Any experience with rav4 with 3rd row seating?

[jess_g]

I am sorrounded by Rav4s at the moment and my dh is thinking of trading in our sedan for one with 3 rows of seating. The 3rd row is a must for us as we realy need the extra space.

One relative has a new highlander and although its nice its so long, so I don't think we would consider the highlander. Has anyone looked at (or owns) the Rav4? What do you think of the 3rd row? Would a small adult fit back there? And is the car any longer or bigger than the 2 row version? I honestly don't know what to think about it.

And finaly can you stil fit 3 across in the second row? In my fil car its realy hard because part of the middle seatbelt sticks out into the seat (hard to explain) at least that is my memory. I only have kids in booster seats so latch and tether positions are not a concern to us.

Thanks -J.

[dogmom]

I've got the 3rd row Rav4 and I LOVE it, but here are the answers to some of your questions & things to think about.

1) No, it is no bigger than the 2 row one. Basically you lose the back storage space under the floor because the pop-up 3rd row seats go there. You can use just one seat or both. If you have both 3rd row seats up you lose most of your storage. I can fit my groceries in there, if piled up, or sports equipment, but not a vacation worth of stuff certainly.

2) I've sat in the back, it's really tight, not much leg room. Wouldn't want to put an adult back there. And it is tricky to get back to the 3rd row, no older adults with arthritis. We have two kids, so if we take another adult back there I move one or both kids back there and put the adult in the middle. Then if I want my son who is 54 inches to have any leg room I need to have the adult move the seat up. Given my son's growth trajectory he is going to outgrow that seat before I get rid of a my car (10 years hopefully), but right now they think it's a treat to sit in the back.

3) I guess you could fit some booster seats 3 across, but it wouldn't be fun. Sort of like jamming then in the back of a Camry or other small sedan. The big difference I find is with the 2nd row pushed back there is more space on the floor between the 1 and 2 rows, so there is plenty of room to put book bags/cooler and still have room for the kids' legs. Not as much as a minivan, but an improvement over my Outback I used to have.

4) I completely recommend the Rav4 for families like me: have two kids and need to occasionally take a 3rd kid along or want to take the Grandparents along without taking a second car. It is about 7K less than the other 3rd row options and better gas mileage. (I commute in mine.) So if you have a 3 kid family I would look at other options unless you are custom to making do with less. (I know a family with three kids that have a 4 door old Saturn Sedan, so it is all relative.)

5) Depending where you are the 3rd row model is hard to get. It only comes in the base models in New England, so there was no way I could get a Rav 4 with leather seats and a 3rd row seat. (BTW, you can always have leather put in by a 3rd party, had it done before, it was fine.)

6) If you do want to buy one go actually see one so you get a real feel for the 3rd row.

Having said all that, I really do love my car. I have a long, steep, curvy, might as well live on a mountain driveway I need to deal with in New England winters and it didn't let me down last winter. For us it was a perfect solution and I have a pile of stuff in the back of mine, including an extra booster seat so I can always pop up a 3rd row seat to take a kid along for a play date or such. Feel free to ask me other questions or email me.

[Mojua]

We're expecting our first in a few months, so I'm not sure how the Rav will be with kids, but we constantly feel like ours is too small...we also have a
4Runner, and use it for everything. My guess is that the Highlander would be fine, but there is NO room in the Rav with the 3rd row.

[codex57]

I don't even consider the Highlander to have adequate space in the 3rd row. For a child maybe, but not a small adult. And yes, kids, being limber and stuff, have a much easier time getting back there than an adult (no matter how small).

How about the Mazda 5?

[shilo]

I don't even consider the Highlander to have adequate space in the 3rd row. For a child maybe, but not a small adult. And yes, kids, being limber and stuff, have a much easier time getting back there than an adult (no matter how small).

How about the Mazda 5?

really? as a small adult i fit back there just fine. ok up to about a 2 hour trip. wouldn't want to do much more than that tho but that has more to do with the seating position for me personally. the real determining factor is not the size of the 3rd row in the highlander but rather the side of whoever is sitting in the second row seats. if you've got a FF carseat in the second row captains chair and can therefore move it forward a bit there's plenty of leg room in the 3rd row. if you have a 6 foot tall adult in the second row, there's less leg room in the 3rd row obviously. and with the highlander having the stow and go second row center seat, the pass thru makes it super easy to get back there - i do it all the time to check the seatbelt on the booster now when i'm carrying an extra kid for playdates, etc. the mazda 5 was sorely underpowered by comparison to the hi-hy when we were test driving. the only area in my test driving that the hi-hy didn't outperform the mazda 5 IMO was the turning radius for parking space turns - there they were about equal. but to each their own...

for the OP - i did like the rav4 a lot while we were test driving, and it was closer in size to my previous car which i loved everything about except for the lack of a 3rd row. see what you think when you go test drive them - but i thought the 3rd row was rather impractical in the rav4 b/c even i (at barely 5'1") could get back there or sit comfortably and when it was up, i couldn't get anything to fit between the seat back and the rear door other than a few folded up reusable grocery sacks. certainly not my stroller or any real cargo.

[jess_g]

Thanks everyone. I guess what worries me about a car like the Mazda5 is driving in snow. I would rather have a car that has less space inside (but still 3 rows) and does well in the snow than a car with more room that does not. I also would love a Mazda CX-9 but I don't think my dh would consider it (and he is almost ready to buy the rav4 now). -J.

[geochick]

I have a 2010 Rav4 with the third row.

The third row holds 2.

We have 2 kids, and only need the third row about once a month (when the grandparents are here and we're taking them out to dinner, when the neighbor kids want to go to the pool with us, when we take someone to the airport, ...). The kids sit back there, not the grandparents.

If I had more than 2 kids, I wouldn't buy the Rav. The leg room in the third row isn't enough for any person for very long.

My dh has ridden in the third row for an hour. He said that was plenty. He's 6'1", 175 pounds.

The middle row slides, so when someone wants to ride in the third row, you slide the front row up a bit, you slide the middle row up a bit, and there's enough leg room in the third row.

The third row is split. Sometimes when my kids are fighting, I put one in the back row, and leave one in the middle row. I LOVE that feature. With the split third row, I can still use 1/2 of the back space for cargo.

I love my RAVs 4wd feature. We get lots of snow in the winter. I never worry about "getting there."

My gas mileage is fantastic on the freeway(25+mpg), and about 20-21mpg in the city.

When the third row is up, there's still grocery space in the back.

Once when we were on our way home from a long driving vacation in the Rav, my brother in law called. He wanted us to pick him up in one town, and deliver him to another...along our route. We had been at Disneyland and Legoland for a week. We had tons of luggage. We decided we could still manage (normally we're 2 adults, 2kids). We always carry bungie cords for the roof rack. We pulled some luggage out, strapped it to the roof, flipped up one of the third row seats, and picked up my bil. He rode with us for about an hour. So, our little RAV had 3 adults, 2 kids, and luggage. Easy Peasy.

I really love my rav! The v6 feature is F!U!N!

Let me know if you have more questions.

[AnnieW625]

No personal experience but since it's not that big of a car you probably won't have much more space in the back for much more than groceries, and maybe a small pet in a carrier.

ETA: when the 3rd row is up.

[geochick]

When the third row is tucked down, not up, the approximate dimensions of the cargo space is 37" deep, 54" wide.

It holds 3+ of those large suitcases (the ones you take on a long trip...the ones you worry about going over 50 pounds in), plus lots of smaller luggage, stroller, etc.

[dogmom]

When we go on vacation to a cottage and need to back food/linens/toys + other stuff, not just clothes, we fit everything in the back with the 3rd row down. But then, I'm a good packer.

And, having to use it in Blizzards to get to my mandatory work, good in snow. As good as my Outback.

[bubbaray]

And finaly can you stil fit 3 across in the second row? In my fil car its realy hard because part of the middle seatbelt sticks out into the seat (hard to explain) at least that is my memory. I only have kids in booster seats so latch and tether positions are not a concern to us.



I have a 2010 RAV4. You can NOT do three child restraints (of any sort) in the 2nd row. The seatbelts overlap and you can not get safe installs.

I :heartbeat: my RAV4 otherwise, but if you need to carry 3 children on a regular basis, IMO, there are better choices. I don't have the 3rd row, but when I looked at it, it looked pretty useless. However, I traded in a 2005 Ody, so maybe I was spoiled in terms of 3rd row access & room.