Recs for car w/3rd row seat

[ghar72]

So we’re looking for a used car that has a third row seat. We have two kids and a dog, so the third row will be for out-of-town guests, the occasional extra kid, etc. It needs to be able to fold down b/c most of the time our dog will be riding back there. We’ve yet to test drive anything. My wife is not happy about a mini-van but I’m fine with one. Currently we have a VW Eurovan, but it feels like it’s slowly falling apart and not as safe as I would like. From what I can tell, we’re looking at the “crossover” category. Any tips from folks out there? We’d like to spend under $20k, closer to $15k would be ideal. Mileage under 100k. I don’t like the bigger SUV’s. Would love some decent gas mileage. The Mazda5 looks like it might be a contender…unless of course the collective WSB wisdom says, “Don’t do it!”

Thanks for your tips!

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[Irukandji]

Mazda make a very reliable vehicle. I can’t speak to 3rd row seats, most are either turbo bricks or behemoths, but Mazda at least will give you reliability.

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[Sue]

I *love* my Mazda5. I don’t even have kids – we liked the car because it had good mileage, good price, large cargo area for our needs, and drives like a sedan. In fact, as large as it looks, it was shorter than our Nissan Maxima was before it. It does have a third row of seats. I’ve never sat in them, but they’re small. Really only for kids. And you have to crawl between the two bucket seats in the 2nd row to get to them. We have only used them twice in 5 years – we usually just have them folded down. I have not sat in them so I can’t speak to their comfort. Eric at University Mazda was great – he’s worked there forever and is very knowledgeable and not pushy at all. The service department has been great (we go there for oil changes) and we’ve had almost no issues with the car in 5 years. If you take it in for service, they will drive you to your downtown Seattle job, and then there’s a quick bus from downtown right to UMazda to pick it up later. A number of people at my church have the Mazda 5 as well (they all have kids).

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[tckhan]

We have a 2007 Mazda5 , and the third row seats, and sliding doors are features that sold us. Be aware it only hold 6 people, and not 7 like most vehicles of this layout. Also middle row seats slide quite a bit, for ease of access to the rear seats. also you will need to have most seats, from the front to the middle rows no further than 1/2way back, or the third row will have no leg room. It it a great car for local trips with 6 persons, but long trips would be a drag. We have a Toy Sienna for that. It is a big size reduction from your VW, but it is a very versitile car, and ours with the 5spd gets real world city mpg of ~21 with the crappy gas. Have not had any problems since new. Best advise is take the family and go sit in one. Pros: 6 seats, great handling, MPG over 20, Sliding doors, huge tailgate opening and cargo capacity, good outward vision. Cons: Tire size is expensive, road noise due to tire size, low ground clearance, We still love ours.

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[PLS]

I can echo the Mazda 5 votes above. We recently did exhaustive research on this very thing and settled on the 5. Unless you NEED big, this thing is great because you can actually get into the third row without an engineering degree!

That being said, we are no longer in need of ours (long story) and I’d be willing to show it to you if you want to buy or check it out. It’s as near a new as you can be – 2013, only 517 miles on it, Grand Touring package with leather. Email me offline if you’d like to see it.

2013mazda5 @ gmail . com

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[biankat]

My X5 has a third row. I’ve sat back there with another passenger several times. More than enough room for a couple of kids.

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[skeeter]

You might want to look at the Chevrolet Traverse as well. It has three row seating PLUS room for luggage. Virtually every other choice in this category has almost no cargo space if you have the third row seat set up.

Also keep in mind the Mazda5 is/was available with a manual transmission. A rare find but if that’s important to you I bet you could find one.

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[kgdlg]

I have done A LOT of research on this category of auto as we are SO dissatisfied with how tight our 2008 Outback wagon is. (We have a dog and hopefully will have two kids sometime soon.) Definitely does not feel like a family car.

So, basically OP, you are right that your choice is between a large SUV (not a smaller crossover, if you don’t want those in-laws really really squished in the back) and a mini van. New, these cars are all going to cost you over 25k, but used you can of course get something closer to your price point. And, they will all have really bad gas mileage (i.e. under 25 in the City)

Here are the best contenders in the SUV category for you. Remember that the 3rd row seat is not always comfy and is only meant to be used occasionally like you say.

Toyota Highlander – Brother has this and LOVES it, great resale value, comes in Hybriid too but expensive for that feature

Hyundai Santa Fe GTS (2012 and newer) – Probably the most economical of this category you will find but since it is a new model, not a lot of used out there

Chevy Traverse – friends have this and LOVE it. it is definitely roomy inside, great family car, terrible gas mileage

Mazda CX9 – I ruled this out simply because it gets like 16 mpg, compared to other above that get closer to 20, but boy is it fun to drive

Ford Explorer – Also a new model, and nicely redesigned. Have not driven yet, but have heard good things about it

Obviously, I am not talking about SUVs in the mammoth category like Ford Expedition, Cadillac Escalade, etc.

When you stack all of these cars up against a used mini-van, it is hard to swallow what you are not getting, in my opinion. I shudder at the thought of being a mini-van mom (yes, I am that vain) but the Toyota Sienna gets 19-21 mpg in the City now, and you get so much more room and comfort. If you are going to be transporting tween friends of your kids anytime soon, I think this is the much safer bet. I have recently found used FWD Siennas in the 20k range that are only a few years old (2010 and up).

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[Smitty]

We found ourselves in a similar predicament a few years back. Two kids and a dog.

Drove an Explorer – too small! Drove and Expidition – too big!

Happened across a used volvo XC90 and it has been perfect! It is a 2005 and had about 30K on it. Perfect. The 3rd row is a “little” cramped for adults, but we would just put the kids back there when we had four adults. They loved it.

At least test drive one. I think you will like the size.

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[acemotel]

I love love love my Honda Pilot, which now has more than 120,000 miles on it and still feels like a new car, no kidding! We bought it when the kids were younger for the baseball, soccer, ballet, field trips, etc etc but I still keep it even though the kids are grown and dispersed.

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[sw]

At the risk of slings and arrows… I would encourage you to take a look at a couple of minivans. We were in the same anti-minivan boat until we had the opportunity to spend some time with one. If you have a couple of kids, it’s hard to beat the space, versatility and utility of a minivan. Plus you don’t have the threat of your kids swinging their doors into the car parked next to you.

We have a 2005 Toyota Sienna which has been a great vehicle. Ours has AWD, which makes it very adept at traversing the pass in Winter, and only a 1-2 MPG penalty. Toyota is currently the only manufacturer making an AWD minivan, btw. Tons of space, and the third row is actually usable. Super rig for road trips.

Some friends just got a new Honda Odyssey, which is a pretty nice ride. The exterior is a bit overdone, but the interior is fabulous – and really, that’s where you spend all your time anyhow.

All of the vehicles mentioned in the above posts are excellent options, but don’t discount minivans because of the stigma.

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[kayo]

We ended up with a used Honda Odyssey 4 years ago because we had two dogs and two kids and our wagon just wasn’t working for any sort of road trip. We could fit ourselves, but that was about it. The Odyssey is great for long road trips and car camping. It does feel a bit big just for city driving, but on the other hand, we can haul lots of stuff (full sheets of plywood for my handy husband) in it when we need to and it gets decent mileage. I also love the automatic sliding doors. Probably my favorite feature of the whole car. Minivans aren’t for everyone, but they sure make life easier when you have to pack a lot of kids and camping gear in a car. I have always admired those cross overs (especially the Mazda 5) from afar, though! Good luck.

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[ghar72]

Thanks everyone for the recommendations! I really appreciate it!

If anyone else is in the same boat, I asked this question on a parent forum and one surprising response I got was the Mercedes wagon with the built in 3rd seat. Two different people told me this. Something to consider.

I’m open to more experiences, recommendations, boos and hisses. Thanks! And no arrows for you, Sue! That’s the exactly the info I’d like to hear about minivans. I’m kind of leaning that way, so anything positive is in my favor for convincing my wife!

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