Suv with 3rd row seats?

[PunkyBoo]

DH has finally acknowledged that we need a new car. His truck needs work that will cost more than the truck is worth. For many reasons, we plan to sell his truck, let him take my 11 year old Highlander and lease me something new with 3rd row seats (but NO minivan). We haven't shopped for cars in 11+years. If you have an suv with 3rd row seats, what do you have? What do you love/ hate about it? Why did you pick it? If you don't have one now but have looked, what would you get? We need to narrow down our options so it doesn't take us forever to sit in and test drive every larger suv of every make on the market.

[kdeunc]

DH and I both have suburbans. We have three kids and 2 100 lb dogs to transport. We really like the suburban. Our's have the captains chairs in the middle row so it is easy in and out. We also need 4 wheel drive in addition to the space so these were our best option.

[Twoboos]

2 years ago I had a 9+ year old Highlander… and got another Highlander! The newer versions are just a little bigger which is the perfect size for us. (Many times I wished our old one was just a tad bigger. I think they heard me!) Love the 3rd row split seats, automatic rear door close and the fact that you can open the just rear window to put stuff in. Just love the whole thing. I'd say give it a try.

ETA: Backup camera - how could I forget! Plus I could fit between the two carseats (could only do that very uncomfortably in the older version).

[truly scrumptious]

I have the Acura MDX - had it for a year now and I LOVE it. Love that it is spacious, but not huge on the outside. I love the backup camera, and the fact that it handles like a car not like a huge SUV. I previously test drove the Audi Q7 and hated how slowly it responded.

ETA: I also love that you can fit a person in the second row with two carseats, which means we can regularly fit 5 people, plus have lots of trunk space with the 3rd row folded down.

[crl]

We have the 2009 Ford Flex and love it. We wanted four wheel or AWD. We wanted a third rom big enough for adults to ride in. And we wanted the third and second rows to fold down completely flat--a lot of vehicles have those seats fold down but have ridges still--so dh and ds could sleep in the back if they wanted to for overnight fishing trips.

The Flex checks all those boxes.

We can seat seven (we have the second row as a bench). And that third row is roomy enough to be comfortable even for tall adults for long trips. It was also the roomiest feeling inside of everything we drove, even though it's basically the same size on the outside. And it had the best visibility, especially rear visibility of everything we drove. We particularly disliked how the Mazada CX9 of that year was very tight feeling inside and hard to see out of the back. Since we drive to places with a lot of kids (schools, little league fields, swim classes, etc) good visibility out the back is a very high priority for us.

We also like the height. It is not as tall as some of the big SUVs which makes it easier for everyone, but especially our parents and little kids, to get in and out of.

Dh tends to like German cars for that tighter fit where things don't rattle, etc. He feels like the Flex has that too.

The main downsides for us are that it is a big-ass SUV which makes it hard to park in San Francisco. And the gas mileage isn't great--though it turns out it is exactly the same as my 2005 Subaru Forester. I think those would be true of any vehicle in that class though.

Catherine

[squimp]

Pilot

We had one and I really liked it. They are super popular around here. It was the best car in the snow I ever drove, and I've had 2 subarus. I don't need such a big car and didn't like parking it, so I went back to my forester and DH got a 4runner.

[sariana]

Another Highlander owner--and lover--here. I like it for all the same reasons as PP. we have a hybrid, so gas mileage is good too.

[jenmcadams]

Pilot
We had one and I really liked it. They are super popular around here. It was the best car in the snow I ever drove, and I've had 2 subarus. I don't need such a big car and didn't like parking it, so I went back to my forester and DH got a 4runner.

I'm so glad to see the Pilot love...after looking at lots of options, we're using a broker to buy a 2012 Honda Pilot and are hoping to get ours in the next week or two!

[elliput]

I have a 2004 Ford Expedition and have sat in the third row for some longer trips. It's okay for an adult, definitely more suited toward a child who no longer needs a booster or a shorter adult though.

The gas mileage is probably it's worst fault, but that is to be expected, no? I like just about everything else about it. We decided on this model for several reasons the first of which was that DH worked for Ford at the time so we received a nice employee discount. The next reason is that we wanted a vehicle with a larger towing capacity and 4WD.

If I was looking now and did not need the towing capacity, I'd probably go with a Highlander Hybrid.

Just want to throw out the Buick Enclave (and the corresponding Traverse) as alternative vehicles with 3rd row seats. My parents have an Enclave which is a really nice ride. I've ridden third row in that one also and been comfortable.

[dhano923]

I have a 2013 Explorer and love it!