3rd Row seats in medium sized 4wds?

T

TheBacon

Hi all,

Baby #3 is on the way and the missus and I are on the lookout for a larger vehicle (the Honda civic just wont do it for size).

The Good Lady wants a 4wd with third row seating.

I dont want to buy a new car, I want something below $25k, that has (or can have added), the extra seats.

Can extra seats like this be added to a Rav4 or CRV?

Cheers
 
Hyundai Terracan isnt a bad option in the used market.

That money will get you a full chassis late model mid size, 2006 or even a 2007, maybe even with diesel and leather.

ta
rolf
 
We have a Territory with the third row seat. Find it easy to put up and down. When we were looking in that range, we found the Territory had the most room between the third seat and the rear door.

Sunshine
 
TheBacon said:
The Good Lady wants a 4wd with third row seating.
Click to expand...

Sounds like she wants the thrid row of seating....not the 4WD bit....unless she is planning to constantly take the newborn out to Eromanga and back every 2nd weekend.

This is exactly what we went through 2 years ago. Wife wanted more than 5 seats for transporting not only our kids but the "netball and minky drop-ins".

You know the drill ; "Hi Mary, my little Jane needs a lift back from the game cos we are working on our multiple businesses and making a motza.....would you be so kind as to give her a lift for free and inconvenience yourself so we can continue making a motza.....Sure no problem Sue, we'd love to be your free taxi service, with 7 or 8 seats, it would be a pleasure. Leave her with us, we'll take full responsibility for her while you keep making that motza."

We bought a 4WD with 7 seats. Used the 7 seats lots. Never used the 4WD. It's a joke around the city. Massive resistance to rolling with the extra gear and big tyres. I hate the car.

Could I suggest instead for your 25K price range a used Mazda MPV or similar. We had one of these about 5 years ago and it was brilliant.
 
For once I agree with Dazz :eek:. If you don't plan on using the 4WD, why pay the extra for it, and cart it around.

We wanted seven seats and bought a Mitsubishi Nimbus. Rear two seats take adults so no size or age restrictions and it is very safe. Personally, I wouldn't drive a 4WD because I don't think they are safe, but I will get howled down. However, nothing will change my mind about it, so for me 4WD was never an option.

Nimbus is not made any more, but I think has been superseded by another similar model with a different name. We bought a demo model so made great savings.

Nimbus and the Honda similar vehicle just look like rather sleek station wagons whereas the other "people movers" we looked at were like a bus :eek:, which we didn't want.
 
We're about to buy a Toyota Troop Carrier - no kids yet though :D We're offroad a lot, and tow up to 3.5T. I wouldn't spend the extra money if I didn't need it.

Go the non 4wd option unless you really need it. They're in many ways a far more unstable vehicle (cornering, stopping etc), the extra height is great, but that's now available in non 4wd options too.

4wd's when they're needed and used for the intended purpose are often the safest car for the job. 4wd was never intended to be used for getting around cities and as such is not the safest car for the job. (not quite sure if that's howling you down Wylie :))
 
there is a reason why full size 4wds like Patrols and Cruisers are in the lowest risk category for insurers,..........................they arent awd sports cars usually driven by competitive younger people.


ta
rolf
 
We have a Territory with 3rd row seats. We love it. Loads of space in the 2nd row. We fit 3 child restraint seats across the middle row without a problem.

The 3rd row of seats don't have heaps of leg room but for us they are used only on occasions when we have an extra couple of people for the day eg. the in-laws.

We previously had a 4wd & it was like driving a truck compared to the Territory.

Good luck!

Above Average
 
Bought a honda odyssey 2001 about 4 yrs ago for the wife. We love it, fits 7 easily and with the seats folded down fits just about anything. We are a family of 5 and use the extra seats every week. Just today we had 2 kids over and at the days end its no trouble to throw everyone in and do dropoffs. It drives great and you could pick one up only a few years old for 25k.
 
Hi The Bacon,

I haven't read the rest of the post, so i hope i am not repeating anybody.

We have 4 kids under 10.....and guess what, they are growing up and getting bigger. A 3rd row seating arrangement will just not cut it now.

We bought a new Chrysler Grand Voyager in 2002 for $53k, its now worth $20k. This car has been fantastic. Our thoughts with this car was to buy new and have it until we don't need a people mover anymore ( i.e kids start getting their own cars)

With this car, all 4 kids sit seperate from each other, so no annoying each other on long trips. And you have heaps of storage space behind the back seat for holidays.

Cheers,

GG
 
We were won over by the Toyota Kluger back in 2005 and love it but the new model middle seat version doesn't cut it. So, now we're thinking of upgrading to another AWD with the third seat (can't live without it now for kids sports etc!) and have checked out the Ford Territory (good value for money) and the Mazda (still deciding).

$25K won't get you much but if it were me, I'd check out the 2nd hand Kluger market. They really are a nice drive and worth the $$$
 
Have you thought about buying car seats to fit your car instead? a much cheaper option.

There aren't many cars on the market that will fir 2 car seats across.

The slimmest car seats are the Babylove Preduce $150 from K Mart and the Safe n Sound Compaqabout $350.

We have a 2x Babylove Preludes and a slim booster seat for the older boy. If you already have 2 kids in boosters then it should fir no problem. Lots of slim line booster seats on the market. The slimmest is the Safe n Sound Hi Liner for about $200 which is what we have.

We actually downgraded cars. I sold my new Honda CRV for a 1 yr old Mitsubishi 380. Honda CRV doens't fit 2 car seats across well and from experience, there's no way I'm lifting 2 babies (twins) up into their baby seats for the next 2 years. It kills your arms and a nuisance to get babies in and out. So much easier with a sedan!! Especially baby capsules as they are so heavy as it is and have to lift it up into the car and climb up etc

However, I love the Mitsubishi Grandis and plan to buy that when the kids are a bit older and can get in the car and do seatbelts up by themselves. Possibly the ford Territory for camping, eventhough we never go camping lol

The Odyssey is nice but I don't like driving a long car that is not high up.

It's really hard to go to such a slow car after driving a V6.
 
Thanks all for the responses! Will look into the Odessey and Grandis.

I found that 3rd row seats can be fitted into some cars that dont have it as a factory option including:
Falcon / Commodore station wagons
Honda CRV pre 2006 (26kg)
Landrover Discovery series II and III
Range Rover 02-08
M-Class Mercedes 98-05
Pajero
Patrol
Landcruiser (these might be higher rated)
Landcruiser Prado
Pathfinder
X-trail pre 2006 (26kg)
Rav4 after 2006 onwards (26kg)
Territory

In almost all cases the seats are really only suitable for kids up to 35kg (or up to 26kg where noted above).

Increases the options, too many options :)

Baby not due until Oct, so I have some time to decide.

Cheers
 
Last edited:
if you plan on buying a late model 2nd hand you better start looking and keep your eye open for good private deals.

ppl movers gets snapped up so quick. There's like hardly any in Brissy on www.carsales.com.au I just had a look the other day and nothing at all.
 
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