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Cars for Moms - comments, concerns and wants! - READ ONLY

149 messages,  Last post on Aug 01, 2011 at 6:53 PM

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Messages Page 14 of 15

#131 of 149 Re: Help! 7 passenger, 3 middle seats, under 25K??! [njmom91] by marine2

Sep 04, 2007 (8:49 pm)

Replying to: njmom91 (Mar 15, 2006 11:49 am)
The 2008 Dodge minivan has room for seven, with a bench middle seat that you can get with intergrated child seats built in.

#133 of 149 Re: Accessing 3rd row w/o moving car seats [whollytemple] by humblecoder

Oct 11, 2007 (8:53 pm)

Replying to: whollytemple (Aug 29, 2007 4:32 pm)
I was wondering if you got any other answers to your question. My wife and I are looking for a similar feature. We have two young children, and we would like to be able to install two car seats in the second row, but be able to access the third row without having to remove the carseats.
 
The obvious solution is to get a car with captain's chairs in the second row so that someone can use the space between the chairs to access the third row. However, we would prefer to get something that had a second row bench seat. Also, many vehicles stick an annoying console in between the second row seats, which precludes this.
 
Another solution is to put one carseat in the center position and the other in the outboard position. However, putting two carseats next to each other isn't always feasible due to LATCH positions, etc. Also this assumes that each seatback of the second row can be folded independently.
 
Yet another solution is to find something that allows you to access the third row without folding the seatback of the middle seat. Either the second row can be moved forward enough to reach the third row, or by some other means.
 
A final solution, if all else fails, is to put one carseat in the second row and the other in the third row. This is a last resort since then we would lose the ability to fold down the third row for cargo space when we don't have more than one adult passenger.
 
Somebody mentioned Taurus X and Pacifica but the person said that the seat was fixed, which I assume means that the seatback has to fold in order to access the third row which is exactly the OPPOSITE of what I am looking for.
 
Land Rovers were mentioned as one option, but are there any others?

#134 of 149 Re: Accessing 3rd row w/o moving car seats [humblecoder] by marine2

Oct 11, 2007 (11:43 pm)

Replying to: humblecoder (Oct 11, 2007 8:53 pm)
You can get the new Dodge/Chrysler minivan with a second row bench seat with at least one built in booster seat. It would also give you good access to the third row. Not sure if you can get it with two booster seats.

#135 of 149 Re: Accessing 3rd row w/o moving car seats [marine2] by humblecoder

Nov 04, 2007 (7:04 pm)

Replying to: marine2 (Oct 11, 2007 11:43 pm)
Thanks, marine2. I just wanted to give you some additional info about the new Chrysler minivan...
 
If you get the LX version, you can get the 2 passenger bench seat with two toddler carseats built-in. However, on the Touring and Limited versions, you cannot get that option. Instead you have an option to get two booster seats built into the second row captain's chairs. You only have this option, though, if you get the "Swivel N Go" seating configuration. Not sure if the Dodge has the same seating options, but my guess it that it would, since the two models are very similar. You are right, though, that having the built-in seats would make it a lot easier to access the third row. Even without them, the space between the captain's chairs allows access to the third row.
 
I also did look at the Buick Enclave's seating. With the captain's chairs, there is enough room for someone to squeeze between the seats and into the third row, but only if you don't have the center console. However, if you have a carseat in the captain's chair, you won't be able to fold down the seat, due to the way that the folding mechanism works. It has something called "Smart Slide" where the seat bottom angles up while the seat back angles down. It is hard to describe unless you see it, but suffice to say that with a carseat attached, you ain't moving the thing!

#136 of 149 Re: Accessing 3rd row w/o moving car seats [whollytemple] by maryh3

Nov 17, 2007 (6:12 am)

Replying to: whollytemple (Aug 29, 2007 4:32 pm)
Rented a Chevy Uplander recently while on vacation. This SUV/minivan has a different setup. It has full sized captains chairs up front. But it has 2 smaller, almost childsized captains chairs in the second row. The aisle therefore to access the third seat was wider than on any other vehicle I've encountered. Just to check it out I tried the second row captains chairs to see if an adult would be comfortable in these smaller sized seats, and I was comfortable.
 
Though it was not necessary for my older family, I thought that if my kids were young again, and I was fooling around with multiple car seats again, this would be a nice choice.

#137 of 149 Ford Flex by maryh3

Nov 17, 2007 (6:18 am)

Ford is coming out with a new Crossover/SUV in 2009 called the "Ford Flex". You can see it on their website. Looks interesting. Fords safety has really gone up since they bought Volvo.

#138 of 149 Re: Ford Flex [maryh3] by maryh3

Nov 17, 2007 (7:33 am)

Replying to: maryh3 (Nov 17, 2007 6:18 am)
Here is the ford flex:
 
http://www.fordvehicles.com/flex/details/

#140 of 149 Re: Help! 7 passenger, 3 middle seats, under 25K??! [njmom91] by mhemcs

Nov 27, 2007 (11:32 am)

Replying to: njmom91 (Mar 15, 2006 11:49 am)
What about a Kia Rondo? We have been considering that. We also require a small car (live in an urban area with small parking lots) and good gas mileage.

Messages Page 14 of 15

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