3-Kid Family Hauler - Suggestions?

[Morris Minor]

My son & DIL have one kid. They want to have two more. They're in the market for a non-luxury three-row vehicle with captain's chairs in 2nd row to allow room to access row three. Plus they need room in the back for a stroller. Suggestions welcome. Right now all I can think of is a Tahoe/Yukon. But California gas prices.


Any ideas?

Quotes below from my DIL

"Well we called the local Toyotas ahead of time and they don't have any hybrid highlanders to even look at. We looked at the non-hybrid option. It's nice. We stopped by the Kia after and should've called them too. They didn't have a single Sorrento on the lot."

"Sounds like it'll take 1-5 mo to order what we want. We will have to drive around to find a dealership that has one on the lot to even look at with the options we want
option. It's nice. We stopped by the Kia after and should've called them too. They didn't have a single Sorrento on the lot."

"The Highlander just barely fit our stroller in the trunk with the back seats up."

"We want to look at a Highlander with the captain chairs (rather than bench seat) in the 2nd row and then install 3 car seats in there and make sure they all fit and it's possible to climb in there and put kids in them."

"For example, our carseat is one of the smallest ones you can buy for her size and if we had another kid, we'd be forced to turn her forward facing in the CRV because it doesn't fit rear facing behind the front seats unless you pull them up further which also isn't safe for the driver and passenger."

"We're planning ahead for 3 kids in car seats all at once. Kids are in car seats much longer than they were when we were kids."

"I follow @safeintheseat and @thecarmom on Instagram and have learned how complicated it can be to get 3 car seats in 1 row. It's definitely possible but complicated and I think we'd just be happier for longer with 3 rows."

[FoMoJo]

Honda Odyssey?

[Morris Minor]

or a minivan

[CaminoRacer]

Seems like a Toyota or Honda minivan are the best options if they want captain chairs

[Lebowski]

Odyssey or Sienna.

[veeman]

Outside of a minivan, I was most impressed with the value, styling, and interior quality of the Hyundai Palisade/Kia Telluride.  Even though they're mainstreamer brands, they feel like entry level luxury cars in terms of interior quality.  I also think low mileage certified used Infiniti QX60s (like the one I recently bought) are good deals.  3 year old cars with less than 30 thousand miles, coming off a single owner lease, can be easily had for < $40 thousand. 

Many 3 row SUVs come with the option of captain chairs or bench in the second row. 

[giant_mtb]

Ford Explorer, Chevy Traverse.  Both are relatively fuel efficient for their size, 2nd-row captains chairs, split-folding 3rd row to maximize cargo space if/when a 3rd row seat is needed.  May be more readily available than a Highlander, but I do not know.

[Eye of the Tiger]

Sienna

[Eye of the Tiger]

Challenger Hellcat.
Damn kids need to learn how to get along in close quarters.

[CALL_911]

Telluride/Palisade

[CALL_911]

Actually, 2 kids? Sienna.

[AutobahnSHO]

ANY minivan has more interior room than any SUV.

They're usually cheaper to buy, too.

My vote is Odyssey or Sienna, but the new Kia minivan should be looked at, too.

[Eye of the Tiger]

Telluride/Palisade

Try to find one, though.

[Morris Minor]

Thanks. I'll throw the suggestions out there. Resistance to uncool minivans is high unfortunately. Left brain does not always win. If it were me I'd call a dealer, tell them to ta ke a $5k deposit on my card for a mid trim minivan and buy when it comes in. Trailing around from dealer to dealer is miserable. They are all good. I wouldn't bother with test drives. 

[veeman]

It's the function over form vs form over function debate.  Minivan wins if valuing function and culturally in the U.S. most people would say SUV would win out if valuing form. 

Personally, I don't need the most functional possible car as a family hauler. 

As an analogy  I don't get the most functional winter jacket out there if I need a winter coat.  I'm not dog sledding the Iditarod. 

With three kids, you can get by just fine with a 3 row SUV with a little more style than a minivan.  If he/she like the minivan, go for it.  Otherwise it's not necessary for their needs. A car, even a family hauler, is an emotional investment.  Otherwise we all should be buying used Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic hatchbacks or minivans. 

Nowadays even kitchen appliances are bought based on form as much as function. 

[MrH]

The Carnival!

If that doesn't pass as cool enough, Telluride/Palisade is the obvious choice here.

[cawimmer430]

My recommendations. 

[veeman]

My recommendations. 

The good old days when you could stuff kids in the boot of a station wagon.  I remember as a middle schooler being driven 3 hrs in the boot of a wagon on the highway with my friend.  Two other classmates  in the rear seat. The driver was the vice principal of the middle school (his personal station wagon) and the front passenger was our math teacher.  We were going to a state math competition for middle schoolers.  Today that might be considered child abuse. Probably a good thing as we would have been meat missiles if we crashed hard. 

[cawimmer430]

The good old days when you could stuff kids in the boot of a station wagon.  I remember as a middle schooler being driven 3 hrs in the boot of a wagon on the highway with my friend.  Two other classmates  in the rear seat. The driver was the vice principal of the middle school (his personal station wagon) and the front passenger was our math teacher.  We were going to a state math competition for middle schoolers.  Today that might be considered child abuse. Probably a good thing as we would have been meat missiles if we crashed hard. 

Yeah today some weirdos would accuse those teachers of somehow abusing those kids while unsupervised in the car. The world today is insane.

But I love on those old cars the advertising - it was so typical of the 1960s and 1970s to show a bunch of kids and maybe the baseball coach posing with the car. It's got some charm that's missing today from car advertising.

[Laconian]

I agree! It's cute and frumpy. Modern ads sell aspirational lifestyles but this looks like a Midwestern slice of life.

[Morris Minor]

DIL's sister has a Palisade and loves it. But it guzzles petrol. So they want a 3-row hybrid, which means Highlander or nothing unless they move into premium territory - so the kids would be puking all over premium leather instead of the cheap stuff.

OT, "Palisade." Your fortress against the world - picking off the hordes outside through arrow slits while your kids are strapped up tight in their seats.

[Laconian]

DIL's sister has a Palisade and loves it. But it guzzles petrol. So they want a 3-row hybrid, which means Highlander or nothing unless they move into premium territory - so the kids would be puking all over premium leather instead of the cheap stuff.

OT, "Palisade." Your fortress against the world - picking off the hordes outside through arrow slits while your kids are strapped up tight in their seats.

It can't be that big of a fuel savings? The tax bill from the car sale alone will negate the MPG gains.

The castle is under threat from the WRX vape bros! Kids, prepare the boiling oil!

[giant_mtb]

It can't be that big of a fuel savings? The tax bill from the car sale alone will negate the MPG gains.

The castle is under threat from the WRX vape bros! Kids, prepare the boiling oil!

36city/35hwy for the hybrid, 21/29 for the gasser.  So, fairly significant difference for city driving. 

[veeman]

Using the preset values in fueleconomy.gov (15,000 miles driven a year /55% local, 45% highway/ $5.01 per gallon) a Toyota Highlander Hybrid AWD saves you $1500 in annual fueling costs over a Hyundai Palisade.  Over 5 years that's $7500.

May be worth it depending on whether you have to pay a premium over MSRP for the Toyota Hybrid. MSRP they're both similarly priced.  The Toyota Hybrid has a lot more range on a single tank of gas (nearly 600 miles).   

[CaminoRacer]

I know the Rav4 Hybrids are selling like hotcakes with wait lists and markups. Not sure about Highlanders though

[Morris Minor]

From what I can see on Toyota's site, Highlander hybrids are out of inventory.
Looks like the nearest dealer to me just sold a base trim model.

[Soup DeVille]

From what I can see on Toyota's site, Highlander hybrids are out of inventory.
Looks like the nearest dealer to me just sold a base trim model.

Toyota is going to be hit the hardest by the supply chain difficulties. They are so inflexible with their standards, they'd rather not make cars than adapt.

[Morris Minor]

I don't even see that the base trim has a power lift gate.

[MrH]

Toyota is going to be hit the hardest by the supply chain difficulties. They are so inflexible with their standards, they'd rather not make cars than adapt.

They're lean, but good.  They've avoided a lot of the shut downs compared to other OEMs.  But yeah, you want find them cranking out countless Tundras to sit in a lot and wait for chips like Ford is doing

[Soup DeVille]

They're lean, but good.  They've avoided a lot of the shut downs compared to other OEMs.  But yeah, you want find them cranking out countless Tundras to sit in a lot and wait for chips like Ford is doing

I think the reason they've avoided shutdowns as much is because they've been on top of their suppliers from the start; not as a reaction to events, but because that's what they do (having been subject to them for years).