Sunday

those third seats in station wagons?

YOu know those third row seats you can fold up and down that come in some station wagons? Are they safe, do you think?

Katie, still trying to figure out the whole car-with-even-more-children-situation....

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

We had a Mercury Sable for too long and it had a third row that folded up which faced the rear of the car. When folded down, it was your storage area/truck (boot to those across the puddle). At first the kids liked the novelty of it but then it got old traveling backwards.

Ours were rated for 60 lbs. and sized for children so booster seats were unnecessary (which was nice).

I think they were safe but that was the worst car I have ever driven! We now drive a Dodge Grand Caravan. The mileage isn't horrid. It fits our family! Even with all 7 bodies and the giant dog in the van we can still get a load of groceries or carry luggage. And you can get a Caravan at a great price. Ours came with two build-in child seats that fold down in the middle row which means we sacrificed one seat (can only carry 7 instead of 8) but we don't have to buy booster seats or car seats.

Anonymous said...

We used a wagon for a bit. The very back is too far away, facing the wrong direction and the least "safe" seat, so it's not the place for babies. It's also too small for the teenagers. Noah was always stuck riding in it and he complained the direction made him carsick.

Anonymous said...

I have a 2000 Ford Taurus wagon with the fold-down third seat, and I love it.

It's rated for 160 pounds, so you can't fit 2 large kids back there. It's not safe for carseats, according to the owner's manual.

I'd be surprised if the third seat is the least safe seat, though - looks to me like the front seat would be by far the least safe.
Statistically, I thought a car wreck was most likely to impel passengers toward the front of the car - in which case, the kids in the 3rd seat would be facing the right way - away from the front.

Dee said...

We looked at some and the back seat was just too close to the back of the car for me. We did drive a Dogde Van (can't remember model)and loved it. We would never buy a dodge just because my Dad is a mechanic and thinks they aren't very good cars but we sat 4 adults and a carseat with plenty of room for 2 more people and all our luggage.

Anonymous said...

I like Volvo's. Not sure year etc. and I've never owned one but I have ridden in several with kids in the third seat and it's been great. I think all third seats are for bigger/older children. I wish my Legacy Outback had one!

Anonymous said...

If you buy the most recent Consumer Reports magazine it has good information about mini SUVs and the newer mini vans, they say the third row seat are safe for children, not adults.

Anonymous said...

We have a 2005 Ford Galaxy. We use the 2nd row (just have 3 kids) but the 3rd row is used when we're carpooling and such. One of the 3rd row seats has a booster seat incorporated (as 2 of the 2nd row seats). It's supposedly as safe as the 2nd row seats, and sometimes one of my children rides in the 3rd row with an older friend (who doesn't need booster seat). The middle seat on the 2nd row is where the 0-2yo should ride, in a babycarseat, facing backwards.
There's not a lot of space with the 3 rows, but we take off/down the 3rd when travelling w/ bikes and assorted gear. We simply take them off and leave them at home when going for summer vacation.
We're happy with it. No extras (DVDS and such ) included because we didn't want to, but a possibility.

Marta from Lisbon

Elizabeth said...

We have a Volvo wagon with the rumble seat. I love having it for times when we would like to seat more than five. The kids love having it there, and they'll sit there whenever I let them!

However, I only have two children, and I don't know that I would count on that option for a family of six. I think it would get pretty old pretty fast. There's not very much leg room back there. It would really only work for E., probably, on a regular basis, and not for much longer. Well, when the baby gets bigger it would work for her, but who wants to sit by herself all the time when there's lots of company elsewhere?

Naomi said...

Just get a freaking minivan.

I do not understand minivan phobia in people with large families. You have a large family, so buy a car that actually accomodates it and quit worrying about how it's not cool. You stopped being cool when you had your first kid.

(All carseats will warn you in their instructions not to use them in one of those rear-facing jump seats, and they're much too small for teenagers.)

Anonymous said...

Naomi - we didn't have mini van phobia - we had pricetag phobia. We were exploring all of our options and trying to find something cheaper than a 30k car.