Seeking Suggestions for Great Suvs with Third Row Seating

I highly recommend the GMC Acadia. We bought a new one last year (4 days before my son was born) and we love it!! It has plenty of space and small enough to park easily and handle. I love mine!!

We have a Honda Pilot. It seats 8 in three rows. The back row is comfortable not real small like some 3rd rows you see. We have had it for almost 4 years drives wonderful and has held up well. Good luck
H.

I had a Buick Rendezvous with the third row seat and it was a great car. Just recently went to something smaller since we did not need as much size but I loved it while I had it.

We have the Ford Freestyle which is now the Taurus X. It's the safest rated in it's class, less expensive than a lot of others, and American made!

We just purchased a 2008 Hyuandai Veracruz which has the third row seating. I absolutely love the car. It has nice features and is very affordable.

My husband and I recently bought an SUV with the same requirements. I wanted that 3rd row seating. We ended up with a used Acura MDX. It has lots of room in the back (the 3rd row seat). It even fit my husband comfortably back there but yet it doesn't look like and feel like you are driving a huge SUV. We also looked at the Toyota Highlander adn the Nissian Pathfinder, both of which have 3rd row seating options. I actually did a search on the internet for used car (whatever I was looking for at the time) Cincinnati. ex. used pathfinder cincinnati. We just happened upon our wonderful car because we were looking at another car at the lot. We looked at King's Toyota and Performance Toyota and both places were very nice. Hope this helps! Good luck!

J.

We absolutely loved our Ford Freestyle.

Ford freestyle or GMC Acadia are both crossovers with the 3 row. My husband & I are looking at those as an alternative to a van as well.
Good luck!

I have a '03 Dodge Durango that I absolutely love! The selling point was that even with the third row seat up the huge graco stroller fit behind it. The one downside is that their car/booster seats do not fit on the third row. The gas milage is not great but where we live we need the 4x4 for the snow. It handles like a car, the turning radius is amazing, it rides smooth like a car too. We also bought it because it has a full size frame. Which was a god send when I was in a horrible head on crash with both of my kids in the car. We all (other driver too) walked away from the wreck (without a scratch). I totaled the front end of his full size truck (had he been in a car I don't think he would have walked away) and even though the front of the durango was smashed up to the engine I could of driven away from the wreck. It wasn't even enough to trigger the sensors for the airbags. I remember hitting him and thinking to myself that I should have felt more of an impact but the durango absorbed everything. That to me makes the gas milage worth it. (at best 15 mpg).

Hi J., We have a Chevy Traverse and we love it! Good luck with your search! C.

I know you stated looking for something a few years old, but we bought a Hyundai Veracruz and absolutely love it! We also wanted three rows, and the used cars that we liked were the same price as the Veracruz, but with about 60,000 miles. Also, because you currently own a Tucson you will get some money off your purchase. We also have a 20 month old and two dogs! Good luck with your purchase. It can be nerve racking sometimes!

i have a chevy tahoe, 3rd seat, love love love it! great vehicle for long road trips and kids. lots of room and very dependable vehicle. the 3rd row also comes out if you ever need the extra room in back and still seats 3 comfortably in the second row with a car seat. no i don't work for chevy, lol, just love that thing, best thing my husband ever talked me into.

I have a Mazda5 and I love it. It is not an SUV it is considered a mini minivan. It has the third row seat so it seats 6. They are lower in cost especially if you can find one that is higher mileage. Mine had 63,000 miles on it when we bought it and we paid 8,000 for it. They just started making them in 2006. I just love my car! It is so much easier to get in and out of!

We have a Ford Freestyle (now called the Taurus X) and LOVE it! The middle and third row of seats can fold totally flat for hauling things . . . there is plenty of trunk space . . .and the kids can fold the seats down by themselves.

As of last year, the 3 that had the best crash test ratings were the Honda Pilot, the Acura MDX, and the Ford Taurus X (Not currently in production).
The pathfinder's a little hard to get in and out of although it does have the best rearranging options. We personally have the Pilot after years of having both old and new Pathfinders. We definitely don't feel as cool as we did in the pathfinder, but we like it.

Check out the Saturn Outlook! We currently have the Vue, but have a friend with the Outlook and plan on that being our next car.

We bought an GMC EnvoyXL at the end of 2002 (so it's a 2003 model). The 3rd row seats folds flat for carrying stuff. You can fold the 3rd and 2nd rows down flat for a huge cargo area (plywood fits). Even with the 3rd row up for people to sit there, there is still plenty of space behind the seat for a large travel system Graco stroller or Sit 'n Stand stroller. There's still room next to the stroller for stuff, too.

If you have 2 carseats in the middle row you can't flip down the seat to get to the 3rd row but it's an easy 'fix'... just put a kid in the backseat. We rarely used the 3rd row until our 3rd child was born so it wasn't a problem with 2 kids. They were both in the 2nd row and the 3rd seat folded flat 90% of the time for the extra cargo room. Now we have 2 kids in the backseat and 1 in the middle row and there's no problems at all getting everyone in/out quickly.

We've been very happy with it. We've installed many different types of carseats (infant rear-facing, convertible rear-facing, convertible forward-facing, booster and backless booster) over the years and all we easy to install and fit very well. It just hit 100k miles last week (several cross country trips) and it's never broken down. It's never been in the shop except for routine oil changes every 8-10k thousand and the recent 90k mile service check (everything checked out, replaced all the standard stuff they do at 90k but nothing else was broken or worn out). It's going to last a long time. GMC has quality trucks and SUVS. We only had 1 child at the time but we've grown into it and plan to have it for at least another 10 years.

J., I had a 2002 Dodge Durango that I absolutely LOVED...until I hit the gas pump! It didn't drive like a truck, which is how most SUVs drive. I downsized to a Chrysler Pacifica and love it - it's also easier to reach the carseat in the Pacifica but no 3rd seat - and easier payments :). My sister was trying get a used Trailblazer, but they are very hard to come by.

In case you haven't already thought about this, the third row can be very hard to get to with carseats in the second row......

I have a Honda Pilot and love it!!!!!

we have never been fans of mini vans.
but recently when looking for a car we were presented with the Honda odessey (2002). and we love it!
the third seat Easily collapses into the storage space in the back, making a large flat space for moving things.

the middle seats are two captains chairs that can be apart, or pushed together into a "double" seat on one side. or one can be removed completely. it is very versatile.

ours has automatic doors which is really helpful when carrying babies, or groceries......

just a thought.

I have a Pacifica and LOVE IT! We have a lab/retriever mix so this was the perfect car for us. When the toddler is in the second row and we are able to fold down the third row and fold over the divider (provided) to close the dog in the back of the vehicle. Tons of room and drives/rides like a car.

We just bought a 2008 Ford Taurus X Limited. We also wanted something with 3 rows and not a minivan. The 3rd row can accommodate adults. Ours has seating for 6.

We've got a Jeep Commander. They came out in 2006. I think the access to the third row is quite easy from the 2nd row. Its a BIG vehicle, but so very comfortable.

My sister has a Mazda CX-9 that I drive frequently and I love it because of the third row seating. Another friend of mine just bought a Ford Flex and she loves it.

Hi J.. I've always liked the Mitsubishi Outlander because of the third row seating, but I recently fell in love with the new Dodge Journey. I don't think they were made 3-5 years ago, but with the problems Chrysler is having I bet you could get a great deal! The third row of seats is very sturdy and it has other great features as well. Best of luck!

Hey J.,

We purchased a Jeep Comander in 2007 but it was an 2006 so it was a bit cheaper (it was a floor model). We love it! We have a 7 month old and 2 labs, and we fit nicely! Even with all the baby stuff. Good Luck!

We just purchased a 2006 Chevy Trailblazer Ext w/3rd row seating. LOVE IT!!!!!!!! Tons of room. When the third row is in function there is still a lot of trunk space. We bought it from a dealership. It had been a one owner lease. Had low miles and we paid under $17,000.00 for it. I would HIGHLY recommend this vehicle!!!

Hi J.

Based on your posting I know you said you aren't interested in a mini-van and I do understand. However I just wanted to share this as to give you some insight (maybe). I do have a mini-van (05 Pontiac Montana SV6; which has a suv look)and several of my friends have large SUV's. They all gave me a hard time because I was the "mini-van" mom. Well guess what....now several of them have 2 and 3 kids and are hating their wonderful SUV's because with the car seats they can't get to the 3rd row! I LOVE my van because it has automatic sliding doors so my 4 y/o can get in by himself as I get our 2 y/o in her seat. It has leather, heated seats, dvd player and gets awesome gas mileage (we use to make it from VA to OH on 1 tank of gas). Needless to say all my friends are now getting mini-vans because how much easier it makes life with kids. The only thing I wish mine had was a automatic lift gate - those are awesome!! Sure it isn't the "coolest" looking vehicle but if I were looking for "cool" it wouldn't hold carseats anyway. :o) Have a great day and hope you find what you are looking for.
A.

yes my sister has a ford exlorer that has 3 rows it fits all 6 of her kids and 2 are in carseats its a pretty good size vehicle i hope you get a vehicle your looking for

I totally love my mercury mountaineer. it was my gift after DH blew up the van. (literally) Ours is an 02 so it's older, but has power everything, it remembers up to 2 seat positions on the driver side, cd player, keypad entry, keyless entry and remote start, heated seats, leather and um yeah, i think everything available but the sunroof. and it was only like 10,000. 3rd row of seats is kinda hard to get to with car seats int he second row, and most of the older models get a crack in the plastic just under the rear window. But other than that it's the best car i've ever owned.

Check out the Chevy Traverse, Saturn Outlook, GMC Acadia, or Buick Enclave. They all have the same body style with the third row. The Chevy Traverse is the lower end one out of all of those GM models, but it is also available with any additional features you may want. Good luck.