3-Kid Family Hauler - Suggestions?

[Laconian]

I love the 4Runner but it's not ideal for a family with 3 kids, esp if they are still carseat and stroller ages.  4Runner is best as a 2 row or occasional 3rd row use. 

Is it raised up, "stadium seat" style?

[Lebowski]

Is it raised up, "stadium seat" style?

I don't think so, but I don't have the third row.

[MrH]

The third row in the 4Runner is comically small.  It's for tiny kids only, and even then, for short trips.

[giant_mtb]

Is it raised up, "stadium seat" style?

Yeah, the 3rd row sits up slightly higher.  So you get shorter seatbacks and knees in your chest.

[MrH]

Keep in mind, the floor is about 3 inches below the bottom seat cushion there too

It's really bad.  I took a road trip in it with 5 adults once.  My friend took the third row, and she's maybe 5'4", 110 lbs?  She was miserable.  2, 6-year olds were fine back there for a 10 minute trip.  That's about it.

[giant_mtb]

Always kinda surprised me they even bothered putting a 3rd row in the 4Runner.  But, I guess for those once-in-a-while cases (running an extra kid or two to soccer practice, or whatever), it comes in handy. And they fold totally flat, so cargo area isn't affected when not in use.

Much better now than previous generations with the "jump seats" for the 3rd row that just sucked up cargo space unless you completely removed them, and also gave you an epic blind spot.

[Lebowski]

Those side folding seats has always annoyed me about the land cruiser, as well. And I don't think there was an option to delete the third row until the heritage edition or whatever it was called.

[Soup DeVille]

Those side folding seats has always annoyed me about the land cruiser, as well. And I don't think there was an option to delete the third row until the heritage edition or whatever it was called.

Ehh, you could remove them. It wasn't hard.

[AutobahnSHO]

The cargo floor is So High in the back of the SUVs.

But my Odyssey has a crazy ton of room back there....

[Morris Minor]

Car and Driver just wrote up the their long term test of the Sienna Hybrid. It was the most popular vehicle in their test stable: staffers falling over themselves to book it out for long weekends, road trips etc.

I tried. But son & DIL want a Highlander. 

[Eye of the Tiger]

Car and Driver just wrote up the their long term test of the Sienna Hybrid. It was the most popular vehicle in their test stable: staffers falling over themselves to book it out for long weekends, road trips etc.

I tried. But son & DIL want a Highlander. 

The series or the movie? There can be only one.

[Morris Minor]

Dealers are calling them to say they have a few base trim Highlander hybrids in, but those won't work for them, especially in the 2nd row captain's chairs department.

[AutobahnSHO]

Check out the interior space numbers

https://www.motorbiscuit.com/buy-a-toyota-sienna-not-a-highlander/

[Morris Minor]

It looks like they're giving up on a Highlander hybrid; they're unobtainable in the trim they need. A used Sienna is on the agenda. Not sure whether it's a hybrid.
They plan a family of five, which is really only doable in a minivan or a Suburban.

[SJ_GTI]

My brother and his wife have the Sienna Hybrid minivan. They really like it. Ive been a passenger in it a couple times and it seems like a nice place to be driven.

[giant_mtb]

Siennas are really nice. Spacious flat floor and relatively high ceiling do make it a nice place to be, like any minivan.

I guess there are only two minivans available these days...? Sienna and Grand Caravan? Funeral homes love the GC because it looks a little more stately.

[Morris Minor]

I think Honda still makes the Odyssey. And Kia has the Carnival, that's a minivan tarted up to look almost-but-no-not-really like an SUV. 

[giant_mtb]

Ahhh yes, the Odyssey. Haven't seen a newer one of those around here. Never seen a Carnival IRL before.

[AutobahnSHO]

The Carnival is handsome. Odyssey IMO drives nicer than Sienna- the steering in our Sienna was super disconnected (aka "easy to turn" for some people). But that hybrid!

[Morris Minor]

This might work for them. Room for three kids, w/ captains chairs in Row 2. But without the shame-laden stigma of a minivan.

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a42779837/2024-toyota-grand-highlander-revealed/

[AutobahnSHO]

This might work for them. Room for three kids, w/ captains chairs in Row 2. But without the shame-laden stigma of a minivan.

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a42779837/2024-toyota-grand-highlander-revealed/

Sienna behind 3rd row: 33.5 cuft
GH behind 3rd row: 21cuft

Sienna 3rd row stowed: 75cuft (5 passengers)

Sienna behind 1st row: 101cuft (2 passengers)
GH 2nd & 3rd row stowed: 98ft (2 passengers)

C&D says the smaller Highlander has 16cuft behind 3rd row, 84cuft with 2nd & 3rd rows stowed.

That Stigma (and a little less off-hardball-road capability) is counter-balanced by the magic of power sliding doors (which also allow MUCH better cargo loading, I've shoved a clothes washer into the side door of a minivan).

GH hybrid: up to 34mpg
Sienna hybrid: 35/35/36mpg (city/combined/hwy)

[Morris Minor]

^^ All valid & sensible points. But Bay Area Millennials can't be seen in the Cheetos-stained minivans they remember from their childhoods.

[Eye of the Tiger]

^^ All valid & sensible points. But Bay Area Millennials can't be seen in the Cheetos-stained minivans they remember from their childhoods.

What if they are Takis stains, instead?

[giant_mtb]

...they still haven't made a decision/gotten something?  It's been like 8 months. lol

[MrH]

I would have succumbed to the minivan a long time ago.

Grand Highlander looks good for what it is though.

[veeman]

Using fueleconomy.gov a regular AWD Highlander costs $666 more a year to fuel than a hybrid Highlander.  At California gas prices, it would probably cost $1000 more to fuel. 

I used these data metrics to convince my brother in law and his wife to get a Hyundai Tucson at a slight discount over a non-discounted Hyundai Tucson hybrid (which wasn't even available).  The Toyota hybrids are much better than the Hyundai hybrids however. 

[CaminoRacer]

I would have succumbed to the minivan a long time ago.

Grand Highlander looks good for what it is though.

I've noticed a lot of "car guys" are more likely to get a minivan these days. The alternative is a big crossover, which most people have realized isn't any cooler. Might as well have the practicality.

[MrH]

The utility is only one portion of it.  They're also cheaper for the most part, but the killer feature is the sliding doors.  Kids are too dumb to be trusted not to door ding everything to hell

[CaminoRacer]

The utility is only one portion of it.  They're also cheaper for the most part, but the killer feature is the sliding doors.  Kids are too dumb to be trusted not to door ding everything to hell

I wish everyone had gullwing doors

[Morris Minor]

...they still haven't made a decision/gotten something?  It's been like 8 months. lol

Nope. They gave up. Got their deposits back from the dealers, and are still driving the Pilot I bought 21 years ago. Now with >200,000 miles on the clock.