "play" vehicle (for kayaking, boating, hiking, etc) is a 1989 Chevy Suburban. Its a beat up mess, but I LOVE it! It is HUGE inside. Captain seats in the front for parents & 2 benches in the back. The second row has a 2/3 split so one seat flips down for easy access to the back. You could EASILY get three carseats in the second row. (We only have two kids, so we have 2, but they fit easily with room to spare). We took the 3rd row out and there is a TON of space in the back. My husband once fit his sister's kayak back there. (Its a small kayak, but I still think that's impressive). With the 3rd row in, we still have enough space for our 2 dogs (medium sized) behind it.
And ALL the seats are comfortable & sized for adults. Most cars today size back seats for little kids & therefore aren't comfortable for adults. Also, the front seats are REALLY nice. I test drove a lot of vehicles before I bought my most recent (Chrysler Pacifica, which i love, but can only fit 2 kids). Many of the front seats were too narrow for me. I have big hips. The suburban seats are roomy. And the back seats are comfortable too.
All my info is about an 89 suburban, but I imagine that it all holds true for new suburbans as well.
The only down side to the suburban is gas mileage. Ours only gets about 12 mpg, but its so old, its still made of steel! (At least that's what my hubby tells me). I imagine a newer one would have better gas mileage. Good luck with your decision.
In conclusion, I think a suburban is definitely worth a test drive.

I have a Chevy Suburban and LOVE it! We have 5 kids, sometimes 7 with my 2 nephews and we all fit great...including tons of storage in the back and leg room for everyone. Where we live we get tons of snow and it is an excellent snow car. We bought it brand spanking new in 2005 (our first brand new car) and we have had no problems what-so-ever with it so far *Knock on some wood*. I would highly recommend taking one for a test drive. We looked at everything that was out there when we were buying and the Suburban just drives SO nice...if you try it you will understand what I am talking about...my hubby always says it's like a Luxury Land yacht!

~I know it's a big SUV but it isn't hard to drive at all!

We have 4 kids, ages 2, 3, 4, 6 so they are all in car seats or boosters. We LOVE our Excursion. Plenty of room for 3 carseats in the same row! It has a very safe track record in accidents as well.

We recently bought a Mazda 5. it's like a mini, mini van. We love it! It seats 6 and you can put one or both of the back seats down. The trunk is small with both back seats up, but I can still fit my stroller in it. It's a lot cheaper than a mini van and gets better mileage. Good luck with your new addition to your family and good luck finding a vehicle!

I just got a 2008 Ford Taurus X and I LOVE it! I too wanted the flexibility of a minivan but didn't want a minivan. Three rows of seats. The seats all fold down, the middle row flips forward for access to the third row. The "trunk" area has the recessed well like the minivans do. I say it looks like a minivan crossed with a station wagon. Unfortunately Ford stopped making them. But you can still find them pre-owned. I think they were only in production 2008 & 2009. Now the Ford Flex is replacing it. I did test drive the Flex, I liked it but felt like it was too long. Still it was a nice drive. I traded in a Lexus RX 300 and I LOVE my Taurus X WAY more. Before the Lexus I owned a series of Acuras so I never imagined I'd buy a Ford. But I did and I love it. AND I've been very happy with the Ford dealership we purchased from. Good luck with your search!

Buick Enclave. You can search thru some of my recent posts asking the same question. :) We recently had our third child and are currently on the search for an Enclave. I/We are not minivan people, so that type of vehicle was out from the beginning. We rented an Enclave recently on our mini-vacation to the shore (bags, stroller, cooler, etc) and it was perfect! Plenty of room. Oh, any my hubby is about 6'3" too...so I understand all too well the need to have plenty of leg room! ;)

(It feels like a limo inside, but drives like a car...PERFECTION!)

My daughter just got a used Lincoln Aviator. It is extremely roomy throughout. Not much room behind the rear seat for cargo but it does fit a stroller. All rows have tremendous leg room. Also consider a Suburban. These are very roomy and have lots of cargo space.

Hi my name is R. M. i have been a Atomotive technician for twenty years, !4 years of that as a Honda Technician I recently retired working for a Honda dealership I'm curently Doing Automotive purchashing consulting and repair. All that said i think the perfect vehicle for you would be the Honda Pilot, I'm 6'1" tall and it has tons of leg room and alot of features for kids like dvd player. Any further questions you can email me @ ____@____.com

I absolutely LOVE my Mazda CX9! It's a bit smaller than the GMC Acadia, which just felt too large to me, personally. Definitely go and drive a few you are interested in before deciding. I found this made a huge difference. The CX9 is fun to drive, seats 7, and love, love the features, has some cargo space below in the "trunk," and the stroller fits while still leaving one seat up in the back. I'd take the stroller with you while test driving to make sure yours fits! With the infant seat, we do have to have the passenger front seat a bit further up, so that is a consideration if you are tall (I'm 5'5 and this is fine when I am a passenger but I doubt that would be comfy if you were driving and your DH sat there).

Hands down Honda Pilot. Go for a test drive. I love mine. I will never drive anything else. I haul kids all the time. The back seat isn't as roomy as the middle, but three kids still fit back there.

We have five kids and we have a Chrysler Aspen and a Ford Excursion. They both have plenty of room for all of us and a stroller. My Excursion also has a huge woofer in the back too...LOL

We bought the base model Chevy Traverse last year and we LOVE it! Another mom suggested the captain's chair seating for easy access to 3rd row. We have the bench seating, so ours holds 8 people. W/a car seat on both sides of middle row, it does make it a bit challenging to seat someone in the 3rd row, so the captain's seating may be a better choice for you. W/that being said, the Traverse was the ONLY vehicle in our price range that could fit our large Graco stroller behind the 3rd row seating while the 3rd row was up. Hubby is 6'4" and I'm 5'11", and we both could fit in the 3rd row seat. Hubby commented on how it was the only SUV where he had to move the driver's seat forward to drive the car! W/3rd row seat down, it has a HUGE amount of storage space. We couldn't afford something as big as a Suburban, nor did we want to pay for the gas. The Traverse is a happy medium for us. We tried the Nissan Pathfinder, Honda Pilot, and Toyota Highlander, and the Traverse was the only one big enough to fit the stroller flat behind the 3rd row seat. We love ours and would buy it again because it is like having the comfort and size of a minivan, but without the van! There's lots of cupholders at every seat, and there are separate climate controls for the 2nd row of seats, so if we're warm and the kids are cold, we can put the heat on for them while we have on the A/C up front. I can't say enough good things about the Traverse. Good luck and happy car shopping!

My husband is very tall too. He drives a Yukon; it comes with a third row. We use it on busy family trips so we can pack everything in it; although we have 2 children; planning on the third in a few years.

I have 3 children in carseats and we drive a Toyota Highlander. I bought it when we were expecting our third, but unfortunately, it is not the right car for 3 young children. I cannot fit a stroller in the car with the 3rd row being utilized. I have to put the stroller in the front seat! The back storage space behind the 3rd row can only fit an umbrella stroller.
Apart from that the car is great.
Unfortunately, we might have to trade it in for a minivan (for a few years at least!!)
Good luck!

I have three children and love the Toyota Sequia. It has 3 rows, but also offers plenty of room for extra gear in the back....even a stroller!

We also just got a Mazda5 and love it. I am vehemently anti-minivan, and I am happy with this car. I was skeptical, because it kinda looks like a minivan... and it has the sliding doors like a minivan... but it drives like a car, and is cuter. :) I have really come to appreciate the sliding doors, too -- so much easier to get in and out of the car with my daughter (and soon kid #2, probably), especially in tight parking lot spaces.

The 2nd row are captain's chairs, so for a kid it's easy to get into the 3rd row. This option also makes it easier to adjust for legroom for the front row since you can push the 2nd row back more than I'd think in a 2nd row bench option. Also, I have seen videos where parents managed to install their 2 Britax Marathons in the 3rd row of a Mazda5 (though we tried this one night at the shore and couldn't manage it at the time ourselves). There is probably just enough room behind the 3rd row for an umbrella stroller (our Maclaren will do fine), but if you only need the one 3rd row seat, you'd have more room in the back by folding one side down.

I have been told that the front seats can be a bit cozy for taller people, so obviously you'd want to check it out. Not sure if your objection to a minivan is the size issue, mileage, or just an aesthetic thing (it was all three for me), but I will say the Mazda5 was great on all 3 for us, plus it was not very expensive, either! (We paid less for a new one than we did for our 1999 New Beetle back in 1999!)

Happy car shopping!

I just got a Jeep Commander and LOVE it! I am married to a mechanic and the engines and transmissions in the Jeep models ( V6 and get about 20mpg) are very reliable and are not expensive to fix. I have had a Honda and liked it, but 3 things broke on it before 30k miles(!) We knew if it went out of warranty, the parts would be very expensive. Jeep makes 3 vehicles that are great: The Commander, The Grand Cherokee and the Wrangler - parts are cheap and the cars are not a pain to fix (engine and tranny can be accessed easily, so you don't pay a million dollars to repair something). The other Jeep models are cheap, lower end models.

My commander has a Mercedes transmission and loads of in-cab Mercedes technology. Jeep tranny's have timing chains rather than belts, which mean they requires less repairs. All Commanders should have a carbon combustion chamber cleaner run through the engine before 32k miles to keep the engine running smooth.

Most people buy a car based on what it looks like and the warranty, whereas we buy based on how we KNOW the engine and tranny is built. Because some day it will be out of warranty and the owners will be holding the repair bill . . .

Drive a commander . . . they are nice and big, without being a monster. I vastly prefer it over the Honda Pilot.

PS - you should check out this site for reviews of all cars by their owners: http://www.carcomplaints.com/

I want a Suburban or Tahoe. They are full sized seats, comfortable, there is nearly enough room to set up a pack-n-play behind the 3rd seat, the seats fold down and a lot can be packed in for a trip or moving stuff from one place to another, etc...they have the room I need, room for 3 in the middle seat and 3 more in the rear seat, and they are built with a truck frame and are safer in a normal fender bender and even more in a bad accident.

i think the extra expense in gasoline is a good trade off for the safety of the metal frame and truck body, or vice versa, which ever.

After searching the internet, test driving and thorough research over the past 6 months, I am happy to say I have "the right" vehicle for me - a Nissan Pathfinder (seats 7). My 4 yo son loves it too!