We have a Toyota Sequoia with a 3rd row. Best car I have ever had. Love love love it.
A family member just bought the Acura - I think the MDX? It has a 3rd row, and they are very happy with it.
We have a Toyota Sequoia with a 3rd row. Best car I have ever had. Love love love it.
A family member just bought the Acura - I think the MDX? It has a 3rd row, and they are very happy with it.
Very much in love with my 2011 Pilot. There isn't anything I don't like about it. For car seats it is a dream as it has LATCH in every position in the 2nd row and one position in the third. Tethers at every position. And the big old Foonf fits rear facing and my 6'3" DH can still fit comfortably.
DS1 July 2010
DS2 November 2012
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.
EricaDD 1/05
DS 9/08
Since one just does not simply walk into Mordor, I say we form a conga line and dance our way in.
Excuse me, are you in a play?
I have a 2013 Explorer and love it!
Mom to:
DS 10/03
DD 11/05
We have an older Dodge Durango and I LOVE my car. Ours was the largest model with the 3rd row that seats 3 .... total of 8 seats. We have used our 3rd row a TON. The newer model only seats 2 in the
3rd row now. If we were looking at a new suv with 3rd row I would look at the Mazda CX9, the Acadia, the Explorer.
We just bought a 2013 Pilot. Absolute love it! We had a Sienna and the Pilot 2nd row is actually wider! I have all three DC seated in the 2nd row (love to torture my DC with closeness) and only plan to use the 3rd row when we have guests. The 2nd row is quite roomy and comfortable. I believe we have the EX-L with 4WD (leather, sunroof, no navigation or entertainment system...exactly what I wanted). It drives very smoothly and has pretty good MPG (we were happy with the # when comparing to Highlander). My absolute favorite feature is the Bluetooth connection with my phone - my phone can be buried in my purse yet with bluetooth still plays my music.
My dislike is very personal...after having the SmartKey/SmartStart with the Sienna, I do not like that I have to dig around to find my key to turn on the car and lock/unlock the Pilot (with the Sienna I just needed to touch the door handle and it unlocked/locked and it was a push button start). The key is also not retractable so it is big. I am just afraid I am going to poke someone's eye out with the thing or scratch my car...I am a klutz. I also miss the minivan side doors (DD2 already dinged someone's door (one of the kids disabled the child lock on her side...$200+ later...) Also, I am a interior stain freak. I do not like light colors. The darkest fabric/carpet combination was not an option...too light. The gray leather was quite light as well so our only option was black leather. Not a lot of exterior color choices with the black.
Other than that, I LOVE my Pilot!!!
Last edited by SASM; 12-06-2013 at 11:01 AM.
Mom to:
1 BLUE (03) and 2 PINK (05 & 07)
^i^ 10.01 & 12.03
Pardon my typos...blasted Auto-correct!!
Do you really need the 3rd row seats or are they for occasional use? We have 3 kids, so we use our 3rd row every single time we are in the car with them. I have a big huge SUV (Infiniti QX56) and DH's is a little smaller (Mercedes GL). Mine is great because I can still fit 2 backpack hockey bags behind the 3rd row and fit a grandparent in with us. He doesn't need to do that, so didn't need that cargo space. He needed the leg room in the 3rd row though.
DH drove an MDX for a while. That's a great car if you don't regularly need the 3rd row. The 3rd row is cramped, and honestly, I found the front passenger seat cramped (I'm 5'9 though, with long legs). Not much fits behind the 3rd row, but when we had 2, it was still pretty great.
I have friends with newer Highlanders (really nice) and Buick Enclaves are really popular. The newer Infiniti JX (or QX something now??)/Nissan Pathfinder has been popular too.
Mama to my boys (04,07,11)
We have a Mazda CX-9. Fits a total of 7 people, with two fold down seats in the back.
I love that it handles like a car, plus has a lot of features like the back up camera and the blind spot indicator. We are a family of 5, but the three kids fit comfortably in the middle seat (Britax Decathalon, Graco HBB, and no carseat). We regularly drive around with the back seats down for more trunk space. I love that we have those two extra seats, though, so we can haul around friends or grandparents. And lately, I've been loving my heated seats! If you regularly had to utilize the third row, though, I don't know that I would get this car. It's kind of awkward to get in and out, and the middle row has to slide forward to get to the back row, so it's kind of a PITA to always adjust.
My SIL has a Toyota Highlander, which has the same number of seats, but when her back seats are in use, she doesn't have as much trunk space as my car.
Buick Enclave
My MIL has the Traverse, with a bench in the second row. It's similar except you have to fold down the middle bench to get to the back, which involves some car acrobatics with adults. We only use her vehicle to travel as a family when required.
We have the second row captains' chairs option, so that you can still get back to the third row with car seats installed. Most of the time I drive with the back seat folded down, since we only have 2 kids right now, but when it's up, you can seat three in the back, although 3 adults would be tight. I like the styling of the Enclave, and LOVE the back-up camera, since the Enclave has pretty big blind spots at the back of the vehicle. It's doesn't have as much cargo room when the back seat is up as a minivan would though, so if you're looking at constant 3 row use and cargo needs, it may not work as well.
DS- 6/09
DD- 4/12
It's a boy! DS- 2/15