Need Room for 3 Kids in Backseat... Suggestions on Vehicle

Hi S.!
We recently bought a Kia Rondo and we love it! It can seat 7 - two in front, two in back, and three in the middle. It is slightly smaller than a minivan, so when you drive it, it feels more like a car, but it has the space of a minivan. It's wide enough to fit three car seats in the middle if you need the back space for groceries or whatnot. It gets 30+ miles per gallon, so you shouldn't be spending an arm and a leg on gasoline, like most of the minivans/SUVs out there. Also, the Kia has some great safety features, like side/rear air bags, the engine drops under the seats in the event of an accident, and each wheel has traction control (which will straighten out the wheel in the event you lose control of the car). They also give a 10 year drive train warranty. What we really like about it is that we can drive around people other than our family, which is great when people come to visit. We don't have to take two cars :)
Two other comparable vehicles would be the Mazda 5 and the Hyundai Santa Fe. There might be some other cross-overs out there, but these are the three we looked into. We decided on the Kia because it was little less expensive and it had the better warranties.
Good luck in your search!
J. (mother of two)

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We are also in the market for a minivan. We looked at cross-overs (which drive like cars), but they run about $4,000 more for less space. I owned a Chrystler Town & Country for a while, and those are good cars. Right now, we are looking at the Toyota Sienna, the Kia Sedona, and the Mazda 5. I drive a Mazda right now, and LOVE it. They are sportier cars, and the Mazda is also the least-expensive and smallest of the minivans we're looking at (it only seats 6). I have never owned a Kia, so don't know much about them (but the Sedona has a great safety rating), and we've owned Toyotas for years. They are more expensive, but will last until you drive them into the ground. I suggest you look online (Cartalk.com is a great resource) and narrow your options down to 2 or 3 cars in your price range, and then test drive them. Bring a car seat with you to make sure it will fit. I also really recommend the website http://www.automotive.com/new-cars/compare/02/minivans-va... which allows you to select the cars you are considering and compare their base prices, space, efficiency, etc. Good luck!

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We love our Ford Freestyle (now the Taurus X). It's a cross-over and gets better gas mileage than most SUVs and vans. You can get it with 2 bucket seats in the middle and the third row has a 2-person bench seat. It's comfortable and rides smoothly.

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Like you, I never saw/see myself as a mini van mom! I have a Pacifica and love it! It is very spacious. I have had several passengers sit comfortably in both the second and third row seating. My daughter loves our car too. Good luck!

Hi,

Congratulations on the upcoming birth of your third child, who will have older sibs. That is a great family!

I think you will enjoy a mini van. They can be luxurious and are very comfortable.

I am a sometimes kid-hauling grandparent, and DH and I drive a minivan. Because we did not want to have car seats in our car at all times, we got built-in booster seats. They have harnesses and also work with shoulder straps. They flip out of the way for adults to sit there.

Our seats are approved for babies over 22 pounds. They are safe, but they do not lift the baby up very high. So a baby cannot see out. They work very well for older kids and for occaisional use.

We did have one built-in booster seat, now we have two. We have generally had Chrysler products, currently a Dodge Ram mini-van. DH and I find the mini-van more comfortable than my luxury Buick sedan.

The one thing I would recommend is that you try a few different brands. Some of them are easier to see out of than others. I can see out of the Dodge better than I could our Chrysler Town and Country, my DH could see out of the Chrysler better. So that definitely is personal preference and probably depends on your height.

We also have stow and go seats in the rear, which is nice for cargo, luggage, etc.

And I personally think a two-seat bench in the middle is better because you can get into the back more readily to tend to that third child.

HTH
Best wishes,
E.

We have a Honda Pilot and Honda Ridgeline (truck... probably not what you want). Both fit a Graco booster seat, Graco ComfortSport and Graco Infant seat. We won't be able to fit 2 comfortsports and a booster in the Ridgeline though. Honestly, while the Pilot works, I'd rather have a Odyssey... we are making the Pilot work for now though to keep costs down and because in the long run it will be better since it fits more people than the Odyssey.

It's probably mostly going to depend on what carseats you use. I know there are wider carseats out there than the Graco brand.

Congratulations and good luck!

I never thought of myself as a mini van owner either...but now I don't know how I did without! I currently have a Toyota Sienna and I love it. I have definitely fit at least 3 carseats in it at a time. It has great gas mileage and very roomy. I bought it used (it's a 2004) and haven't had any problems. I did a ton of research and this one has excellent safety ratings and reliability....I am a huge Consumer Reports user! Good luck finding your new vehicle!

FYI, the Sunshine Kids Radian 80 car seat is slim enough to fit 3 in the back seat. This is a convertible seat that fits kids up to 80 pounds in a 5 point harness. It's a pricey seat, but if you aren't ready for a mini-van, then you can get one for 250 (3 for 750) and wait on the new car purchase.

We did 3 car seats across the back for a year in a subaru forrester. it worked, but it was tough. we bit the bullet with a mini van in april (my kids are 4, 3 & 1). we wanted a toyota or honda (best rated by far) but couldn't afford the price tag. we also wanted new, and i was sold on the automatic doors and liftgate. we chose a kia sorrento. it is comparable to it's asian siblings, but without the brand recognition/price. i love my kia & would recommend it to anyone!

good luck!

Seems like if you still want trunk space you need a mini van. There are options for SUVs with a third row, but then you loose the trunk. Sorry to say but I think a mini van is your only option. Three car seats just don't fit across. Even if you could cram them in just barely, you don't want to deal with that every day.

I only have two kids but just recently bought a mini van. We can now comfortably fit other people in our van to ride with us. Before you know it your kids will be wanting to have friends over for a sleep over and it is nice to be able to drive them places if need be. We did a lot of researching and found out that the Toyota Sienna is rated the top mini van by Consumer Reports and other places online. They run forever and can put over 250,000 miles on them. We did not buy a new one but one that is 11 years old and it still runs like it's brand new. We got it at a very reasonable price and love it! We know 2 other people who have one and love theirs too.

We have lots of family with several children. Most of our family members have the Honda Odyssey. We love it. Very roomy.. great features.. and definately fits 3 car seats comfortably. We have 3 in now

Good luck!

S., first congrats on #3! We have a Chrysler Pacifica. It's got 3 sets of anchors. We only have one, but regularly have my mother-in-law and nephew in the back with Kaitlin and her carseat. Everyone fits :) Some models even have the DVD players for the backseat riders - VERY convenient for distracting kids on long drives! Good luck!

Hi i can't help you out right this minute but my husband works for toyota, so i just wanted to say i'll talk to him tonight and see what he has to say on the subject.

I would suggest whatever vehicle you look at sitting the car seats in there to get a better idea of the room or lack of room you will have. We made this mistake when we bought a dodge caravan. My son wasn't born yet so all we had was one car seat for my daughter so it looked roomy enough, this all changed once the other car seat was placed in there. When we went on vacation we had to take out a 2nd row seat to accomadate everything. So make sure if it is a caravan that its a grand caravan.

I have a Honda Odyssey and love it. I have 2 kids and can transport other people...kids too. The thing I like about the mini van is the power sliding door, when you have your hands full, you can open the door with your remote without having to put the kids down or let go one of your kids. Then you can put your kids inside the mini van. Both Toyota and Hondas are rated the best mini vans. You won't regret it. Also note that I have a special needs child in a wheelchair, so it's easier for me to put him in and out of a mini van instead of a car or SUV. Good luck.

We rented a Ford Escape for a weekend out of necessity (no bigger suvs or minivans available after a car accident) and there was barely enough room for a carseat and 2 boosters. The booster seats are smaller than carseats.

We looked at many cars while car shopping this summer. Hubby needed a new car (his was 19 years old and dying) mostly for work but we wanted the carseat/booster to fit in the back. First, we only found a few cars that would fit - barely - our seats. None would fit more than 1 carseat because they are wider. We ended up getting a Pontiac G6. Great car and just enough room for the carseat in center and booster on either side. However it's a >very< tight fit and it's only for emergencies and/or very short trips.

We've had a GMC EnvoyXL for years and I can't say enough good things about it. It's a 3rd row SUV that easily fits 7 people. We have a booster for oldest kid in 3rd row, a booster and carseat in the 2nd row. When he needs to get in/out of the backrow, we either push the booster to the floor and flip the seat back down so he can climb in or he just climbs over the seat. Not a big deal. For awhile we had both boosters in teh backseat and just left the seat flipped down all the time but then carsickness developed and it's best for her to be in the middle. :-(

It's low enough to the ground that even our 2 year old can easily climb in/out of the suv by herself (been doing that since she was about 20 months old) and up into her carseat. There's plenty of room for the double/sit 'n stand stand stroller behind the 3rd row seat (many minivans we looked at had a much smaller storage area behind the back row).

With 3 kids and preschool and sports we're constantly carpooling and driving other children around. It's a great carpool vehicle since it holds 5 children (and their boosters/carseats - 3 will fit in the middle row) and it's so easy for them to get in/out of.

Good Morning S.! I have always driven the larger vehicles (suv) and have always appreciated the room. My husaband works at Ray Skillman Ford in Greenwood, IN. You can go in & see him or give him a call. His name is Scott Clegg ###-###-####. You can also go online to Rayskillman.com and check out their inventory.

Good Luck with your search.

Have a great day!!

Hi S.,

Picking more narrow car seats might be an option. I ran into the same problem a few years ago when we had baby #3, but we ended up solving the issue with the car seats we selected. (We have an even smaller car - a Ford Focus wagon and have managed to fit 3 seats in the back with a lot of research on seat type). Right now, we have Fisher-Price Safe Voyage Booster seats on the outboard seats and a Sunshine Kids Radian XT in the middle. Previously, we had a Britax Roundabout in the middle until our son outgrew it). I just thought I would throw this out there as another idea. I have heard that the Radian car seats typically can fit 3 in the back seat. They are expensive, but very solid seats with high safety ratings.
Here is a link that might be helpul...
http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=33708
If you decide to look into seats, I would consider asking the store to let you try to install the seats to see if they fit prior to purchasing. If you order online, I know that hipmonkey.com will allow you to return for just $5 (if you chose that option at checkout if the seats don't end up working out). Also, if you chose to go with the new car option, I would suggest taking your seats with you and installing them in several vehicles to see what is the best match with the vehicle you chose as different car seats tend to work better in different cars. Congratulations and good luck!

You really need to take the 3 cars seats with you and try them out. It is going to depend on the size and shape of the seats. We have a Toyota Sienna that I drive and love it.... but my DH needed a good gas milage car b/c he drives alot and we wanted to fit all three in his car as well. So, when we were looking we brought all three seats and tried them in anything we were considering. Believe it or not, but they all fit in the Toyota Corolla! We love that he can have a small economical car and fit all three seats!

I have a 2009 Ford Escape and I am able to fit 3 car seats in the back. I have an infant car seat and two boosters and I am able to fit all 3 in the backseat. It is a tight fit but it works.

I never thought I'd be a minivan mom, but went there with my third and have never looked back. With three kids, you'll be wanting to do car pools and will have times when you have more than three kids in the car. I'm a fan of the Toyota Sienna.

We went through this debate a few years ago - and I too didn't want to be a mini-van mom! I looked at many cross-overs and SUVs to see what might work - - our final decision was a Honda Odyssey . . . and I have to say I love it! Many people are commenting on mini-van gas mileage - but I think you can find many out there that are very good - perhaps close to that of larger cars and definitely better than SUVs. I also will stick my neck out and put a plug in for foreign cars (particularly Toyota and Honda) - my husband has made a believer in me as we have had no mechanical issues (2004 model) . . . and friends (who were die-hard Toyota owners) settled for a Town and Country, but really regret their decision (many repairs needed). Just our experience!

A critique of cross-over style cars I found when I was looking . . . make sure you evaluate how easy it is to get to that third/back seat to get to your child buckled in. The ones I looked at would have required me to take out a carseat from the middle before tilting the seat to even be able to access the back . . . every time we got into the car - - too much hassle for me!

I have a Jeep Grand Cherokee, and I do have to have carseats that are on the more compact side, but currently have 2 boosters and one 5-point harness in my backseat. It's tight, but works-I am not much of a minivan type myself :)

I just gave up my beloved VW Jetta for a minivan, and i'm doing alright. :) The minivans are expensive. We bought ours used & it was still pretty expensive. The top rated ones are the Toyota Sienna & the Honda Odyssey. We have the Nissan Quest, which is also highly rated (and my brother in law's entire family have them and love them). Anyway, good luck in your search! Look on Craigslist & maybe at Carmax.

Hi Sara, our kids have a Volvo wagon and I think you could fit three car seats in it. It has three seat belts in it but not sure. They just have two children and the mother can fit in the middle but she is tiny. Good Luck If it were me I would look into a mini van it would have a decent amount of room.