What's the best 3-row vehicle to get?

I know this forum is populated with people who have strong opinions so help me out. What's the best 3 row whatchamacallit that you could buy today? I need a car to haul around my wife, my kid (rear facing car seat), my MIL, and my parents. So 7 passenger minimum.

Didn't really give any qualifiers, so I'll vote for a Volkswagen 3rd gen Transporter (T3). My '82 will inhale all that stuff, have room for more, and last until the moon drifts away from the Earth.

Next in line would probably be a Sprinter.

I also liked my 1st gen Odyssey, but it only seated 6. Sister has it now, 300,000 miles and counting.

No contest. Toyota Sequoia.

Mazda5: We thought about, but it was not commonly available in stickshift, nor in green (wife's prerequisites); reviews talk about road noise. Mazda's seem to have rust issues in these parts too. Might be kind of small with rear facing infant seats. Also, with the last row up you lose pretty much all cargo space.

Chrysler/Dodge Caravan/Voyager/T&C: Everyone talks about how bad the transmissions are, but I'm reading more about how they've either fixed them, or it's due to wrong transmission fluid (or never changing it). The 3.8's may drink oil, but otherwise the 3.3 and 3.8 seem to get similar mpg's. The 3.8's are likely found in the more optioned out versions. Not sure how old you want to go, but I'm guessing these can be bought cheaply enough used to allow some risk factor on the transmission. [I'm not sure I'm interested in "stow and go" if it reduces towing capacity; for myself, if I had a minivan I'd probably either always be using the third row, or never using it, so I would not be interested in paying extra for that option.]

RAV4: rearmost row is hard to get to, and meant for small kids only. Which might not be a problem; once they can buckle themselves in, little kids are known for crawling all over the place. They might even like it. Other SUV's seem to get similar marks for the rearmost row being hard to get to, and small at that. RAV4's may have issues with the V6 (which is timing belt); transmission whine (covered under a TSB, but might only be during factory warrenty--and is pretty close to a transmission replacement to fix) and water pump (not covered, and is a pain to replace--I'm sure OH can explain that better--and I'm pretty sure he has a low opinion of those V6's anyhow). The I4 model seems to lack that complaint, and is timing chain (at least on the '01-ish and newer); the 2009 2.5L I4 is rated better than the 2.4L '01-08 models (power, mpg) but all I4's use a 4speed auto (V6 was always 5 speed). No one seems to like the runflat tires on the Sport (or was it Limited?) but those can be replaced with standard tires. Also finding the third row in RAV4 is hard: it's not a common option for this model.

Odyessy: Some years were hard on the automatic, but supposedly that is fixed outside of those years. Don't know offhand what the bad years were. Sequoia's seem to avoid that common minivan transmission complaint. From antedotal reviews it seems the electric doors on minivans can be counted on to require repairs at some point. Personally I'd rather avoid them as a result (electric doors that is). Have not researched much into Odyessy/Sequoia beyond that, sorry.

I'm assuming the out-dated Astro and anything full sized is out of the question. I believe the larger SUV's can be had with 3rd row but again not sure if you are after those or not.

That's a hard one. I've been out of the minivan market for a bit, and it seems the ones I see on the road are getting bigger and bigger. I like the Odyssey, but it seems enormous to me.

I suspect you're a bit sour on M-B right now, but does the ML have three rows? That may be a way to go. I suspect the Mazda 5 will be smaller than you want. Q7, perhaps? I'm thinking you probably don't want a diesel, but both are available with gasoline engines.

The newest Odyssey is a whale, you are correct. Don't realize how massive they've become until you have one on the lift and see that it dwarfs the Impala lifted right next to it.

Sienna FTMFW

Also enormous.

Really, no restrictions? Budget, age, fuel economy/miles per year?

Really hard to beat the value of minivans. As large inside passenger space as nearly any SUV except the late Excursion. Comfortable ride, good fuel economy for the amount of people and cargo it carries. We had three Chrysler Town and Country minivans prior to now using a 3/4 ton Suburban for main family duty and RV towing. About the same people space, far more cargo space behind the 3rd row.

Audi Q7 TDI looks nice. No idea how the 3rd row is, but cargo is tiny with all seats up.

IndigoBlueWagon said:

Also enormous.

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Any 3 row 7 passenger vehicle will be at least as enormous, I was going to suggest the Mazda5 which is quite a bit smaller but it's only a 6 passenger.

The minivans (Sienna and Odyssey are the only ones worth considering IMO) and the "Crossovers" like the Flex, Pilot or Highlander (which are really just minivans with extra weight & poorer aerodynamics and made less convenient due to a lack of sliding doors).

The new Sienna looks a lot bigger than our Previa, which sat 7 comfortably. But I looked it up and it's only about a foot longer. That's not so bad. Maybe it's the width that makes it seem so large.

supton said:

Mazda5: We thought about, but it was not commonly available in stickshift, nor in green (wife's prerequisites); reviews talk about road noise. Mazda's seem to have rust issues in these parts too. Might be kind of small with rear facing infant seats. Also, with the last row up you lose pretty much all cargo space.

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Stickshift is standard in the lowest trim level ("Sport") and we were able to test drive two with a stick at the closest Mazda dealership to us; wound up buying one.

Haven't seen any rust issues with the 5 even on older ones. Road noise is there, but at this point I can't say if it's due to the OEM tires, lack of sound deadening or both. Completely tolerable at long, highway speed drives. With the rear seats up there's not much room leftover but it's enough for a stroller and some groceries with ease.

Currently the second row is occupied by my 2.5 year old son (forward facing in an enormous Britax) and my 4 month old daughter (rear facing in an enormous Combi). I'm 6'3" and have sufficient legroom in the driver's seat.

We quite like it. Sufficient power, good economy, fits in our smallish 2-car garage, big unpowered sliding doors on the sides, 6MT is great but it's an irrelevant vehicle to the OP... it only seats six.

Scurvy: It was 2-3 years ago that we looked; maybe New England is a different market, or it's a different market now. Today I doubt we'd look at it again (different needs/wants now). Glad it worked out for you though.

Oilhammer is right, the Odyssey vans are good-sized, but whale may be a reach, lol. We've had a 2005 since new, absolutely no problem except for a power-steering recall...twice. But, other than that, have had no problems at all. The tranny is the next gen from the ones that had issues, and ours has been a trooper, although I keep the fluids changed every 20k just because of the last gen's issues. Side doors need a little lube every few years unless it is dusty, then a bit more cleaning is called for, but they have never malfunctioned...unless you are unaware that they don't like to work when you are at a steep incline, lol...then they act like they are malfunctioning.

Around town mileage on ours is 19-20. On the road packed heavily with three people and a dog and luggage it is about 23-34. Lightly packed I've nicked 26.

The newest ones have been re-designed so can't talk about them. The seats in back roll and tuck and are robust, but I wouldn't call them super comfortable...put your in-laws back there, lol.

Plus, the 255 hp motor in that thing runs well! Handles well enough to make you drive stupidly now and then, too

Rick, the current Ody is even bigger than your 2005. And I have replaced a few transmissions on 2005s as well, sadly. They may be better, but probably not as good as Honda should make them.

The other issue with that era is the engine mounts, and the VCM version (in the Touring) has a frightfully expensive one, like $400 IIRC.

I chose an F150 that will seat 6. When asked where your MIL will sit point at the bed.

Honestly, there are lots of requirements dictated by the various members of the family. But that's not the point. You guys can really crack me up and I need a good laugh today

@IBW: I'm not sour on M-B. I still love my E class, but I think the dealer has destroyed the R class. I don't think that I can keep it even if by some miracle it gets sorted. I really liked that R class, breaks my heart what has happened to it. But the members of the family said it *had* to be serviced at the dealer where it was purchased. And now all of my worst fears have come true.

How often do you need all 7 at the same time? Can you take 2 vehicles?

I was also going to say Mazda 5 but it's a 6 passenger.

If you aren't sour on MB then I think i'd look at the R-class again?

Or the Honda odyssey. My inlaws bought one in 1998 and it's fine. I don't think they've done anything to it but Regular maintenance.
Or the Sienna. Personally I wouldn't go after a full size SUV but that' my opinion.
Plus minivan would be the easiest for everyone to get into.

Honda ody for best room and if van is ok with you. Had one with the kids for 9 years. Now kids are bigger and we have Honda pilot. Fits 8 just fine. And 4wd is helpful in buffalo winters.

Vans great for small kids especially as they allow moms to climb in and shut door while they get kids buckled up. But that isn't so valuable/needed when all kids are older.

Well let's see. MB stopped selling the R-class in the US even though it's still made in Alabama and they sell it in Canada.

My Wife refuses to drive a minivan.

My Wife and her mom say that we need a car with awd, memory seats, Blind spot assist, keyless go/entry and built in navigation.

I would love something that gets over 20 mpg and isn't terrible to drive. Maybe we'll go look at the BMW again.

<sigh>

SnowCub said:

My Wife refuses to drive a minivan.

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It's not my relationship to live with but I'd say this is a problem strictly with the wife's attitude. If you have multiple vehicle requirements that all scream MINIVAN then her refusal to concede is really her being kinda selfish. Once you have kids and all that jazz you forfeit the right to buy a Mazda Miata or whatever you want, or to veto a MINIVAN purchase if that is what must be done in the best interests of the family.

My Wife and her mom say that we need a car with awd, memory seats, Blind spot assist, keyless go/entry and built in navigation.

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AWD = maybe. You are the best judge as to whether snow tires will get the job done cheaper and better.

Memory seats = preference, not a NEED. Adjusting a manual seat isn't such a tedious task as she probably makes it out to be.

Blind spot assist = adjust the mirrors properly and don't depend on an electronic nanny to tell you how to do your job.



Keyless go/entry = expensive when it breaks, expensive when you lose the key.

Built-in navigation often sucks. It's not easily or cheaply updated or upgraded, and it's a total pain in the backside when you surrender the right to enter a destination address while you are moving. Legal nannies need to STFU. Buy a TomTom with lifetime map updates and you can use that in multiple vehicles if you want to.

FINALLY, after all that, what does your mother-in-law's opinions have to do with anything in the car that you/wife will be buying and driving?

I'm going out on a limb here suggesting a model that hasn't been made since easily 2007, the fourth generation Ford Taurus Wagon. Not a minivan, gets about 24 combined MPG (according to fueleconomy.gov on a 2000 model), and can seat 7 people via the third row jump seats.

I think the new Ford Explorer is pretty nice. Actually, so is the previous generation (2006+), though by that time the explorer's reputation had kind of been ruined.

The older ones seem like a good value. The newer ones can probably be had with all the options you want.

My parents have a Ford Freestyle (which became the Taurus X wagon) and it's comfortable and relatively fuel efficient for the size. But it has a CVT transmission and they just had the transmission repaired or replaced (not really sure) but it would have cost them around 7,500 without their extended "warranty." Not sure if that's a common item on them, but I'd be careful if considering one. It's not that I don't like CVTs -- our Prius has sort of a CVT. But, I'm not sure Ford's first tries at it were very good.

My 2 cents. Good luck!

Or a Volvo XC90. I was going to suggest you look at the new Pathfinder. I haven't seen one yet but it looks bigger and less truck like than its predecessor.

Our 2005 Odyssey was just replaced with a 2013 Outback. Our Odyssey was the most expensive vehicle to maintain of any vehicle I've ever owned. There was always something wrong. I will forever remember October 20, 2012 as the day I was free of that POS!

cybhunter said:

I'm going out on a limb here suggesting a model that hasn't been made since easily 2007, the fourth generation Ford Taurus Wagon. Not a minivan, gets about 24 combined MPG (according to fueleconomy.gov on a 2000 model), and can seat 7 people via the third row jump seats.

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05-06 models were called freestyle, 07-08 called taurus x. Amazing little awd cuv. Loved it very much. Basically its a xc70 with a ford 3.0 engine.awd parts are all volvo. I had it with snow tires and it was a tank in winter.

Im actually in the market to purchase another one. These days you can pick one up for dirt cheap. If you want a newer one, it guess flex would be similar in the interior design.

SnowCub said:

I know this forum is populated with people who have strong opinions so help me out. What's the best 3 row whatchamacallit that you could buy today? I need a car to haul around my wife, my kid (rear facing car seat), my MIL, and my parents. So 7 passenger minimum.

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APT said:

Really, no restrictions? Budget, age, fuel economy/miles per year?

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1959~78 (US availability: 1960~73) SAAB 95

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saab_95

Three rows, seven passenger, small outside, good fuel economy (actually better with the 'big' V4 from 1967 on than the 2 stroke triple from before), and I know someone that works on these.



or my first car: 1968 Impala

http://www.autabuy.com/ViewPhoto/?I...Sense=1&K=1968 Chevrolet Impala Station Wagon

note that this one doesn't have the optional third seat (no steps on the rear bumper and no powered rear window)

GMC Safari, Chevrolet Astro

7 or 8 passenger with room for luggage in a reasonable size vehicle. Available with AWD. 2003 to 2005 were the best years.

Go find the best '87 300TD you can with a third row seat. Bring it into top condition and enjoy.