I think I've decided on a Traverse or Acadia but now I need to figure out if I want bucket seats in the 2nd row or a bench.
I like the idea of buckets so other passengers could just walk between the seats to get to the 3rd row and I could leave the carseats strapped into the 2nd row buckets. With the bench I'd need to move a carseat to get to the 3rd row. My problem is we don't often have other passengers so I don't know if the price difference is really worth the convienence of not moving the carseat.
Full disclosure: I'm looking for used - 2010/2011 and I'm finding the 2nd row buckets are much harder to find and more expensive ($5000) than the bench seat options.
Am I crazy for thinking about getting a 2nd row bench when I have 2 kids in carseats?
We have a Kia Rondo (no back seat tether so useless for kids in the carseat.... realized that AFTER I bought it!) My parents have a Journey (again no third row tethers).
Anyway - I think the buckets ARE useful with kids in carseats... because realistically even if we could put the kids in the back of our vehicles we would only change the carseats if we were going to be using the car for a few days - week. But if you have 1 extra adult to go to dinner it would be quite the hassle! (We climb in through the trunk to use our thrid row!)
Tara and Terry: May 13, 2006
Elizabeth Vittoria: December 21, 2007
Alegna - if you only wanted to use the third row on occasion, the captains seats would be much better. However, for me a bench works because 2 of my 3 car seats are permanently installed in the third row, so the second row seat that needs to be flipped up for third row access is always free. If I ever need to transport an extra passenger or two, they go in the second row, not the third. With only two kids, though, it doesn't really make sense to have the third row always utilized, as you would lose lots of trunk space.
We have a Journey and like it. True about no third row tethers, but ODD will be sitting back there. She is in a booster that can not use tethers. And, in no time at all she'll be out of the booster so it won't be an issue for us. YDD and #3 will be sitting in the middle row.
We like that the middle row is adjustable in terms of how far back the person sits. We like the split back seat, but even with the 3rd row up there is still some storage. Not sure if our huge stroller would fit in there, but we also haven't tried yet.
There's not a ton of room in the 3rd row for adults (not really designed for that). But my mom has sat back there with ODD on short trips and it works. There are only two seat belts in the 3rd row - so definitely NOT an 8 passenger SUV.
We have an Acadia and love it. We bought one with the 2nd row bucket seats for the reasons you suggested. Each bucket seat has a carseat installed. We actually keep the 3rd row down for storage in the back but the few times we have had another rider it was easy to set it up and them to climb through. We bought ours used and I sacrificed some other options to have the bucket seats and am glad I did!
I love that the Acadia has 3 rows but doesn't feel huge. I didn't want to feel like I was driving a bus! I also love the Buick Enclave - my cousin drives one and loves hers, she has 3 kids and hers has the bucket seats.
J + A *6.3.06*
LBP *4.8.09*
*Baby Pumpkin due 10.23.11*
Thanks for the replies. We are going with the buckets in the 2nd row. The package we want for all the features comes with buckets standard.
I think I was trying to talk myself out of the features and bucket seats because of the price of the used ones around here. Now that we've done a bit more research we've found a Traverse 45 minutes away with all the features/buckets at a price that we're willing to spend. We're already approved from the credit union, so I'm hoping by this time next week I'll have a new car.
The Acadia was actually on my list for a couple of years. Then, when I went car shopping I stopped by the Toyota dealership just to check things out - originally interested in a 4Runner. I ended up test driving the Highlander, which has 3 rows, and fell in love. It's awesome because of the versatility of the 2nd row, it has a 3 in 1 option. I have the Limited, so I keep my 2nd row as two buckets w/ a console in between. You also have the option to take the console out and just have two buckets OR you can take the console out and store it in the underneath of the front console, and remove the seat add in from there and install it the make the 2nd row a bench. Does that make sense?
I keep the 3rd row down, but I will say it doesn't have much room for extra stuff w/ the third row up and in use. For something like that I fear a Suburban is really one of the only options.
You can check out this link, and in the video the 3:00 mark is where it shows how the seats work.
I have a 2012 Traverse (same as an Enclave or Acadia) with a second row bench. I also have 3 kids, two of which are in convertible car seats. We have a convertible car seat in the third row, passenger side. In the second row, we have a convertible seat behind the driver and a booster behind the passenger. It works! The 2nd row seat easily slides forward. So we just move the booster over and slide the 2nd row passenger side of the bench forward to access the 3rd row. I have no problem buckling the harness on the 3rd row, either. I also want to add that a rear facing convertible fits behind the driver's seat with no issue. I'm 5'10" and had plenty of leg room to drive.
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