What vechicle has room but not mini-van?

[kkc_mom]

We went from a mini van to a Suburban...I LOVE my Suburban!! Lots of room for the kids and all their stuff. I do home day care and can get SIX car seats in it!!

 

[thenewgirl]

I love my Hyundai Veracruz (bigger than the Santa Fe)! BUT, if I had to put a carseat in the 3rd row, I'm not sure I would like getting the kid in and out of it. My almost 9 y.o. has no trouble climbing in the 3rd row, though.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

We don't even have children and I LOVE My Dodge Grand Caravan with Stow-n-Go seats and sliding doors. I hope it lasts forever. It is incredible how much room it has and if we take my cousin's children and I have all 3, it is so much easier than any SUV I have seen/ridden in.

Suzanne

 

[ZPT1022]

We recently bought a Honda Pilot and love it. We are expecting #4 any day now so we needed a bigger car. DH finds it even more comfy to drive than the Honda Odyssey we previously owned, and he's a big guy (6'4"). I will say that while you could probably do three across in the middle row for carseats, we are really enjoying having the kids have space in between them. The only thing is that our older three are in boosters now so we can do that- it might be a pain if we were dealing with lots of carseats still. Test drive a bunch and make sure you try the carseats in them, but I will say that we found the Pilot soooooo easy to install our new infant carseat in (easier than the Accord, Odyssey and CRV we have owned)

 

[kittycatalina65]

We love our Ford Flex. Been driving it for about a year. We have the 2nd row bench seat, so it seats 7. Plenty of room for passengers, I swear you could do yoga back there. My husband is 6'4" and no one dreads sitting behind him anymore.
We keep the 3rd row flat most of the time, but it's a cinch to pop back. On average we get just under 20 MPG around town, a bit more on the highway.

 

[Aimeedyan]

I am looking at cars with a 3rd row and have it narrowed, I think, to a Mazda CX-9. I did not do a carseat test, however, since I don't have children yet.

Others I looked at with 3 rows: Traverse, Pilot, Highlander, Tribeca, Veracruz, Pathfinder.

 

[NemoMOm]

I also run a daycare and the Pilot has been a nightmare with carseats. I have pre-k kids and I prefer to keep them in a 5pt harness which means larger car seat. it was not the width of the car seat that was the problem, it was the depth, even with the smaller car seats for infants. The row will not go forward so that the big kids can get in the last row, ergo the need to go thru the hatch. Otherwise, I love the Pilot, it is just not ideal for families with small children. But thanks for the tip.

I soloved this problem by buying a smaller ( narrower) car-seat without the extras on the side or too to interfere with the back seat. I also sometimes put the two car-seats side by side in 2nd row and leave the last seat pushed ahead allowing access to and from 3rd row. I have 6 daycare children (3 in some type of car- seat) and it worked out so far for me.

 

[5kwallace]

Andrews Dad, I don't how large of a vehicle that you want. I love my Toyota Sequoia! It has lots of options and lots of room. If you need to seat anyone in the 3rd row, it has a good bit of leg room. If you do not need the 3rd row, it folds flat. Good luck with your decisions! I'm with you on the minivan thing.

 

[FINFAN]

I am looking at cars with a 3rd row and have it narrowed, I think, to a Mazda CX-9. I did not do a carseat test, however, since I don't have children yet.

Others I looked at with 3 rows: Traverse, Pilot, Highlander, Tribeca, Veracruz, Pathfinder.

we have the CX-9...will be 3 years in August. We have the basic sport model added multi disc CD, sunroof, roof rack and Bose speakers,standard everything else. So far, zero issues..other than it does go thru gas quicker than my 96 Nisssan Quest ( that just goes thru PARTS faster ) it is a large vehicle, much wider than our van, and the 3rd row actually has room for an adult. Cloth interior and it is holding up great, love the "piano" trim. One thing I woud say to anyone purchasing a new style vehicle, if you can get the back up warning system. All the cars/vans whatever these days have such angled windows and wider pillars causing blind spots, I know the KIA mini- van offers this standard. Anyway, we do find thatour van offerd more room overall due to the higher boxier roof line, but driving the CX-9 is WAY more fun! SInce we bought ours in '07, 4 more families have purchase C-9's on the block, lol...glad we go ours first as we have pearl white, and all said they would have chosen white but didn't want to copy, lol....next color for us would have been black.

 

[Aimeedyan]

we have the CX-9...will be 3 years in August. We have the basic sport model added multi disc CD, sunroof, roof rack and Bose speakers,standard everything else. So far, zero issues..other than it does go thru gas quicker than my 96 Nisssan Quest ( that just goes thru PARTS faster ) it is a large vehicle, much wider than our van, and the 3rd row actually has room for an adult. Cloth interior and it is holding up great, love the "piano" trim. One thing I woud say to anyone purchasing a new style vehicle, if you can get the back up warning system. All the cars/vans whatever these days have such angled windows and wider pillars causing blind spots, I know the KIA mini- van offers this standard. Anyway, we do find thatour van offerd more room overall due to the higher boxier roof line, but driving the CX-9 is WAY more fun! SInce we bought ours in '07, 4 more families have purchase C-9's on the block, lol...glad we go ours first as we have pearl white, and all said they would have chosen white but didn't want to copy, lol....next color for us would have been black.

I'm so glad you like it!! I don't know anyone IRL that drives one but I just think they are beautiful. Driving it is so smooth and comfortable!

 

[SarahKate]

I didn't read all the responses but we have a 2011 Kia Sorento and we LOVE, LOVE LOVE it. Did I say that we love it?

We had gone from an Odyssey straight down to an Accord and never really got past the drastic switch. So we ended up trading it in a few weeks ago and couldn't be happier.

Ours is the V6 and it does have the 3rd row so it has seating for 7. The V6 model comes standard w/ the 3rd row. When we compared SUV's in similar size, it was no comparison as far as what the Sorento comes standard with. It has EVERYTHING. And I don't know about other dealerships, but we traveled to a Kia dealer in St. Louis and got an excellent deal - invoice cost, PLUS $2k in incentives, and they even gave us Kelly Blue Book on our trade (which gave us another $2k over what we owed on the Accord).

The Sorento is absolutely perfect to us in every way, I never thought I'd say that since we've always been car snobs and always bought Japanese. My ONLY complaint is that when I get in, I step up a bit but also have to duck my head down a little bit......the driver seat is higher and you can't drop it down at all. So I will have to be careful so I don't bonk my head. But that is it.

As far as space, it is roomier than other competitors. The dimensions on the outside are not that big, but they made GREAT use of the interior dimensions. It's not quite as angled as others in its class so it has a LOT of good cargo space. The 2nd row folds down totally flat so you have all that space if you need to haul. The 3rd row is sUPER easy to fold up and down - wouldn't want to have people back there on a long trip (and it doesn't have airbag coverage back there), but in a pinch it's wonderful.

As for having three car seats, I think you probably could get three back there especially if you did the rear facing on the outside and the booster on the inside.

 

[stitchlovestink]

Ford Flex

OH YES!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE MY FLEX!!!!!!
I test drove 20+ make/models incl the traverse. It drives incredibly smooth!! The flex had more room than any of them. I have a daughter who is 6'1" in bare feet and she NEVER complains about not having enough room. I have the 40/40 split middle seat w/ the console but you can get a 40/60 bench in the middle row. And the best part about the rear seat is it is a 50/50 split seat. So you can have use of one seat and all of the storage afforded by have the other one down.

Ford Flex. Lots of room inside. It feels like a limo!

check out this list of award:
The 2009 Ford Flex stands out with an impressive list of honors. They include:

•Automobile Magazine - All Star Award
•Texas Auto Writers - Overall CUV of the Year
•Texas Auto Writers - Full Size CUV of the Year
•Canadian Auto Writers - CUV of the Year
•Society of Plastic Engineers - Team of the Year
•Popular Mechanics - Automotive Excellence Awards
•Autobytel - Best Family Car
•Autotropolis - 2009 Truck of the Year
•Autobytel - Utility Vehicle of the Year
•GQ Magazine - Best Stuff of the Year Awards
•SEMA Design Award from the Auto Writers - Most Accessory Friendly SUV
•Maxim Magazine - Hottest Cars of the Summer
•Kelley Blue Book - 10 Best Road Trip vehicle
•Maxim Magazine - Favorite new Color - Cinnamon
•Car and Driver - SEMA Show Surprisingly Good Canvas Award
•Maxim Magazine - Ultimate Road Trip Car
•Active Network - Active Lifestyle Vehicle of the Year

 

[All American]

Nissan Armada.

Love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

Two words: HONDA PILOT!

Totally agree! We LOVE ours. We have a Marathon and a booster in the 2nd row and I can sit comfortably between the 2. I'm sure another seat would fit there as well.

 

[Pooh's Pixie]

We have a Nissan Armada that seats 8 comfortably including adults in the 3rd row.

ME too! Love it! And I love being high up & safe. And I love that the seating is flexible: my beef with minivans (and I had one before) was that I could never put all 3 kids in the middle row if I needed cargo space. The Armada can.

 

[NikiM20]

Nissan Pathfinder gets my vote! We love ours and finally made the move from having 2 newly bought minivans to the suv... love it!!!

We purchased our first one in December and I LOVE it. Nice and roomy, and the back seat folds flat so theres alot of storage

 

[stitchlovestink]

Totally agree! We LOVE ours. We have a Marathon and a booster in the 2nd row and I can sit comfortably between the 2. I'm sure another seat would fit there as well.

I've talked to two other people that were driving a Flex and surprisingly both traded in their Honda Pilot for the Flex...neither was sorry and said they would do it again in a heartbeat.... said better drive and way more space.... hmmm.....

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

I've talked to two other people that were driving a Flex and surprisingly both traded in their Honda Pilot for the Flex...neither was sorry and said they would do it again in a heartbeat.... said better drive and way more space.... hmmm.....

I'm not sure... We traded in our Ford Escape for the Pilot, I know it is a different car but we HATED our Escape. We had the XLT Sport 4x4. It just felt SO cheaply made, I don't think we will ever buy a Ford again. Our Pilot is the same year with more miles and it is just SO much nicer, I can feel the difference.

 

[FINFAN]

OH YES!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE MY FLEX!!!!!!
I test drove 20+ make/models incl the traverse. It drives incredibly smooth!! The flex had more room than any of them. I have a daughter who is 6'1" in bare feet and she NEVER complains about not having enough room. I have the 40/40 split middle seat w/ the console but you can get a 40/60 bench in the middle row. And the best part about the rear seat is it is a 50/50 split seat. So you can have use of one seat and all of the storage afforded by have the other one down.




check out this list of award:
The 2009 Ford Flex stands out with an impressive list of honors. They include:

•Automobile Magazine - All Star Award
•Texas Auto Writers - Overall CUV of the Year
•Texas Auto Writers - Full Size CUV of the Year
•Canadian Auto Writers - CUV of the Year
•Society of Plastic Engineers - Team of the Year
•Popular Mechanics - Automotive Excellence Awards
•Autobytel - Best Family Car
•Autotropolis - 2009 Truck of the Year
•Autobytel - Utility Vehicle of the Year
•GQ Magazine - Best Stuff of the Year Awards
•SEMA Design Award from the Auto Writers - Most Accessory Friendly SUV
•Maxim Magazine - Hottest Cars of the Summer
•Kelley Blue Book - 10 Best Road Trip vehicle
•Maxim Magazine - Favorite new Color - Cinnamon
•Car and Driver - SEMA Show Surprisingly Good Canvas Award
•Maxim Magazine - Ultimate Road Trip Car
•Active Network - Active Lifestyle Vehicle of the Year

we went to the Auto show this year just to nose around, looked at the Flex, but yikes! $40+ ? Were you guys able to get one at or under 30 grand? I guess we were in sticker shock...but when cars are costing 1/2 of a condo, I really have to re-evaluate. We did like it for the most part tho, it did have decent visibility compared to a lot of other larger vehicles.

 

[sandgrace]

We just got a used Ford Flex it's a 2009 and only had 7500 miles on it it cost us under $29,000. It's the SEL model with leather seats it has the bench seat in the middle and the vista roof so far we love it! We've taken it on a road trip to Disneyland and it was a dream to drive and ride in. Plus, it also looks cooler than a minivan IMO. We almost got the Mazda CX 9 but at the last minute checked out the Flex and fell in love with it! We just finished our lease on our Toyota Sienna Minivan and I really liked that vehicle a lot but so far I love the Flex more!